The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON—With no immediate plan to replace Planning Director Karen Scharer, who is no longer employed by the city, and with the news that Columbia Pulp is moving forward with its development plans, local officials have been scrambling to put together a seamless plan for providing planning and building services, in the county, and in the city.

On Aug. 9, County Planning Director Kim Lyonnaise told the county commissioners that his office is much busier than usual.

He said that one day he yelled out of his office, to Greg Abramson and Meagan Bailey, “We’ve got a line out front!”

On Tuesday of that week, a developer came in to the office inquiring about a 10-lot subdivision outside the Starbuck city limits, which will require some rezoning, he said.

There is also an application in the works for the development of a nine-lot subdivision inside Starbuck city limits, he said.

Lyonnaise said a new planning review of the pulp mill may need to be completed because there have been some changes to the code since it was last reviewed. The mill contractors would like an RV park for their construction workers and some zoning needs to be “cleaned up” for a new business in Dayton.

And if all of that isn’t enough, Lyonnaise said his office will need to begin scheduling inspections at the pulp mill in the near future.

“So, here we go!” Lyonnaise told the commissioners.

And while this is an exciting time for him, he has several concerns going forward, including time constraints and having enough staff to do the work, as well as achieving good communication between the city and the county.

Other questions keeping Lyonnaise up at night are what happens with the two planning commissions, and whether the respective comprehensive plans should complement each other.

Lyonnaise said decisions need to be made collaboratively, so as not to replicate review and background, he said.

“We need to represent the city. We need to be there for economic development meetings, and be there when asked,” Lyonnaise told the commissioners.

Regarding regional development Lyonnaise said, “The only way we can create an urban growth area is growth, and we don’t have it, so our existing Urban Growth Areas are designated, and that’s what we’re going to have to live with, and fill up first.”

Lyonnaise said there are 27-acres in the existing UGA that are not usable for development because of their location adjacent to the river and flood plain, and he has asked the state to allow those acres to be developed elsewhere. He said it would be ideal if they could be added to the 40 acres on Syndicate Hill, since the city will be developing utilities there.

“We need the city at the table. It would expedite some responsibilities and considerations about growth and which way we go,” he said. “I think we could save time on some things.”

Lyonnaise said he sees the need for a vision and goals, going forward, and he sees the need for a visioning exercise to receive community input about development.

“Within a month we will have a feel for this,” Lyonnaise predicted.

On Monday, the Dayton City Council decided in favor of a six-month interlocal agreement with the county, to provide the city with planning and building services.

City Administrator Trina Cole said doing so would save $50,000 in the current expense budget and would eliminate the likelihood of cuts to essential services.

County Commissioner Norm Passmore, who was at Monday’s city council meeting, said the commissioners see collaborative efforts as a good way to help the county achieve financial stability, also.

While joining forces for planning and building services has been tried before, with limited success, city and county officials are saying they feel positive about this collaboration.

Cole said she will work with the city attorney to craft the interlocal agreement, which should be ready for final approval in October.