Benton County launches countywide comprehensive-plan update, seeks local priorities

Benton County officials on Wednesday introduced a countywide comprehensive-plan update called "Benton Believes," described the project's early timeline and asked residents to identify local priorities for housing, infrastructure and natural-resource protection.

Shannon Bush, program coordinator with Benton County Community Development and project manager for the update, told the County Advisory Committee (CAC) the effort is a long-range plan to guide growth and infrastructure and that the county received state funding to create a work program.

"A community comprehensive plan ... establishes the community's vision going forward, and policies for future growth," Bush said, adding that the county launched a website and a public survey to gather input.

Why it matters: Benton County's current comprehensive plan dates to the mid-2000s, and staff said the update will inform the county development code and future land-use decisions. The project is intended to help the county weigh trade-offs among growth, housing and conservation and to guide where public resources and infrastructure should be targeted.

At the meeting, staff said the county will use a multi-phase process. Phase 1 (data collection and outreach) runs through March to June 2025; staff hope to begin scenario modeling in a second phase starting around July if additional funding is secured. Bush described scenario planning as a modeling tool that lets the public visualize different futures and compare trade-offs among development, conservation and infrastructure investments.

Patrick Wenger, Benton County's field representative from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD), said recent state-level housing legislation and programs have focused public resources toward cities but noted tools and rules now also affect unincorporated communities.

"The governor's focus and much of the focus on infrastructure is in cities," Wenger said, while emphasizing that counties and unincorporated communities also must plan for housing and infrastructure needs and can engage the state on those issues.

Residents and CAC members raised a range of implementation questions. Speakers pointed to technical and cost constraints for rural housing'including soils that limit septic systems, limited water flow in some areas, and fire- and access-related constraints for building sites. Staff said those site-level issues are the kinds of constraints that a buildable-lands or build-out analysis would document.

County staff also discussed outreach: the project team launched BentonBelieves.com and a public survey (available via QR code) and said they will post meeting results on the site. They said limited grant money in the current phase makes countywide direct mail expensive, so staff will leverage community partners and hard-copy surveys at local libraries and gathering spots to reach residents without internet access.

Procedural notes: The committee approved the prior meeting minutes, with a motion to accept edits to the "next steps" list (changes to items numbered 6 and 7). The motion passed on voice vote; staff recorded the change and the minutes were approved.

What's next: Staff will gather survey responses and run the same outreach exercise at additional regional meetings across Benton County in March. If funding for scenario modeling is secured, the county will develop indicators (economic, environmental, social and infrastructure) to compare future scenarios and return to the public for iterative feedback.

The county asked attendees to complete the online survey at BentonBelieves.com and to contact project staff through the website for more information.