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Douglas County adopts comprehensive plan amendment amid calls to wait for Clarion review
Summary
The Douglas County Board of County Commissioners approved a long-delayed update to the county27s comprehensive plan Monday, incorporating zoning districts adopted in 2019. Commissioners who opposed the vote said they wanted to await final recommendations from a still-incomplete Clarion diagnostic review.
The Douglas County Board of County Commissioners approved Comprehensive Plan Amendment AMDT 260009 and associated joint ordinance and county resolution at its May 6 business meeting, formally adding zoning districts the county and city adopted in 2019 into Plan 2040.
The amendment moves previously approved zoning district language into the county27s comprehensive plan so the two documents align. Commissioners said the update is largely technical and long overdue. During discussion, Commissioner Anderson said she remained concerned about timing, asking why the change could not wait for the Clarion diagnostic review27s final report. "I'm still just kind of curious," she said, noting the diagnostic review recommends updates to Plan 2040 and is not yet final.
Staff answered that the zoning districts were already adopted by ordinance in 2019 and that the current action primarily incorporates those adopted districts into the comprehensive plan documents. Planner Drew said the diagnostic review is a separate, multi-phase process that will require more public engagement before it results in substantive zoning adoptions.
Commissioners also probed specific zoning changes, including the difference between AG1 (pure agriculture) and AG2 (transitional agriculture). Staff described several uses allowed in AG2 by conditional use permit, including schools, daycares, religious institutions, boat/RV and self-storage, and indoor recreation facilities. Commissioners emphasized that the diagnostic review will provide a forum to revisit use cases and the community27s larger policy questions.
A motion to adopt the amendment was moved, seconded and passed at the meeting. One commissioner recorded opposition, saying the board should have waited for the Clarion review's final recommendations before adopting the changes.
The board will proceed with other elements of the diagnostic review later; staff said the zoning diagnostic will be a lengthier, separate public process before the county considers additional policy or code changes.
