Building and planning seeks "light-touch" comp plan update, requests contract for critical areas review

Cowlitz County building and planning staff on Monday outlined a streamlined update to the county's comprehensive plan and said they will ask the board to approve a contract for a critical areas ordinance review.

Adam Trimble, of building and planning, said the county is pursuing a "light-touch" update due in June to account for code housekeeping, targeted map changes where water or sewer extensions or market shifts affect land use, and a review of the critical areas ordinance required by state rules. "We're trying to wrap this up June," Trimble said, describing a process that will include the planning commission, local governments and public outreach.

Trimble said staff will seek a contract with Facet Incorporated (on the meeting consent calendar) to do the critical areas work; the consultant previously worked with the county on updates and is familiar with local industrial and timber contexts. The county also plans to develop a transportation element that links to a new county transportation plan and to identify publicly held Department of Natural Resources lands on a map to consider whether a "public/quasi-public" designation is appropriate for lands unlikely to convert to private development.

Tracy Jackson, building and planning director, and Trimble reviewed an open-lands map and said the work will prioritize properties and areas where the county may want to consider different land-use designations. Trimble said the county would use the update to confirm housing capacity, land-use designations where water and sewer availability has changed, and critical areas protections consistent with state requirements.

The Facet contract and outreach plan will be on the consent agenda; staff emphasized the update is not intended to be a major rewrite but to meet statutory requirements and to provide a five-year implementation horizon once the plan is updated. The county also briefly discussed broadcasting a need for improved Wi-Fi coverage in the building to support online permitting functions.

No vote on the Facet contract was taken in Monday's meeting; the item was presented as a consent-calendar authorization for the board to approve on Tuesday.