Camas officials are gearing up to create a development plan for an area north of Lacamas Lake, and they’re turning to residents for their ideas first.
The city is in the first phase of planning for what is known as the North Shore subarea, focusing on gathering stakeholder and community outreach to create a vision and guiding principles for the project.
A second phase, which is expected to run from January to November 2020, will include preparation of land use and transportation alternatives, measures to implement the community vision and development of a technical advisory committee to guide the process.
The North Shore subarea encompasses about 800 acres and is generally bounded by Lacamas Lake to the south, city limits to the north, Northeast 232nd Avenue to the west and Everett Street to the east. The plan area will include North Shore land that was annexed into the city in 2008, as well as the Bridge Village area that includes existing commercial and residential land on either side of Everett Street north of the bridge.
Public Meeting
What: City of Camas community forum on the North Shore subarea plan.
When: 6 p.m. Thursday.
Where: Lacamas Lake Lodge, 227 N.W. Lake Road, Camas.
The next step in the process is a community forum at 6 p.m. Thursday at Lacamas Lake Lodge, 227 N.W. Lake Road. There is no scheduled end time for the event, which will provide a primer on subarea planning and an opportunity for residents to ask lead staff about the project. There will also be a visioning workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 17 at Camas High School, 26900 S.E. 15th St.
In the spring, the city will hold public workshops on the project at planning commission and city council meetings. A technical advisory committee will also hold meetings. In the summer, there will be more community workshops and forums to discuss draft plans, the city will send out an online survey and there will be another round of workshops at the planning commission and city council. In the fall, both the planning commission and city council will hold public hearings on the draft plan.
The North Shore is expected to be central to new development coming to Camas in the near future. The area already has Lacamas Lake Elementary School, which opened for the start of the 2018-2019 school year. City officials have also said they anticipate needing to build a fire station in the area to meet the growing population.
The subarea plan will look at how to develop the area to include parks, open spaces, shared-use paths and trails, protect natural areas and preserve land for employment and industry to bring more family-wage jobs to the city.
For more information, visit camasnorthshore.com.
