Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Douglas County holds Comprehensive Plan Outreach, seeks further input

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Douglas County Services building to host an outreach night for residents of the county on June 25, to both provide an update on activities already underway and to explain the process of developing the state-mandated Comprehensive Plan.

The Comprehensive Plan is a 20-year vision that covers all manner of activities in Douglas County, including land use, zoning code, housing, transportation, utilities, hazard mitigation and more. And although the scope of the Plan covers two decades, for the sake of keeping up with changing demographics and needs, and a revolving panel of commissioners and planners, planners convene every ten years to see if the long-term Plan still applies in the same way as when it was implemented, and make changes as necessary.

We reported in May that the panel was seeking public input, and that seemed to be what most of the resident attendees that came to Wednesday’s outreach meeting thought was the reason they were there. That was true, in part, but a survey issued earlier this year has already informed much of the direction that the commission intends to pursue.

The assembled panel, including Kazi Haque, the Director of Land Services for Douglas County, explained to the assembled group that the time for input prior to the planning process, other than ongoing concerns, was addressed with the survey, of which the panel then discussed the results.

A relatively low number of responses came in — just 139 through the survey website that the planning commission — with zero representation from residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino.

But of those who did respond, the answers they gave were quite telling. When asked what qualities they loved about Douglas County, the top two responses were “Quality of life, image and identity,” and “Parks, open spaces, recreation and the environment.”

However, when asked their greatest concerns about Douglas County, the top two responses were “Economic development and job growth,” and “The lack of affordable housing.” The latter, the panel said, became the primary focus of the planning commission’s aim and intent with this Comprehensive Plan update, since an increase in affordable housing by nature enhances the former: Jobs and the economy are grown when people can afford to live where they work.

Types of housing is where the demographic results of the survey likely came into play most of all. The vast majority of respondents said they’d like to see more single-family homes, followed by duplexes and triplexes and small (4–8 unit) apartment complexes, then accessory dwelling units (ADUs) — garage apartments or “mother-in-law” houses — and finally townhomes, followed by age-restricted communities.

Large apartment complexes came in dead last in terms of the kind of housing construction the respondents wanted to see built in the area. Because this is the Douglas County Comprehensive Plan and not just the City of East Wenatchee, it’s likely that many of those respondents will get exactly what they say they wanted, in probably that order of importance. A large number of the people represented at the outreach meeting, for example, lived in Rock Island, not on Valley Mall Parkway.

Of course, the planning commission is constrained by existing law, as well. Housing increases in the county are limited to non-agricultural areas, while mid-level housing like apartments and townhomes are restricted to the Urban Growth Area (UGA). Some types of housing can exist in either area, like ADUs, so long as they conform to the restrictions of each. And regardless of whether it’s within the city or the county, housing expansion must include existing water, sewer and utility lines unless and until the UGA itself is expanded.

But it’s not just housing growth. Resource and farmland protection, critical area protection and other matters are managed at the state level, which is why Washington passed the Growth Management Act back in 1990 that precipitates the Comprehensive Plan.

Still, residents in attendance at the meeting were concerned with rezoning their own properties in ways not currently supported by state or municipal code, and that’s what they aimed to change. One landowner, Bob Koenig, was worried that opinions of outsiders would have undue influence on decision-making. “No offense to you guys, but, I presume you’re from the West side,” he said to one planner, “and you’re the ones looking at all this data and saying ‘this is an area that needs to be developed and this isn’t.’ And you don’t even live here.”

But Bob asked the million-dollar question: “I want to know how you’re going to get more feedback from the people that live here.” The answer to that, of course, is in Mr. Koenig’s presence at the meeting. The more people that participate in this process, the more of a voice locals will have in decision-making.

“We need to hear from the community,” said Tanner Ackley, one of the principal planners for the County. “And everybody within the community. We, from the county, obviously, we don’t have jurisdiction or do any sort of business within the city limits. But community members within the city limits should be involved in county business as well. This is your community. I’m a Rock Island resident as well,” he told another attendee, “but a lot of this interests me because it may impact my family for generations. I want to make sure they have housing and childcare, food, I want to make sure our agriculture is maintained and that small farms and businesses can stay intact.”

The planners have until the end of next year to finish the plan and implement it. The survey is still up and available at any time, and the planning commission always welcomes input and ideas.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media

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