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White Salmon narrows hearing-examiner authority in ordinance amendment; council approves garage sale and routine items
Summary
Council adopted Ordinance 2026-03-1185 amending municipal code to establish hearing-examiner procedures with a clarifying change limiting authority to matters expressly assigned in code; council also approved a citywide garage-sale resolution (with a two-day cleanup requirement and Spanish outreach) and passed routine consent items.
The White Salmon City Council on March 18 adopted Ordinance 2026-03-1185 to add a hearing-examiner process to municipal code, with a clarifying revision to subsection B(3) that the examiner’s authority applies only when the municipal code expressly assigns it.
Code Compliance Officer Jenne Patterson said the amendment fills a gap by creating a city-level hearing process for code compliance, improving consistency across departments. Council Member Doug Rainbolt raised concern that the draft language, particularly subsection B(3), “seems very broad and could allow the examiner to take on significantly more responsibilities beyond land use,” prompting council and staff to clarify that authority must be expressly granted in code.
Council moved to adopt the ordinance with the B(3) revision (moved by Doug Rainbolt, seconded by David Lindley). The motion carried 4-0.
In other business, the council approved Resolution 2026-03-642 to authorize a Citywide Garage Sale and directed outreach materials to include a requirement that items be removed from streets within two days following the event and to provide outreach in Spanish. The consent agenda was approved as amended, and vouchers totaling $376,062.37 were certified and approved.
