Camas School District unveils 3-point plan for Leadbetter campus

In the first phase, district leaders hope to sell 9 surplus acres on the site’s eastern edge, near the intersection of Northwest Leadbetter Drive and Northwest Lake Road, on the open market for a possible mixed-use development offering housing and commercial uses.

The district’s Phase 1 plans show development standards that would include 75-foot setbacks; protection for the site’s mature trees; a three-story maximum building height; pedestrian connections to the community; retail shops with “outdoor community space”; and prohibitions on developments that include gas stations or “nuisance” businesses. The proposed mixed-use, multifamily housing development — which will still need to pass through the city of Camas’ zoning-change process and find an interested developer — could offer up to 222 housing units and between 10,000 and 20,000 square feet of commercial space and associated parking, as well as pedestrian pathways that connect to the Leadbetter campus.

Phase 1 also includes plans to build a new road through the surplus property, which would connect the campus entrance off Northwest Leadbetter Drive to Northwest Lake Road and offer parking for the future development.

The district plans to use the money it raises from the property sale to help fund the campus’ final two phases.

If all goes according to plan, the second phase of the Leadbetter campus development would create recreational and sports opportunities for Camas students and the community on the bulk of the 58-acre site.

According to the presentation shown to community members on Sept. 10, the proposed Phase 2 amenities include soccer, baseball, softball and mixed-use fields; a playground; an amphitheater; and interconnected walking trails.

Phase 3 would, according to the district’s handout, “build a future (secondary) school and finalize site development that will serve students and the community for generations to come.”

McEathron said earlier this month that although the district is planning to open a new school — most likely a high school — on the Leadbetter campus, the district likely has at least another decade before that plan comes into view.

In 2023, consultants with Educational Service District 112’s Construction Services Group encouraged Camas School District leaders to consider the former UL campus and the district’s Skyridge Middle School campus — located at 2600 N.W. Lake Road, west of the UL site — as “one entity.”

The combined UL site and Skyridge site make up the nearly 90-acre Leadbetter campus that currently houses Skyridge Middle School and the 30-year-old, 115,000-square-foot corporate office building that operated as UL offices and research facilities from 1994 to 2019.

The former UL site carries a business park zoning designation, which does allow for most recreational, educational, library, auditorium and commercial uses but will need to change to mixed-use zoning on the 9 acres of surplus land before the school district can proceed with its three-phase redevelopment plan.

District leaders said last week that development ideas stemmed from a collaborative effort that included input from the city of Camas, the Port of Camas-Washougal, the Columbia River Economic Development Council, local employers, athletic groups, the Camas Booster Club, student groups, district leaders and “the community at large, with an emphasis on direct engagement with neighboring property owners.”

In May 2023, consultants told Camas School District officials that the cost of renovating the former UL building would likely cost $46 million to $70 million.