County council clears way for development near Ridgefield

At its last regular meeting of the year, the Clark County Council removed a zoning overlay to allow much-anticipated development near Ridgefield, moved forward with a residential recycling rate increase, put weight restrictions on seven bridges and delayed taking action on a funding plan for new trails.

179th Street holdings

The council unanimously voted Tuesday to remove the urban holding zoning on about 40 acres near the N.E. 179th Street/Interstate 5 interchange.

The zoning designation curtails development and is used to phase in growth in a way that doesn’t overwhelm roads and infrastructure. During the meeting, county planner Matt Hermen said that this was the only area inside Vancouver’s urban growth boundary that has an urban holding.

The removal of the urban holding was possible with the approval of an accompanying agreement with developer Lance Killian to make infrastructure improvements to accommodate new housing developments. Killian intends to build 200 single-family units and 326 apartment units. The development will generate 402 vehicular trips during the evening rush hour.

“I can say one thing’s for certain, it’s been a long road to get here, but we’re happy to be here today,” said Killian.

The development has been in the works for years. Director of Community Planning Oliver Orjiako said that more requests are on their way, and that this is the first phase of developing the area.

Recycling rate increase

The council agreed to move forward with recycling rate increases requested by Waste Connections Inc., the county’s primary hauler and processor of waste and recycling.

Over the summer, the company approached the county with concerns that it was losing money on processing recyclable material. China, the largest end market for recyclable commodities, has pursued strict contamination requirements on imported materials, which has resulted in more costly operations and less revenue for Waste Connections and similar companies.

The move by the council allows Clark County Solid Waste to negotiate an increase with Waste Connections. While the amount of the charge will vary across the county, the company has indicated that it will be $2.44 per household per month.

Travis Dutton, a county program manager, didn’t have an exact amount of the increase. But he pointed to other Washington counties that had similarly increased their monthly household recycling rates that varied from $1.59 to $5.26.

County Manager Shawn Henessee said that he would return to the council once the rate had been finalized.

In a follow-up email, Dutton said that for some multifamily residents, the increase could be as low as $1 per household per month.

When asked if recycling service is mandatory, Dutton said it varies by jurisdiction.

“The way the code in written for Clark County is that if someone has subscribed to garbage collection pickup of at least once per month they must also subscribe for recycling collection service,” he said. “Currently in Clark County, Battle Ground, La Center, and Yacolt garbage collection is not mandatory, therefore there is no mandatory recycling subscription unless they voluntarily subscribe to garbage collection of at least once per month pickup. The cities of Vancouver, Camas, Washougal, and Ridgefield have their own codes about garbage and recycling service subscription, being mandatory for both within their city limits.”

Weight restrictions on bridges

Every two years, Clark County does an assessment of the 78 bridges it is responsible for maintaining, Public Works Director Ahmad Qayoumi told the council. In response to the conclusions of the most recent assessment, the county will now adjust its load rating for seven bridges:

• Southeast Evergreen Way over Gibbons Creek.

• Northeast Rock Creek Road over Rock Creek.

• Northeast 68th Street over Matney Creek.

• Northeast 182nd Avenue over Morgan Creek.

• Northeast 209th Street over Salmon Creek.

• Northeast 167th Avenue over Mud Creek.

• Northeast CC Landon Road over Yacolt Creek.

The weight restrictions are meant to reduce wear and tear, and they vary by bridge. The restrictions will affect vehicles for emergencies, hauling and other large vehicles. The county will be posting signs and doing outreach to notify those that are likely to be affected.

“I’ll just say, this really puts an exclamation point on aging infrastructure and how we pay for our roads,” said council Chair Marc Boldt, who added that more restrictions would be on the way.

Trail fees

The council put off an item that would have allowed developer fees to be used to build trails.

The county imposes park impact fees, one-time charges on construction projects that help pay for developing parks and open spaces, but not trails. As the desire for trails has grown, the county began looking for ways to fund them with the fees that could be used to leverage grants and other sources of funding.

“It increases so much potential in our county to have a really good trail system,” Kelsey Potter, a member of the Clark County Parks Advisory Board, told the council.

However, the council balked at the proposal because it would have added to the cost of the fees. In 2016, the county council agreed to begin steadily increasing park impact fees after remaining flat for years. The amount of fees paid varies. County figures show that the current average park impact fee of $3,182 would increase to $3,314 if trails were included.

“It looks like we’re double-dipping,” said Boldt.

County parks manager Bill Bjerke and Steve Duh, a consultant hired by the county, explained that the way the way the county code is written requires trail costs to be written into the formula used to determine the fee.

The council indicated it would return to the issue next year.