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Council approves 2024 comp plan and zoning text changes, shortens some review timelines
Summary
The council approved a package of 2024 comprehensive plan and zoning text amendments, including code timeline adjustments to align with state statute, added projects to the capital facilities list, and corrected drive‑thru language for the downtown CX zone.
Vancouver City Council approved the 2024 comprehensive plan and associated zone text changes at its Feb. 3 meeting, adopting several amendments staff said respond to recent state statutory changes and correct drafting errors.
Staff summarized the main elements: changes required by recent state statute to permit a shorter review timeline for certain Type 2 land‑use reviews (reducing the city’s code timeline to 100 days), and a statutory requirement establishing a minimum period of 170 days for Type 3 reviews (where the city’s existing code had been 120 days). Staff recommended codifying a 170‑day timeline for Type 3 reviews while retaining 120 days as an internal target measure; the change accepts the new statutory parameters and gives staff room to accommodate rare outlier projects.
The amendments also add two projects to the city’s capital facilities plan list—Eighteenth Street Power Line Trail and the River West library parking/extension project—to better document those projects for grant eligibility. Staff further recommended correcting zoning standards to more clearly prohibit drive‑thru uses in the downtown CX zone after noting an earlier drafting error limited the prohibition to “artisanal” uses.
In council discussion, Councilor Stober asked for clarification about River West and whether the item referred to a private development; staff indicated the projects share the CX zone and that the additions were primarily to demonstrate grant eligibility. After a public hearing with no testimony reported, Councilor Fox moved to approve the changes, Stober seconded, and council approved the package by roll call. The roll call recorded Council members Harless, Perez, Fox, Paulson, Stober, Hansen and Mayor McInerney Ogle as voting aye.
Staff warned that shortening Type 2 timelines will require internal adjustments to resource allocation and that noticing for Type 2 reviews will be correspondingly limited under statute. For Type 3 items that trigger public hearings, staff said the longer 170‑day codified timeline makes it easier to provide the same level of advance notice to neighborhood associations.
Council did not receive financial estimates tied to the capital projects during this session; staff said the purpose of adding projects to the list is to support grant eligibility and comprehensive‑plan consistency.
