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Planning Commission reviews 2024 year-end report and multifamily inventory
Summary
Planning staff told the Columbia County Planning Commission the department processed 79 rezoning and 56 variance requests in 2024, approved roughly 80% of rezoning requests, and noted a net increase in zoned residential units and 300 apartments added to inventory at the Prestige in Evanstown Center.
The Columbia County Planning Commission heard its 2024 year-end review at the meeting, where planning staff summarized permitting, rezoning and multifamily trends for the county.
Planning Department staff reported the department processed 79 rezoning requests and 56 variance requests in 2024, including 30 revisions, 16 conditional-use requests and 14 new S-1 requests, and that roughly 80% of rezoning requests were approved while about 16% were disapproved and 5% withdrawn. Staff said the department tracked 378 additional residential units that received zoning approval in 2024 and approved preliminary plats for 518 new residential lots and final plats for 500 lots.
Staff noted a new tracking category introduced in 2024 for "single-family attached" units (two-unit buildings on individual lots that do not meet the code definition of townhomes), with approvals appearing in subdivisions including Branch Springs PUD, Hanover Place and Tillery Park. Building permit totals for 2024 included 701 permits for new single-family homes, 47 townhome permits and 10 single-family attached unit permits, staff said.
On multifamily housing, staff said the Prestige in Evanstown Center added 300 apartments to the county's existing inventory but that the county issued no new apartment building permits in 2024. Staff reported 47 townhouse permits were issued (projects cited include Warriors Walk and Copper Ridge) and that undeveloped land already zoned for multifamily is concentrated in River Island, Riverwood and the Greenpoint PUDs off Appling Harlem.
The presentation was largely informational; no regulatory action was taken during the report. The department emphasized the new single-family attached category and provided comparisons to prior years to show permit and plat trends.
