College Place officials push back after county workshop misstates city UGA application

College Place economic development staff told the City Council July 14 that Walla Walla County staff misrepresented the city’s UGA application at a county workshop and in a staff report released shortly before the hearing.

Mister Ricker, who presented the city’s economic development tracker, said the city had submitted extensive documentation and that county staff and a contracted consultant ‘‘did not remember’’ materials the city provided. ‘‘I was shocked,’’ he said, adding the staff report recommending denial arrived only days — he said possibly a day — before the meeting.

The issue centers on new guidance in the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) that county reviewers must consider all available UGAs in the county when assessing an expansion; Ricker said that change was adopted after College Place had already filed its application. He also said a county consultant who contributed to the staff report has authored a draft UGA guide and that the presentation “put us in a really bad light.”

Councilmembers pressed for a formal response. One member said the council should send a letter correcting factual errors and asked staff to coordinate outreach so commissioners see the documentation the city had submitted. Ricker said he had already requested clarification and planned to follow up with county staff; he noted the Department of Commerce provides a dispute-resolution process but said he was unsure whether it would be helpful in this case.

Why it matters: the UGA decision affects where College Place may grow and which parcels become eligible for development and state or regional transportation grants tied to demonstrated economic commitments. Ricker told the council that errors in how the county characterized the city’s submitted materials could disadvantage College Place’s application and argued the city needed an opportunity to present its case at a formal hearing.

Council next steps: councilmembers agreed to draft a corrective message to county leadership, consider asking for a hearing postponement to allow review of the submitted record, and to marshal support from commissioners and interested stakeholders. No final disciplinary or legal action was taken at the meeting; Ricker and the council said they would pursue clarification and potential dispute-resolution avenues.

The presentation and follow-up discussion also included general economic updates on retail and hotel site outreach, potential Transportation Improvement Board funding opportunities, and several local development sites under review. The council did not take a formal vote related to the UGA matter during the July 14 meeting.