Planning commission approves Bizdens site plan at 200 North and 100 West with lighting condition

The Camas Planning Commission on May 6 unanimously approved a site plan for a commercial project known as Bizdens, proposed by applicant Rick Bridal, at 200 North and 100 West.

The commission’s approval was conditional on meeting the criteria in the city engineer’s report and on the planning commission’s recommendation regarding lighting for the interior portion of the site.

Why it matters: the project reconfigures an earlier-approved layout to fewer buildings while keeping similar overall square footage and proposes design changes — notably wall-mounted lighting rather than higher pole fixtures — that the commission asked staff and the applicant to refine to ensure pedestrian and parking-area illumination without creating light spill into nearby residences.

Key project details

- Buildings and uses: The applicant revised a previously approved plan (2023) from 11 buildings to six, keeping the project’s footprint approximately the same; staff reported the new total at about 60,480 square feet. Primary uses are proposed as professional offices, an allowed use in the general commercial (GC) zone.

- Parking and landscaping: The project provides about 65 parking spaces (including nine ADA spaces), exceeding the professional-office standard of two spaces per 1,000 square feet (the code requirement would be about 121 spaces at 60,480 sq ft if using 2/1,000 incorrectly – staff computed the project-specific ratio as 2 spaces per 1,000 for professional office and reported the site met code with 65 spaces). Scott Simpson, city planning staff, said the applicant’s parking meets the code for the proposed uses and that the project includes the required 20% landscaped area and street buffer.

- Utilities, drainage and fire review: The applicant will submit updated stormwater calculations and intends to detain stormwater on site and tie into the existing storm system that runs into Grassy Creek. Sewer and water connections will use the infrastructure installed at the site’s northwest corner; water shares will be required at building permit. Fire hydrant locations must be approved by Sussawat Fire District, which previously approved similar locations under the older site plan.

Lighting debate and commission condition

The applicant proposed wall-mounted building lighting (wall packs) rather than taller pole-mounted fixtures to reduce light spill into surrounding residential areas. Several commissioners expressed concern that the new layout, with a landscaped centerpiece where a building once stood, could leave portions of the interior parking dark if lighting were only mounted on side buildings. Commissioners suggested low bollard or short-pathway lighting to brighten the central landscape and walkways without resorting to tall poles.

Rick Bridal said the proposal to move away from pole-mounted fixtures was prompted by construction cost and design changes, and that the intent was to reduce light pollution into the neighborhood. “The reason we went to the wall packs is we didn't wanna have light pollution into the neighbors because it's residential all around us,” Bridal said. Simpson told commissioners the proposed wall-mounted fixtures meet code requirements for illumination without the higher poles.

Vote and conditions

Commissioner Cindy moved to approve the site plan with conditions that the applicant comply with the city engineer’s criteria and incorporate the planning commission’s recommendation regarding interior-site lighting; a second was recorded and the vote was unanimous. The motion passed without further amendment.

Next steps

The applicant will submit the final construction plans, updated stormwater calculations and building permits; water shares and any building-permit-level matters (including exact lighting fixtures and final fire-district hydrant siting) will be reviewed during permit processing.