West Richland receives update on Lewis and Clark Ranch planned‑action EIS and draft development code

West Richland officials received an update Aug. 26 on the Lewis and Clark Ranch subarea plan’s environmental review and a proposed SEPA planned‑action ordinance, and heard an introduction to a draft development code consultants said would shape building form, streets and open space in the project’s Phase 1 area.

Consultant Casey Bradfield of Burke said the planned‑action ordinance would be adopted alongside the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the ranch and would define where planned actions can occur, what types of development are allowed in the Phase 1 area and the area‑wide mitigation projects required by the EIS. "When the City adopts the final EIS for the ranch, they would also be adopting a planned action ordinance," Bradfield said. "That would establish where planned actions can occur… the types of development that are allowed there…and area wide mitigation measures, which would be based on that EIS."

The nut graf: A SEPA planned action lets a jurisdiction study and address the cumulative environmental impacts of a large, phased project in advance so that future individual development applications that meet the ordinance’s criteria do not require separate SEPA review. Consultants told the council this approach is intended to shorten permitting timelines and provide developers and the city more predictability on mitigation and infrastructure needs for the first build‑out area.

How a planned action would work: the city would (1) adopt the EIS, (2) adopt a planned‑action ordinance that maps the Phase 1…