College Place planners map growth: analysis finds need for 1,504 new housing units, proposes UGA shifts

College Place planning commissioners on Thursday reviewed an updated comprehensive-plan periodic update and land-capacity analysis that applies a Department of Commerce housing allocation tool and county population forecasts to the city’s 2046 growth target.

Justin Baerwacker, a consultant with JUB, told the Planning Commission the update used Walla Walla County’s 2010–2020 growth rate and a countywide population projection to 2046. “We are using the growth rate from the ’20, between the 2010 and the 2020, census data for Wallowa County, which had a 0.64% growth,” Baerwacker said, and that rate was applied to generate the county’s 2046 projection and the city’s allocation.

The analysis assigns College Place roughly 18.2% of the county’s future population growth — about 3,500 additional residents of a countywide increase the consultant described as “10,000.” Using the Department of Commerce HAP tool and adjusted population inputs, Baerwacker said the city’s housing need increased in the model to 1,504 units (from the earlier estimate shown in the draft table). The…