The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - The City of Dayton and the Columbia County board of commis- sioners have begun discus- sions regarding the possibil- ity of once again combining planning services.

Last fall, Dayton ended an agreement in which it contracted with the county for planning. At the time, city council members said they felt city residents weren't receiving effective planning services from the county planning office. Columbia County continues to provide building inspection within the city.

Former Columbia Coun- ty Planner Kim Lyonnais was hired in November to be the city's part-time planner. Since that time, Columbia County Planner Richard Hendricksen has announced his retirement, effective April 30, and the county has begun the process of hiring his replacement.

Dayton Mayor Craig George said he approached the commissioners after their meeting on January 16 about the possibility recombining planning services.

"I think having one plan- ner, one assistant and one building inspector handling all of the county makes the most sense," George said.

George said his hope is that an agreement could be in place between Dayton and Columbia County by May 1. "It's important that everybody feels they are get- ting the services they need from any joint agreement," he said.

During a commissioners' meeting on February 6, Dayton City Council member Arthur Hall and City Manager Trina Cole asked the board to consider combin- ing planning services while making their hiring decision. Hall told the commissioners he felt they should strongly consider hiring someone who could act as an assistant in a combined planning office, with Lyonnais as the lead planner.

The commissioners also discussed with Hall and Cole the possibility of creating one combined planning commission for the city and county. The commission- ers told city officials they needed to investigate their options further and took no action at the meeting.

In an interview after the meeting, Commissioner Mike Talbott said he feels the board is definitely inter- ested in moving to combine the city and county planning commissions. Currently, the county and the city each have their own planning commission, and each has at least two vacancies. "Be- tween the two groups would easily have a full planning commission," Talbott said.

During the commissioners' meeting, Hall urged the board to include the city in reviewing candidates for their planner opening. "The city invited the county to take part in reviewing candi- dates for our opening," Hall said. "We hope they'll ex- tend us the same courtesy."

The planning agency for each entity conducts land use planning and zoning code enforcement, and establishes its comprehensive plan. The agencies also implement the requirements of the state's urban growth management act. In addition, they oversee other state and federal mandates, including the state's shoreline management act.

Each planning commission reviews requests for short plats and other property development, and also addresses potential zoning changes and variances. The commissions are recommending bodies only, with the city council or county commissioners making decisions based on commission recommendations. A com- bined planning commission would review planning is- sues for both the city and county, and would make recommendations to the applicable legislative body.

In an earlier interview, Mayor George said he felt the city and county might consider creating an independent building and planning agency to provide those services. This would be similar to the system cur- rently in place in Walla Wal- la County, where the county and the City of Walla Walla have created the Walla Walla Joint Community Develop- ment Agency, or WWJCDA. The WWJCDA is overseen by a board of directors that includes representatives of the city and county, as well as at-large members.

However, Talbott said that the commissioners were unlikely to consider such an agreement because the small size of the city and county couldn't justify the cost of creating a separate agency.

Talbott said he will meet with city officials in the near future to discuss options for combining planning. He intends to re-address the subject at the next regular board of commissioners meeting on February 20.