White Salmon council approves Planning Commission work plan, prioritizing shared utilities

The White Salmon City Council on Feb. 4 approved the Planning Commission’s 2026 work plan and designated shared utilities as the commission’s top priority.

Planner Rowan Fairfield presented the work plan and summarized prior feedback, saying the Commission saw strong interest in advancing shared utilities while other items such as trash-can nuisances and e-bike regulations fell outside the Commission’s jurisdiction. Council members discussed scope, staffing, outreach and legal limits on code changes.

Council Member Doug Rainbolt urged prioritizing shared utilities and raised concerns about proportionality in service development charges. Planning Commission Chair Carl Trabant said shared utilities “are allowed under State code,” recommended that public input occur during regular Planning Commission meetings to avoid Open Public Meetings Act and ex parte issues, and cautioned that a full multi-title code review would create major workload risk.

Councilors debated who would lead each activity and whether the Council should prescribe outreach methods. Council reached consensus to remove Activities 2, 3 and 6 from the Commission list and to retain Activities 1 (shared utilities), 4 (preapproved building plans), 5 (downtown parking subject to Council input) and 7 (short-term rentals in commercial zones). Ben Giant clarified that, aside from Activity 1, remaining items were intentionally left unranked so the Commission and staff could sequence work according to capacity.

The motion to approve the work plan, moved by Ben Giant and seconded by David Lindley, passed 4-0. Mayor Pro Tem David Lindley suggested a mid-year check-in to assess progress.