Although Washington state requires comprehensive plan updates before 2026, Clark County cities like La Center's process will be delayed until after March 2026due to the county's agricultural lands (AG) study. The La Center City Council reviewed the new timeline for its 2025 update during its Wednesday, Aug. 13 meeting.
Alec Egurrola of WSP, the city's consultant, described the draft schedule as "more of a realistic schedule because of the long delay of getting this AG study going by the county."
Clark County plans to release its draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on Oct. 1 for a 60-day public comment period. In the middle of that period, on Nov. 4, the county will publish findings from its AG study, which will determine whether land La Center wants to expand into can be removed from agricultural designation. The county's final EIS is expected March 31, after which the city could adopt its comprehensive plan update in April, May or June, but only if the AG study and EIS stay on schedule. Because state law gives counties authority over urban growth boundaries, La Center must wait for county approval before proceeding.
"We're kind of at the mercy of the county right now. It's per state law that urban growth boundaries are stipulated by the county, not by the cities, so we have to have the county's recognition of that to proceed as is," Egurrola said.
If the AG study supports removing certain areas from agricultural land, La Center aims to expand its urban growth boundary south of the La Center Road bridge toward Interstate 5, an area Mayor Tom Strobehn says is vital for attracting jobs.
Despite its upsides for cities like La Center, county officials, including Council Chair Sue Marshall, have warned the delay could put the area at risk of losing access to specific state grants if the state's Growth Management Hearings Board determines noncompliance with state law.
Council member KC Kasberg asked if the delay could have been avoided. The county council initially considered leaving the agricultural lands study out of its work plan. Still, La Center and Ridgefield officials pushed for its inclusion to support urban growth boundary expansions. The council approved adding the study on July 15, a date Mayor Tom Strobehn previously stated was far too late to keep the process on track.
"[If] they initially approved the act study to [begin] in January … the study would have been done by now, and we probably would have been adopting by December of this year when we were supposed to, or, into Janruary," Egurrola said.
The council has faced public pushback over its comprehensive plan work before. On June 25, a split vote narrowly approved subarea plans for downtown and Timmen Landing after a tense meeting marked by outbursts, overflow crowds and accusations of poor public outreach. Those plans, part of the larger Growth Management Act compliance process, mainly drew criticism over the pace of growth and infrastructure proposals.
Strobehn affirmed last week that the city's goal is to avoid surprises and plan ahead for growth, as mandated by the state.
"In 2005, the population of the city of La Center was 2,174. Twenty years later, we're right around 4,300," Strobehn said. "This is not something that we want to be surprised by."
He emphasized the city is not pursuing urban growth expansion north of La Center Road Bridge, but closer to Interstate-5 for job growth.
"...We already know the infrastructure here cannot sustain 1000 houses to the east or 10,000 houses to the north ...These are just plans that we are forced to do to stay in compliance with the state and still collect the tax revenue that we need in order to sustain the lifestyle that we are all accustomed to," Strobehn said.
"For whatever reason, we've [been] accused of being in the pocket of developers, and you know, it's absolutely not true," Kasberg added. "Housing developments create revenue for the city in the very short term … after that, it's a resource drain for the cities."
Council approves comprehensive plan updates
Alongside the timeline update, the council approved draft revisions to three elements of the comprehensive plan: transportation, capital facilities and utilities, and parks. The GMA requires these elements to be reviewed and updated to reflect population forecasts, infrastructure needs and changes to state law.
The transportation element includes a revised inventory draft of pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and street facilities, among several other code updates. Egurrola presented a draft map showing that La Center Road, Timmen Road, 339th Street, and Pacific Highway all have a high level of traffic stress due to "next to no facilities" for pedestrians and cyclists, combined with high traffic volumes. The updated road inventory can be used to outline the city's priorities for future traffic and infrastructure projects.
The capital facilities and utilities element adds green infrastructure planning, equitable access goals, and policies to maintain and update the city's stormwater management plan. The parks element incorporates findings from the city's 2024 Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan, and noted the need for 27 acres of community parkland and 8 acres of neighborhood parkland by 2045.
The council unanimously voted to forward these draft elements for future adoption, pending the county's revised timeline.
