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Resident tells commissioners Planning Department delays have stalled local composting project
Summary
David Dressler told the Walla Walla County commissioners he has waited years for permits for a local composting operation and called out Planning Department leadership; Community Development staff said a revised application has not yet been filed and staff will respond once the full package is submitted.
David Dressler, who said he has lived in the county for 40 years, used the public‑comment period at the Nov. 3 Walla Walla County commissioners meeting to press the board to resolve years of delays over a composting project run by Bio Environmental Resource Recovery International (BERI). “My name is David Dressler,” he said, and described repeated setbacks in seeking Conditional Use Permit (CUP) approvals and other planning responses that he said have cost “several $100,000” in lost time and interest.
Dressler singled out the county Planning Department and named Lauren Prentice as the department head, saying he had difficulty getting timely replies, that notices were not provided consistently through the hearing‑examiner process, and that similar work had proceeded in neighboring Columbia County. “After several years of paperwork and delays, many related to Lauren Prentice, we finally received permission … to allow composting in areas designated as light industrial,” Dressler said, and added that he’d subsequently shifted the project to a smaller green‑waste and food‑scrap approach.
Commissioner Todd Kimball confirmed he and Dressler had met and said the project had evolved several times since 2018; he and others urged Dressler to submit a clarified, complete application package for the revised proposal. Lauren Prentice, appearing later in the meeting as the Community Development speaker, told commissioners she had provided Dressler a written list of items required for the revised submittal and that county staff had not received a complete package that would allow formal processing. Prentice said some recent submittals were incomplete and that staff would review materials promptly once everything arrives.
Dressler told commissioners he was “concerned about retribution” when raising problems, asked for the board’s assistance and provided the county a packet documenting communications and timelines. Commissioners thanked Dressler for bringing the materials and encouraged him to work with staff to resubmit the full, clarified package so reviewers could complete their work.
What happens next: Community Development staff said they would review a complete CUP application for the revised composting plan when Dressler files it, and the Planning Department offered to meet with him again to make sure the submission is complete.
Sources: Public comment by David Dressler and Community Development update by Lauren Prentice at the Nov. 3 Walla Walla County commissioners meeting.
