Vision for Battle Ground: Navigators present their findings

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The Battle Ground Roadmap vision process hit one of its first major destinations on a tour through the future of the city as a group of community members presented their findings last week.

During the Dec. 3 Battle Ground City Council meeting, city staff alongside the Navigators — a group of 12 residents who were tasked with coming up with the start of a vision for the city — spoke about their previous months of work. Beginning in March the city has been working through updating its citywide long-term vision plan, something that hadn’t been looked at since 2001. 

Chief among the several different parts of the Navigators’ and staff’s report was a vision statement which hoped to see the city as “a vibrant, growing city that offers an unsurpassed quality of life for all residents, embracing its history, traditions and diversity.”

The vision statement speaks of a diversified economy, a flourishing downtown district, a focus on open space and trails and a celebration of the natural environment in and around the city.

The statement was the result of five workshop meetings of the Navigators as well as a community survey that received more than 2,000 responses.

Clark Worth, of consulting firm Barney & Worth, mentioned that in the survey four possible directions for the city were entertained: a melding of “Town and Country,” a “Family Friendly Enclave,” a “Gateway to Outdoor Adventure” or as a “Future Forward” city.

Worth said that all four directions presented in the survey received support, but the “Town and Country” direction received the most with more than half of respondents having it as their top preference.

Respondents underscored the preservation of a small-town identity while also wanting strong schools and park and recreation amenities, Worth explained. He mentioned the Navigators hosted an open house in November with more than 60 in attendance.

At the Dec. 3 meeting a few Navigators spoke, pointing out what interested them most in the process.

Navigator Stacy Kysar said she was specifically interested in Old Town Battle Ground revitalization. She noted that Old Town had a small industry in antique and upcycled retailers, something she wanted to be “encouraged and enhanced” in the future.



“The downtown area of a city is kind of like the living room. It’s the first face that visitors, future investors, future residents may see,” Kysar, a landscape architect, said. 

Navigator Josie Calderon said she was satisfied with the community involvement and transparency through the visioning process.

“Hopefully this will be able to give us more of a viewpoint as a people,” Calderon remarked.

Navigator Kevin Tapani said that having grown up in Battle Ground it was enjoyable to be able to work on what the city’s vision would be. Tapani, vice president and chief financial officer for Tapani Inc., said his focus was on seeing how businesses like his could grow in the future — land use and transportation are key points in the next phase of the visioning process.

Tapani touched on one of the ideas floated in the community survey, that of the future of the current Battle Ground High School as a community center. 

“We could have a central area with … activities and trails, things for kids to do and maybe some shopping right downtown where that school is sitting right now,” Tapani said.

Mayor Mike Dalesandro mentioned that branding wasn’t too prevalent in the report. Interim City Manager Erin Erdman said that community feedback didn’t have a high priority for branding such as a city slogan or new logo.

Dalesandro said for the next step it was important to continue to communicate with the community, asking about a task force outside of the planning commission to “continue to navigate through this” in the future. Erdman said the Navigators had talked about continuing an advisory group moving forward, with a rough idea of having six members.

The next step would be for a “Land Use Refinement Project & Transportation System Plan Update,” as a request for proposals published by the city Dec. 6 calls it. Erdman said the goal was to select a firm in February to start on the project which will take about a year and a half.