The Washington Growth Management Hearings Board has ruled that Clark County’s decision to convert 600 acres near Brush Prairie from farmland to light-industrial use was invalid.
The ruling, released Friday, favors local environmental group Friends of Clark County and Seattle-based interest group Futurewise. The Clark County council on Wednesday voted unanimously to appeal the decision.
The two environmentally focused organizations in June appealed Clark County’s unanimous approval of the creation of a Rural Industrial Land Bank, which would have taken longtime dairyman Dennis Lagler’s farm out of production and converted it to industrial land.
Proponents of the plan said the land bank would build jobs and attract large employers to Clark County, while critics argued that there is enough industrial land available already without removing farmland from production.
The hearings board found that state law would only have allowed Clark County to create a land bank by Dec. 1, 2004, not more than a decade later.
“The County did not have the authority to approve industrial land bank sites,” the board wrote in its decision.
The board could not rule, however, on Futurewise and Friends of Clark County’s allegations that the land bank would take agriculture land of long-term commercial significance out of production, or that the county failed to comply with requirements for industrial land banks. The board wrote that those matters were outside the scope of its authority.
Lagler, who originally applied for his property to be converted to light industrial, told the council earlier this year he was looking forward to seeing the project move ahead. Steve Horenstein, a local land-use attorney representing Lagler, said Wednesday that he was still considering the decision and trying to determine next steps.
Tim Trohimovich, director of legal planning for Futurewise, praised the decision, saying it will protect access to “fresh, healthy food” in Clark County.
“It’s been productively farmed for decades,” Trohimovich said. “The land around it is productively farmed. People in Clark County want to protect local food sources and local healthy food.”
Clark County, depending on the outcome of its appeal, must be in compliance with the state order by Nov. 9.
Morning Briefing Newsletter
Get a rundown of the latest local and regional news every Mon-Fri morning.
