A map of the land removed from urban holding by a council vote Dec. 18.
Development on the east side of the Interstate 5/Northeast 179th Street interchange received a push from the Clark County Council as they voted to remove a restriction on 40 acres of land, clearing the way for more than 500 residential units during their last major meeting of the year.
The council voted 4-0 to remove the urban holding overlay off of parcels to the north of Northeast 179th Street and east of Northeast 10th Avenue Dec. 18. Councilor John Blom was absent.
The urban holding overlay prevents development on parcels before adequate transportation improvements have been determined to be “reasonably funded” in the area to mitigate impacts from new activity. Clark County Community Planning Director Oliver Orjiako said that land around the I-5/179th Street interchange were the only parcels within Vancouver’s growth boundary in urban holding, including the 40 acres in question.
Matt Hermen, a planner with the county, explained that the developer, Killian Pacific, was planning 200 single-family detached homes as well as 326 apartment units for the area. He said they would generate around 400 automobile trips during the peak evening weekday hour.
The county’s agreement with Killian Pacific ensures continued cooperation between the developer on the overall development plan for the I-5/179th Street interchange area. Among other provisions in the agreement, a dedicated right-turn lane would be constructed allowing turns from Northeast 179th Street onto Northeast 15th Avenue.
Lance Killian, president of developer Killian Pacific, briefly spoke before council, saying “it’s been a long road” to get to the approval of the agreement.
“Finally we get a path forward,” Clark County Councilor Julie Olson remarked. Olson’s constituent district includes the land subject to the removal.
Orjiako said the item was the first in a series of phases to release the holding designation in the area. As far as the next phases in developing around the interchange, a public hearing in front of the planning commission for “phase two” is set for February. The hearing was continued from a November meeting at the request of county staff and the applicant for urban holding removal on the properties in question.
At the November planning commission hearing, Hermen explained that staff wished to take the time to conduct a financial analysis for funding of transportation improvements needed to remove the urban holding on the property in question.
That development, applied for by Holt Homes, was about 143 acres largely to the northwest of the Northeast 179th Street/Northeast 50th Avenue intersection and would feature more than 600 single-family homes and close to 100 townhomes, according to a staff report. Initially, the staff’s recommendation was to deny the removal of urban holding at that time.
Washington State Department of Transportation, among others, has shown concern over the need for transportation improvements to be reasonably funded. A WSDOT letter notes that $50 million in funding earmarked for interchange improvements won’t be available until 2023 and the work wouldn’t be in place until 2028.
For the removal approved Dec. 18, county staff indicated they felt the improvements for that 40-acre development were reasonably funded.
