Update: The Clark County council voted to delay its decision on the preferred alternative, putting the final decision off to Nov. 24. Visit Columbian.com this evening for full coverage of today’s county council meeting.
The fate of zoning in rural Clark County rests today in the hands of the county councilors.
After months of deliberating and planning, the council will vote on its preferred alternative to the Comprehensive Growth Management Plan, a 20-year plan for population and job growth in Clark County. The issue to watch will be Alternative 4, a proposal by Councilor David Madore that would allow for smaller rural, agriculture and forest lots across rural Clark County.
Though the planning commission rejected smaller lots, including all of Alternative 4, in its recommendations to the county council last month, Madore appears intent on pursuing the plan. Some rural land owners say the ability to subdivide their property into smaller lots will grant them more freedom, but the plan has been criticized by a gamut of public officials and private citizens, including farmers, city officials and land-use attorneys. Acting County Manager Mark McCauley recently revealed that Madore was developing his own version of the county’s preferred alternative behind closed doors.
