College Place commission reviews draft historic-preservation element, urges stronger language for archaeological resources
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Summary
Consultants from JUB Engineers presented a revised historic-preservation element for College Place's 2026 comprehensive plan; commissioners generally endorsed four preservation policies but urged clearer language on archaeological/buried resources, parks, inventory scope and local-history access. A CLG-funded district nomination remains on hold pending federal funding.
Consultants from JUB Engineers briefed the College Place Historic Preservation Commission on Feb. 19, 2026 on a revised historic-preservation element to be folded into the city's comprehensive plan. The draft centers on one overarching goal—"preserve and celebrate College Place's historic assets"—supported by four policy areas: community engagement; a comprehensive inventory of historic and cultural resources; collaborative protection of historic properties; and coordinated preservation programs with other city departments and external partners.
The commission heard from senior planner Sherry Fremont, who said the draft reorganizes items carried forward from the previous plan into clearer goals and sub-policies and relies in part on a 2019 reconnaissance report by Northwest Vernacular for inventory baseline data. Fremont described policy 2 as central: "understand and document the history of College Place through a comprehensive inventory of historic and cultural resources," and warned that thorough inventory work can require specialized consultants and funding.
Commissioners and participants pressed consultants to expand references to archaeological and buried resources. An archaeologist in the meeting advocated for explicit inadvertent-discovery and archaeological-monitoring language and recommended that parks and open-space projects be treated as potential locations for buried resources. Fremont and other consultants agreed that the inventory policy should name both built-environment surveys and potential pedestrian archaeological surveys so the plan-level language captures nonvisible cultural resources.
Commissioners also discussed operational constraints. Michael Merritt, the city's senior planner, emphasized that the commission currently lacks dedicated historic-preservation staff and asked that the draft remain flexible to account for limited local capacity. Commissioners suggested practical, low-cost actions such as scanning and depositing local-history materials at the public library, leveraging university archives, and pursuing targeted partnerships for archaeology or survey work.
Local examples were raised in the discussion. Commissioner Terry Amott said she had located earlier local histories written by the city's first mayor, Wilton Bunch, and by Helen Cross; the commission discussed making those materials and other local documents more accessible to residents. The commission also noted the College Place Water Tower appears in the city's GIS attachments as "determined eligible" for listing, and members discussed pursuing a district designation in coordination with Walla Walla University and its archives.
Consultants asked commissioners to review the draft in detail, redline suggested changes, and return comments to Michael Merritt within the next week or two. The consultants said the broader comprehensive-plan process aims to release a draft for public review in summer and fall 2026 and to pursue formal adoption that fall.
The meeting closed with the commission thanking the consultants for the presentation and agreeing to provide written suggestions; a separately reported grant update (see separate article) noted federal funding for a certified local government nomination remains held at the federal level.
