DAYTON—The first quarter of the year has been busy for the staff at the Columbia County Planning and Building Department. Planning Director Meagan Bailey outlined some of the projects her office is working on during a recent interview.

Land Swap

The planning office is working on an adjustment to Dayton’s urban growth area, involving a land swap. The plan is to incorporate additional land just outside Dayton’s east city limit into the UGA, which is expected to be developed in the next few years. A comparable amount of land just west of Dayton that’s currently in the UGA would be removed. This change would be incorporated into Dayton’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan update.

“The main benefit of the UGA swap is that the newly incorporated land could be annexed into the city, thus expanding the population and jurisdictional size of Dayton” Bailey said.

“It is not going to be as quick, or as soon as we originally hoped, just because of the complications with the Comprehensive Plan amendments,” she added. “At the time we didn’t have the funding to make it effective for the 2018 calendar year.”

A developer who owns land east of Syndicate Hill is said to be interested in developing more than 50 acres with a mix of housing types there. That land would be included in the land swap.

“We do have it in the city’s Comprehensive Plan as to what that land use should be. It is residential, so it does fit,” Bailey said.

Comprehensive Plan Update

Bailey said her office will receive grants from the state Dept. of Commerce for the City of Dayton, the Town of Starbuck and the county, for the 2020 Comprehensive Plan Update. Requests for qualifications will go out soon for a consultant to assist with that effort. The plan is to move forward with the consultant, with the county taking the lead for all three entities.

Bailey said her department will seek public input soon for the comp plan update.

Regulation Updates

The city planning commission is moving forward with drafting pre-zoning for annexed lands, Bailey said. The commission is also working on other ordinances to prepare for the potential annexation.

The county Planning Commission is working on updating the county’s planned unit development (PUD) code regulations and is expanding where they can be used. The PUD is a tool that allows more flexibility in land use, compared county-wide zoning codes, Bailey explained. The commission will hold a public hearing on the updates later this month.

“So instead of housing developments being used in a gridlock, it allows the flexibility to design it around a critical area, a steep slope, or existing features in the land, or allows for higher densities, which is a benefit for the developer and the county,” Bailey said.

Dayton is also working on developing PUD regulations, Bailey said, which it has never had before.

The county Planning Commission is working on updating the variance procedure to allow the planning commission to conduct a certain percentage of administrative variances, without requiring review by a hearings examiner.

Planning Commission Merger?

Bailey said there are no plans to merge the city and county planning commissions at this time. “I think the two planning commissions should have individuality within their jurisdictions,” she said. “The county/city differences just on the ground are unbelievable. The development regulation requirements through the state would be difficult. We would be insanely busy – swamped.

“The planning commissions are both very active and happy with how we’re moving forward,” she added.

Bailey said construction on the Columbia Pulp Plant near Lyons Ferry is moving along. “There have been a lot of special inspections. They’re still working on getting some final engineering on some of the buildings, which has pushed back their completion date a little bit,” she said. Construction is going well and they are on target to begin operations in November, she added.

Wind Turbine Upgrades

Bailey said that beginning in mid-2019, Pacificorp will move forward with repowering their existing wind turbines at the Marengo I and II Wind Energy facilities. The Planning Department is working with Pacificorp to amend the conditional use permits and is setting up for comments. Because the new blades will be longer than 360 ft., there will need to be a new SEPA review and a new avian study, she said.

Planning Commission Meetings

The city planning commission meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. The county planning commission meets on the second Monday of each month at 5:30 pm. Both meetings take place at the county Planning and Building Department at 114 S 2nd St. in Dayton.