Walla Walla County, Port of Walla Walla begin joint planning for 2026 comprehensive plan update; Burbank subarea, utilities and SEPA scoping highlighted

Walla Walla, Wash. — County and Port officials opened a joint workshop Tuesday to begin the required 2026 periodic update of Walla Walla County’s comprehensive plan, focusing discussion on growth targets, housing needs, and infrastructure constraints in unincorporated urban areas such as Burbank and the county’s industrial urban area.

Clay White, a land‑use planner with Kimley‑Horn and Associates, told county and port commissioners the update “is planning for the next 20 years of population, housing, and jobs within unincorporated Walla Walla County,” and described the project schedule, public‑engagement plan and the county’s legal deadlines under the Growth Management Act.

The workshop centered on three linked tasks: allocating population, housing and employment growth to the county and its cities for a 2046 horizon; matching that growth to capital facilities (water, sewer, transportation and other services); and reviewing whether targeted subarea planning and a project‑level SEPA approach would speed private development and reduce uncertainty for prospective industrial and residential projects.

“One of the greatest successes I’ve seen in communities is where you work together. You pool resources,” White said, explaining that the county will complete discovery work (housing needs assessment and land‑capacity analysis), draft policy changes this summer, and scope an environmental impact statement this spring with a draft EIS aimed for late 2025 and a final EIS in winter 2026 so the commission can consider plan amendments thereafter.

Lauren Prentice, director of the county’s Community Development Department, said the county and the cities of Waitsburg, College Place and Walla Walla collaborated earlier on countywide planning policies and want the port included early in the comprehensive plan update because port infrastructure and capital facilities are frequently cited in county policies.

Pat Ray, Port of Walla Walla manager, described key constraints in Burbank related to wastewater service. “We have limited capacity due to our agreement with the City of Pasco for wastewater treatment facilities,” Ray said, noting the port operates a collection system that discharges under the Snake River and that current contractual limits and pipe capacity restrict how much additional wastewater Pasco will accept without upgrades.

Ray and port commissioners said the port has allocated roughly 150,000 gallons per day to two proposed residential developments (Farmstead and Huntsman), an amount Commissioners and port staff estimated would cover about 60–65% of the originally proposed build‑out (the proposals discussed by participants referenced roughly 900 homes combined). Port engineering referenced a three‑block allocation structure (100,000 gallons per block, up to 300,000 under past agreements), and said an engineering assessment suggested the below‑river conveyance could physically carry more (engineers estimated up to ~500,000 gallons), but increased capacity requires additional investment and coordination with the City of Pasco. Ray said the port had previously requested an additional 200,000 gallons from Pasco; city response and timing are unresolved.

White and county staff described tools that could reduce permitting uncertainty for developers, including a focused subarea plan for Atalia/Natalia and a “planned action” SEPA approach that studies a defined set of future uses and mitigation measures in advance. White said a planned‑action approach would allow a developer whose project fits within the studied range to avoid a full, separate SEPA review, though any proposal outside the studied parameters would require additional or supplemental review.

Commissioners and port leaders discussed the tradeoffs of studying broader ranges of impacts (which increases EIS cost and time) versus narrower scopes that limit flexibility. White recommended early decisions about the EIS scope so scoping could begin this spring; commissioners and port leaders agreed to have White prepare a scope and budget for a potential Burbank/Atalia subarea planning and SEPA sequence for both boards’ review.

Speakers also discussed housing affordability requirements the county must address under recent state law changes — noting the new planning tools require housing targets broken into area‑median‑income (AMI) bands (0–30% AMI, 30–50% AMI, 50–80% AMI, 80–100% AMI, 120%+ AMI) and that the county may need zoning or code changes to allow middle‑housing types to meet demand at lower AMI ranges.

Commissioners asked for clarity about what growth “targets” mean. White said targets are planning allocations for 2046 (population, housing, employment) that become the baseline for infrastructure planning; jurisdictions can adopt different allocations, but must document the reasoning to meet Growth Management Act requirements. The county’s update deadline from the state is June 30, 2026, and White described a phased schedule: discovery (current, ~30–40 days to finish), policy drafting and public engagement (summer 2025), environmental review overlapping with the plan update (draft EIS end of 2025; final EIS late winter 2026), then hearings and development‑regulation updates.

Port and county leaders also discussed potential funding tools, including tax‑increment financing the port has established over portions of Burbank and the industrial urban area; participants noted such revenue could support capital investments but acknowledged decisions must follow further analysis and interagency coordination.

The workshop closed with both bodies asking White to prepare a scope and budget for subarea planning and SEPA work so commissioners and port leaders could decide whether to include that work in the county’s comprehensive plan EIS or run it separately. The boards took two routine motions on the meeting record — approving the agenda and adjourning the meeting — and otherwise left the technical scope and funding questions for follow‑up staff work.

Ending

County staff will return a budget and scope proposal for a Burbank/Atalia subarea planning exercise and associated SEPA work to both the Walla Walla County Board of Commissioners and the Port of Walla Walla Commissioners. The county’s comprehensive plan update will proceed on a multi‑phase schedule with EIS scoping this spring and a June 30, 2026 state deadline for adopting required updates.