Washington County commissioners review planning work program, prioritize housing, transportation and code updates

Washington County planning staff briefed the Board of Commissioners on March 18 about the status of the department’s current 2023–25 biennial planning work program and proposed priorities for the 2025–27 cycle.

The briefing summarized completed work — including a multi‑year regulatory update that culminated in an ordinance adopted in November and effective Dec. 5 — and outlined mandatory tasks the county must complete because of state and regional requirements, plus discretionary projects staff would like to pursue next biennium. Assistant Director Erin Wardell told the board the program balances “our resources, both in terms of staff and budget” while responding to legal requirements, Metro coordination and community requests.

Why it matters: county planners are responsible for implementing state mandates and regional requirements that affect housing capacity, transportation funding and land‑use rules across the county. Several tasks under discussion could lead to ordinances, code amendments or large multi‑year projects that require board authorization and staff time.

Among items staff described as substantially complete were the ordinance adopting the county’s updated clear‑and‑objective language (adopted in November, effective Dec. 5) and early work under the Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) effort, including an initial parking ordinance (ordinance 903). Staff also noted adoption of the countywide Transit Development Plan (Resolution 2488, Dec. 3, 2024) and ongoing trail and corridor planning such as the Console Creek Regional Trail and Salmonberry Trail efforts.

Ongoing and planned work for 2025–27 includes: - A housing needs and capacity analysis and housing production strategy tied to the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis (ONA) program; Wardell said county staff are participating in Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) rulemaking and expect to complete the county’s work in the 2029–2030 timeframe, with interim deadlines tied to rulemaking outcomes. - A comprehensive assessment and cleanup of the Community Development Code to resolve inconsistent definitions, procedural gaps and accumulated code changes; staff said the county has only recently been able to contract consultants because DLCD’s work had monopolized consultant availability. - A major update to the Transportation System Plan (TSP), including scoping now and a planned public scoping phase in fall 2025; staff described a related Complete Streets design update and a Transportation Safety Action Plan to be completed in 2025. - Work on urban growth boundary (UGB) matters and urban planning area agreements (UPAAs), with a focus on the Tigard River Terrace 2.0 process and a slower pace in North Plains. - A town‑center boundary for Raleigh Hills required under CFEC and Metro functional plans. - Rural housing options and rural accessory dwelling units (ADUs) issue paper, and potential ordinance work depending on state legislative outcomes.

Carol Johnson, planning and development services manager, summarized project status: of 16 Tier 1 tasks identified for the current biennium, she said eight have been substantially completed, six are underway and two have not started. She described several Tier 2 tasks that have seen preliminary work but remain largely unstarted.

Commissioners repeatedly pressed staff on capacity and sequencing. Commissioner Catherine Harrington and other board members emphasized limited staff resources and cautioned that some discretionary projects, such as expanded monitoring and enforcement of significant natural resources (SNR) protections, would push other items off the list if pursued. Commissioner Jason Schneider asked whether not following through on specific tasks would risk state enforcement or another stay; staff replied the schedule and obligations vary by item and that some follow‑up cleanups had been promised to the community during prior ordinance work.

Several technical topics came up in discussion: “contractor establishments” (contractor yards in FD‑20 transitional zoning) will be the subject of an issue paper to clarify definitions and regulatory limits; Farmington Road improvements were described as a planning exercise to estimate costs before pursuing a jurisdictional transfer with ODOT; and staff explained that some FEMA‑related floodplain map updates are on hold pending litigation.

Staff asked for policy guidance on three specific topics they want board direction on now: (1) adopting natural resource omnibus cleanups or monitoring/enforcement work, (2) rural clear‑and‑objective standards (including rural ADUs), and (3) whether to authorize filing ordinances for certain code updates in the upcoming work program. The board indicated general support for moving forward but stressed realistic timelines and the need to prioritize mandatory and high‑impact items.

Next steps and schedule: staff said they plan to distribute the proposed work program for public review in an online open house from April 15 through May 30 and return a final proposed work program to the board for adoption on July 15. Staff noted some issue papers and briefings will come to the board this summer, and that authorization to file any ordinance would be included in the proposed work program.

The presentation included repeated reminders that the department handles a large, ongoing workload — development review, transportation modeling, code compliance and program administration — and that many projects are driven by external mandates from the state and Metro.