Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Okay. Good evening, commissioners, planning commission, public, and staff. I would like to call this hybrid, public hearing to order for Thursday, 03/19/2026. My name is Carl Johnson. I'm the chairman of the Clark County Planning Commission.

The role of the Planning Commission is to review and analyze comprehensive plan amendments, zoning changes, and other land use related issues. We follow a public process, including holding hearings during which the public has the opportunity to provide additional perspectives and information. In legislative matters, the role of the Planning Commission is advisory. County Council will hold separate hearings, consider our recommendations, and then they will make the final determination. The planning commission will conduct a public hearing tonight and take testimony.

All public comments received before tonight's hearing have been sent to PC members and entered into the public record. County staff will first present first and then the planning commission can ask questions. Next, we'll invite the applicant to speak if there is one and then the members of the public who wish to provide testimony. When we get to the public comment portions of our agenda, we will provide more information on how to participate both virtually and in person. However, if you are in person tonight and wish to provide a comment on a hearing agenda item, please sign up via the sign in sheet at the back of the room.

During public testimony, you have three minutes to speak and remarks should be directed to the Planning Commission only. Please do not repeat testimony that has already been provided. At the conclusion of the public testimony, staff and the applicant may respond to the comments, and the public portion of the hearing will then be closed. The planning commission will then deliberate and make a recommendation to the city county council. For both virtual and in person, members of the planning commission and staff, please ensure that your microphones are muted unless you are speaking.

Planning commission members, when you make a motion or a second motion, please state your name for the court reporter. Conflicts of interest. Do any members of the Planning Commission have any conflict of interest related to tonight's hearing items?

Hearing

or seeing none, we will move on to a roll call and introduction of guests. Did I miss one? Okay. Jeff, can we get a roll call then right

now? Brian Halbert?

Here.

Mark Bergfeld? Here. Kyle Fadness? Here. Ron Barca? Jack Haroun? Here. Alicia with Duke Montgomery?

Here. Carl Johnson?

Here. With that said, we'll move into general business. Can I get approval for the agenda? Excuse me. A motion and a second for the approval of the agenda for 03/19/2026.

Commissioner Halbert. Montgomery. I will move.

Commissioner Halbert, I will second that motion.

We have a motion and a second. Jeff, can we get a roll call, please?

Brian Halbert. Aye. Mark Bergfeld. Aye.

Kyle Fadness? Aye. Jack Haroon?

Aye. Alicia Wood Duke Montgomery?

Aye.

Carl Johnson? Aye. Six zero.

Motion passes. Next up, can we get a motion and a second for the approval of minutes for 01/15/2026?

This is commissioner Burkfeld. I'll make a motion to approve those minutes.

Commissioner Heroun, I'll second. We have a motion and a second. Jeff, can we

Brian Halbert? Aye. Bark Bergfeld?

Aye.

Kyle Fadness? Aye. Jack Heroun?

Aye. Alicia LaDuke Montgomery?

Abstain. I don't think I was there.

Carl Johnson? Aye. Five zero with one abstention.

Finally, can we get approval for the minutes for 01/29/2026?

This is commissioner Burkfeld again. I'll go ahead and approve those minutes. Make a motion to approve.

Commissioner Fadden a second. We have a motion and a second. Jeff, can we get a roll call?

Brian Halbert? Aye. Mark Bergfeld?

Aye. Kyle Vednis?

Aye. Jack Haroun? Aye. Alicia with Duke Montgomery?

Aye. Carl Johnson?

Aye. Six zero.

Motion passes. Next section is communication from the public. This is for items that are not listed on our agenda. Is there anybody from the public that wishes to speak on any items that are not listed on our agenda?

I don't

see now. Is there any from another? Okay, Jeff. We'll skip the section right now and move on to the next part. Again, we are now going to the main section of it. If you are providing public testimony in person, we need you to sign up in the sheet in the back of the room. If you're joining, remotely, instructions will be provided at the appropriate time by staff. So first up, we have open space application staff present presenters will be Hunter Decker, Clark County, Forrester. Gentlemen.

Good evening, planning commissioners. Again, my name is Hunter Decker, the Clark County Forester for Public Works. And tonight, I'm presenting the 2025 current use assessment request for the open space classification, which, will become effective for the 2026 assessment year if approved by council. I'll briefly go over the program background and the applicable criteria and then the three applications that staff reviewed this year. Next slide, please.

So the open space program, originates from the Open Space Taxation Act, which was created by the Washington state legislator to, maintain, preserve, and conserve open space lands for the benefit of natural resources, scenic beauty, and the overall well-being of the public. The program is governed by state law under RCW 84 dot 34 and WAC four fifty eight dash 30 along with Clark County code 3.08. And the state program includes three classifications, open space land, which we will be reviewing tonight. Then there is also farm and agriculture land, which is not part of the review tonight, and also Timberland, was merged with the designated forest land program in 2024. So tonight's presentation only addresses the open space classifications, not farm or timber classifications.

Next slide, please. The current use applications are reviewed jointly with the assessor's office and our public works departments. Applications are typically submitted toward the end of the calendar year preceding the assessment year. And then their requests are processed in the same manner as the comprehensive plan amendment as required by RCW eighty four thirty four, dot o three seven. So this means that the request must, be reviewed by the Planning Commission before being forwarded to the Clark County Council for final approval.

And this is the thirty fifth year that Clark County has reviewed these current use assessment applications. Next slide, please. So again, the current use program has been in place since 1970. And historically, Clark County, we've enrolled thousands of acres into the open space classification. So for example, here in 2019, you know, there was 8,796 acres across 582 owners.

And then as of 2026, there's 4,000 acres 4,625 acres across 245 owners. So the table kinda shows the difference there with the market value and current use value, which reflects the tax incentive provided for landowners who preserve these qualifying open space resources. Next slide, please. So Clark County code identifies several categories that can qualify for open space. These include the conservation enhancement of natural resources, the stream protection, soil conservation, enhancement of recreational opportunities, and historical sites.

These local categories align with the broader intent of the state's open space program, which focuses on, you know, protecting the environmental resources, the scenic landscapes, wildlife habitat, and other historical significant areas. Next slide, please. And so for the twenty twenty twenty twenty five review cycle, the county received three open space classification applications. After, review, we determined that two of the applications qualify for historical sites under Clark County code 3.08 o six o. And then the, last one qualifies for stream protection under Clark County code 3.0804.

And the current use fee is $2,282 which includes the processing fee and review fee. Next slide, please. There are several key criteria that are required for all open space applications and for the classification itself. First, the parcel size requirements under the code require them to be at least 10 contiguous acres excluded of one acre homesite unless the application qualifies under special categories such as historical sites. Second, all open space tracks must comply with our Clark County's noxious weed control program, which is administered by our county's vegetation management program.

So as long as they maintain their property with the accordance with our county's weed control requirements, they would qualify. Next slide, please. So the first, the historical site category allows lands and lands that contain the structures or sites of historical significance to qualify. And so they must be listed on a local, state, or national historical register, and the property must be protected as such. Unlike other open space categories, these historical tracks may be smaller than five acres, provided that they meet the requirements.

Next slide, please. So the first application is, the William Frederick Kaufman house. The applicant's requesting 0.52 acres, and it's located at 8104 Northeast 10 7th Avenue. The on-site review confirmed the presence of the William Frederick Kaufman House that was built in 1912 and is listed on our Clark County's register. Because the structure is recognized and meets the criteria, staff recommends approval of the 0.52 acres.

Next slide, please. This slide shows the location of the Kaufman House property within the county along with the aerial imagery and the specific parcel that's proposed for the classification there. Next slide, please. And then these photos are show the pictures of the structure and courtesy of our county's GIS system. Next slide, please.

The second application is for the bakery building that's located at 506 Washington Street in Vancouver. The applicants requested 0.09 acres for the open space classification. Historically, the building housed a blacksmith and machinist shop in the late eighteen hundreds and later became a royal became the Royal Bakery Baking Company in 1911. The building's listed on the Clark County's heritage register and therefore meets the criteria for our open space preservation, and staff recommends approval of the 0.09 acres. Next slide, please.

And this slide shows the location of the bakery building downtown Vancouver, along with the parcel that's outlined. Next slide, please. These images are show the historic and the compared to its current condition today. Next slide, please. So the final category that's relevant tonight is the stream protection under Clark County code three point zero eight point zero four zero.

This classification designations for land that protects streams, water resources, or shorelines of the state, and qualifying tracks must be contiguous to or straddling major streams designated as shorelines of the state or identified in the county's shoreline master program. Next slide, please. So the last application located at 19502 Northeast 19th Street is the open space classification under stream protection for a portion of this larger outlined in the yellow is a 38 acre parcel. Think it's on the next slide I talk about. Yeah.

So, and so as shown here, it's along the Lackamas Creek, area, which is designated shoreline of the state, and it's regulated under the county's shoreline master program. The highlighted area represents the portion where the corridor and the associated vegetation along the creek had been evaluated for the compliance of the code. Next slide, please. And so the kind of the key code for this is looking at the minimum 10 contiguous acres for open space exclusive of a home site. And so during the from from the time of the our work session and to the hearing and then making new maps, the county's GIS system had remapped the parcels.

So it it came up to a a you know, originally, it was submitted 11.43 acres. But, you know, during the updated records, the two parcels are there are now two parcels that total 11.37 acres. So under our Clark County code three point zero eight point zero four zero, stream protection classification applies to tracks that are contiguous to or straddle shorelines of the state, which the site does. An important distinction here is that the shoreline management area itself is less than 10 acres, but the code does not require the shoreline polygon to independently meet the minimum acreage threshold. Instead, the minimum acreage applies to the track being classified.

Additionally, because the property was created through the subdivision, 0.080.09 requires each lot or parcel to meet the the 10 acre minimum. So which here is satisfied. So based on this, the proposed 11.37 acre track meets all the applicable criteria and staff recommends approval of the 11.37 acres. Next slide, please. And so here's a little closer look of how the acreage is configured of the 11.37 acres.

You see the, 7.43 acre, parcel in the upper portion and then the 3.94 acre, there on the lower side. So these tracks together meet that 11.37 acres. Next slide, please. And that concludes the presentation tonight and happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

Okay. Question for staff. Just make sure you let our recorder know who's speaking. And, of course, slowly. Any questions? This is commissioner Haroun. Just a quick question. On slide four, I feel I was just reading it just more curiosity. The open space land in 2019 was 8,796 acres, and twenties '26 is, like, half of that is so we've actually gone backwards from open space classification. Is that what am I reading that correctly? Or

So it I wouldn't say backwards, but, you know, every transaction between, you know, landowners, sellers, buyers, they have the opportunity to continue the use. And so when people do land transactions and if they were in open space, they may have opted out and paid the back taxes. Pay the back taxes.

Yeah. You.

Any other questions?

Yeah, Hunter. Commissioner Halbert here. Just on back to Fairview Slope, Lot 12. So will that be an independent track from all the other tracks that are in that subdivision? Or will there be two tracks or just one track?

Yeah. It would be so in our GIS system, it would still be two parcels. But for the open space classification, it'd be one tract.

Gotcha. But it's it is a tract or it's a it's a parcel that is identifiable. Yeah.

So it would be in GIS, it would be identified as two independent tax parcels, both with the current use classification applied to them.

Fair. Thanks.

Any other questions from commission? Okay. With that said, we'll bring it back. We'll now hear public testimony for tonight's hearing. Oral testimony should be directed at the planning commission. The planning commission will consider all public comments as they deliberate and vote on the recommendation of the council. So we'll start off. Is there anybody that was there any sign up sheet? There's one person who wants to speak. One person wants to speak. Okay. So we'll start with that public testimony. I'll bring that person up. Do we have any other comment? Yeah. Go ahead, sir. And make sure you state your name, please.

Good evening. My name is Spencer I'm a

pioneer or a power manager. I can't hear him.

Is this better? Okay.

Let me start it. Your name again so further. Sure.

Alright. Good evening. My name is Spencer Vetter. I'm a project manager for Pacific Lifestyle Homes. I worked on developing this property. I wanna thank the commissioners for allowing me this time to talk and thank you to Kevin and Hunter for putting these slides together. I'll keep my comments brief, but I first wanted to touch on the two parcels. They were created as two parcels because this subdivision was originally proposed as a three phase subdivision. So these are we plotted two phases together. So this is a track from a Phase one and from a Phase two.

It would otherwise be managed the same managed the same way by the HOA company. A little bit more fleshing out on this project is this open space will be a benefit to the future residents for their enjoyment. It was previously farmed by the Schnell family and this is a continuation of that space. If there are any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Any questions at the applicant? Okay. Thank you very much, sir. Appreciate your comments. Can he spell Could you last name, please?

Yeah. Thank you. It's Vetter, v as in Victor, e t t e r.

Thank you, sir. Okay. With that said, there's only that was the only one on the list. Okay. Do we have any online? Okay. With none back online. We'll bring it back to the Planning Commission for deliberations. Are there any comments from the Planning Commission regarding this? Or I would signal for a motion or a second, if you'd like.

I like that. The applicants are taking advantage of these tax incentives to preserve their open space and their that single family or that residence and that building downtown. I think this is a great program to help them continue to maintain some of our historic buildings and properties around. Great, great program. Thank you.

Anybody? We've lost, okay. That said, I'd say where I like the historical pictures too. Thanks for that. Mean, it just gives me a better, mean, I'm sure it's the same, but I was like, oh, that's really trippy kind of what it was in the history of it. So it was nice, a good presentation. Thank you. It's always good to see you guys. Appreciate your time. With that said, would unless someone else would like to comment, I'd be considerate a motion.

This is Commissioner Fadness. I move to approve the three requests as presented.

Is commissioner Haroun a second? Vote.

I'll second.

We have many seconds. Cindy, you can choose one. With that said, we have a motion and a second. Jeff, can we get a roll call, please?

Ryan Halpert? Aye. Mark Bergvold?

Aye. Kyle Fadness?

Aye. Jack Caroon?

Aye. Alicia with Duke Montgomery?

Aye. Carl Johnson? Aye. Six zero.

Motion passes. With that said, we'll go to number five. Is there any, unfinished business?

This is Leduc Montgomery. I just wanted to correct. Earlier when we were approving prior minutes, I miss poke saying I wasn't at one of the meetings, and it was actually the March 5 work session I wasn't at. I don't think we need to revote on anything. I just wanted to correct my own misstatement.

So if we could correct correct that for the record, sir. Thank you. No problem. Is there any new business comments from members of the planning commission? Just for me and and, again, I know for for me, have spring break coming up for as a teacher. So April and I I know I've talked to kinda Jeff about just a general concept. And, Jeff, you can always correct me here if you want to. But it looks like the we will not have a hearing tentatively right now or a work session until the April 16, and then we would have a hearing based on whatever Jose or Oliver said. Correct?

You're correct. We are not having any meetings on April 2. We may be having a work session on April 16, and we will definitely be having a work session and a hearing in May. So right now, that's the current schedule. We will let you all know next week if we will be having a work session on April 16.

Awesome. Thank you, Jeff. Just to plan your lives ahead, is that all I wanted to do? So with that said, if there's nothing else, we'll call for an adjournment. Good to see everybody. Hope you have a great week. Bye.