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Commissioners consider returning private-road oversight to Building and Planning after staff concerns
Summary
County staff described a history of private-road regulation and recommended moving oversight from Public Works back to Building and Planning; commissioners agreed to study the change and hold stakeholder workshops.
Cowlitz County commissioners heard a staff presentation on private-road regulation and discussed returning oversight to Building and Planning after years under Public Works.
Susan (last name not specified in the transcript), who spoke to the commissioners about the issue, traced the history: a county ordinance in the mid-1990s regulated private roads under Building and Planning until 2019, when concerns about litigation prompted county legal advice and a memo that moved authority to Public Works. "In the mid '19 nineties, the county adopted an ordinance that put regulations on private roads, and they continued under that ordinance until 2019," she said.
Susan said moving the work back to Building and Planning would require undoing the memo or striking private-road language from the county engineer ordinance and might require contracting for engineering review. She told commissioners the RCW had not changed and that the 2019 transfer was a cautionary response to litigation in another county.
Commissioners and staff discussed resources and timelines. One commissioner said the move would not give them "heartburn" but asked whether Building and Planning would need engineering capacity, which could be contracted. Building and Planning representatives asked for time to assess staffing and resources before any formal transfer.
County staff, including Sean Ravey of Public Works, said if private roads returned to Building and Planning, Public Works would retain the ability to comment on SEPA and would still check access and stormwater permits, but excavation and grading permits would no longer pass through Public Works.
Commissioner Dahl and other commissioners recommended a stakeholder workshop with members of the county's VPAC to seek agreement and to let both sides explain positions and constraints. County staff agreed to invite VPAC members to a workshop and to coordinate scheduling so commissioners could attend.
No formal vote was taken. Commissioners asked staff to prepare options, identify ordinance or memo changes needed, and bring the matter back for further discussion and potential ordinance edits.
