Washington County staff outline plan to replace 17 CPOs with four district groups; planning commission to serve as CCI

Chair Rachel Mori Bidu called the Washington County Planning Commission to order on April 1 and introduced a work session in which staff outlined board-directed changes to the countys community participation program.

Carol Johnson, the countys planning and development services manager, joined by Teresa Truniaak, community planning section manager, said the Board of Commissioners adopted resolution/order 26-14 directing a modernization of the program and asking staff to streamline and clarify how residents are engaged in land use planning.

"The planning commission will now fulfill that statutory requirement to have a CCI," Truniaak said, describing a shift that would move the Committee for Citizen/Community Involvement role to the Planning Commission. Staff said the change is consistent with practices in other Oregon jurisdictions and requires a state review process by the Land Conservation and Development Commission and the State Citizen Involvement Advisory Committee.

The boards direction, staff said, would replace the current network of 17 Community Participation Organizations with four community engagement groups aligned to the countys four commissioner districts. "The idea was to provide more clarity, an ability to provide information, to reduce barriers to participation and make a stronger connection with county decision makers," Truniaak said.

Staff described the countys role as primarily providing notice and information about land use applications and engagement opportunities, not directing how community groups choose to organize or respond. Johnson said the Office of Access and Opportunity (OAO) is leading outreach for the successor community engagement structure and that ordinance language will be drafted to leave recognized community engagement groups intentionally generic so OAOs future process can refine specifics.

Commissioner Carlson pressed staff on whether existing CPO participants many of whom have decades of institutional knowledge would be disenfranchised by the transition. Johnson and Truniaak said the OAO has a separate engagement timetable that will seek input over the summer, staff will continue to notify current CPO contacts about land use applications, and the ordinance references will remain broad so the new recognition and recruitment processes can be refined without cutting off notice now received by existing groups.

Staff also presented a fast-track schedule for the ordinance to implement the changes: file the ordinance by the end of April; 35 days after filing the first Planning Commission hearing could occur (staff set that date as June 3), with time for a second hearing in June if needed; and the Board consideration planned for July 7. Staff said that timeline preserves time for an engrossment path (additional hearings, including a night hearing) if changes are required, with an effective date aimed for early September.

Other items in the directors report included active online open houses for the community development code assessment and the Transportation Safety Action Plan through April 5; the boards first work session on the CC assessment April 28; a spring Development Forum on April 9; a CPACE presentation at a future meeting; and reminders that 2026 statements of economic interest are due April 15 and that the Oregon Active Transportation Summit is April 2224.

No formal motion or vote on the community participation structure occurred at the work session; staff said they will file ordinance language and return with required hearings and state review. The Planning Commission accepted the February 18, 2026 minutes without objection and adjourned.