College Place council authorizes contract with JUB Engineers to update development regulations

The College Place City Council on May 26 unanimously authorized the community development director to execute a contract with JUB Engineers to update the city's development regulations and critical areas ordinance to ensure compliance with the Washington State Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A).

City staff said the work is a required follow-up to the comprehensive plan update and is intended to align College Place's development rules with recent state housing regulations and local best practices. "As part of our comprehensive plan update process, we're required to update our development regulations," Mr. Rickert said, adding that the city aims to make its rules easier to understand and enforce and competitively aligned with neighboring jurisdictions.

The motion to authorize the contract was made by Council Member Steckline and seconded by Council Member Bole; the council voted in favor with all members present voting yes. The authorization instructs the community development director to finalize the agreement with JUB Engineers and begin the regulatory review work.

Council discussion was brief and procedural. One council member noted a typographical error in the contract packet's draft title page and suggested correcting the misspelling of "development." Mr. Rickert said the project will include updating regulations adopted over the last five years of state policy changes and completing the work toward the end of the year.

The council recorded the statutory reference cited in the motion as RCW 36.70A, the Growth Management Act. The contract authorization directs staff to begin the consultant-led review, with subsequent ordinance changes expected to return to council for consideration before any rules take effect.