La Center Council adopts downtown and Timon Landing subarea plans after two-year process, 3-2

The La Center City Council on June 25 adopted ordinance 2025-03 to approve a pair of subarea plans for downtown and Timon Landing, a planned-action environmental review that establishes mitigation for future projects, and accompanying comprehensive-plan and municipal-code amendments. The ordinance passed on a 3-2 roll-call vote (Fox: yes; Casper: yes; Boyle: no; Leija: yes; Cervini: no).

The ordinance updates the city—s comprehensive-plan map and development regulations to guide a 20-year buildout in the two subareas and creates new zoning tools and overlays intended to encourage mixed-use development, pedestrian orientation and infrastructure investments. City consultant Marty Snell, senior planner with WSP, described the effort as a planning tool rather than a mandate on private property owners: “This plan is not going to be the status quo…What this plan is, is a tool to think ahead,” he said, adding the documents aim to preserve La Center—s character while expanding the tax base and identifying infrastructure needs.

Nut graf: The adopted package includes a planned action (an EIS-level review completed for the subareas) meant to streamline environmental review for future developments that conform to the plan and its mitigation measures. The council adopted the planning commission—s amendment (the planning commission—s option) to retain the existing cardroom overlay rules limiting cardrooms to established sites in the C-3 zone, rather than the staff—s broader approach.

Key provisions and changes - Planned action/EIS: The package includes environmental review meant to address significant adverse impacts in advance; future projects that align with the planned action will not require separate SEPA environmental review. - Zoning and code changes: The plan adds a downtown mixed-use code for Sixth Street and west of Pacific Highway, creates a high-density residential zone (16''6 units per acre), revises medium-density residential rules (removes a 2.5-acre minimum project area), and adds two overlays: a Downtown Gateway overlay and a Timon Landing Gateway overlay. The staff presentation also proposed repealing a cardroom overlay; the council ultimately kept cardrooms limited to their C-3 locations per the planning commission amendment. - Parks and open space: Code cleanup separates parks/open-space development standards from zoning sections and designates existing park-zoned land as urban public.

Public hearing and comments: Dozens of residents spoke at the public hearing. Several property owners in downtown and along the waterfront objected to specific reclassifications and overlays. Carolyn Defoe, who lives at 510 West Second Street, told the council she opposed reclassifying her property from residential professional to urban public with an open-space overlay and warned the change could make her parcel a "stranded asset": “Adding an open space overlay is redundant and unnecessarily burdensome…It essentially strips my land of development potential and market value,” she said. Her husband, Bobby Defoe, asked for clearer map boundaries for the urban-public overlay.

Council process and votes: Staff presented two adoption options: the staff-recommended red-line package (option 1) and the planning commission—s blue-line recommendation (option 2). The planning commission—s modification to keep the cardroom overlay limited to existing C-3 sites carried in the final ordinance. The clerk recorded the roll-call vote as Fox: yes; Casper: yes; Boyle: no; Leija: yes; Cervini: no.

Why it matters: The planned-action approach is intended to make future project review faster and more predictable by setting mitigation in advance, which could affect the pace and type of private development in downtown and Timon Landing. Residents raised concerns about notice, map precision, floodplain overlays and the practical effects of zoning changes on small-property owners.

Next steps and follow-up: Councilmembers and staff repeated offers to meet one-on-one with property owners who raised concerns to go over maps, density-transfer options and permit pathways. Tracy Coleman (city staff) said the city and the consultant incorporated two years of outreach into the final materials and that planning and zoning updates required by county and state planning processes remain subject to future refinements.

Ending: The adoption finalizes the city—s preferred framework for the two subareas but preserves avenues for future map and code amendments; councilmembers and staff invited affected property owners to schedule meetings to review parcel-level impacts and mitigation options.