Last week, the City of Ridgefield held its second open house to gather community feedback for Envision Ridgefield 2045, an initiative to update the city’s plan for future growth.
Residents still have until Oct. 4 to submit feedback online at ridgefieldroundtable.org.
Under the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA), Ridgefield must approve a plan by 2025 to address development needs for the next 20 years. This plan will outline how the city will meet projected housing and employment demands based on estimates provided by the county.
The City of Ridgefield is actively seeking input from the community to shape the plan’s goals and policies. Last spring, the city hosted an open house and conducted an online survey, which received over 330 responses. From this feedback, consultants identified five key vision themes to guide the framework of the city’s comprehensive plan:
• Maintaining Ridgefield’s small-town charm
• Improving livability through growth and infrastructure
• Enriching community health and well-being with amenities, services, and facilities
• Supporting inclusive and transparent city planning practices
During a Tuesday, Sept. 10, open house, over a dozen residents shared their thoughts on how the city should incorporate these five themes into its 20-year growth plan. In table groups, attendees discussed their ideas with city staff and consultants.
Eric Connelly, a longtime Ridgefield resident, said he believes feedback is crucial to maintaining Ridgefield’s charm during a period of growth. He noted that Ridgefield has already made strides in planning new amenities, such as the recently-opened Costco and the YMCA set to open in 2026. Connelly also suggested that light-manufacturing facilities in undeveloped areas could be beneficial, as they could bring more jobs to the community. With the new Clark College Ridgefield satellite campus set to launch manufacturing programs in fall 2025, he believes manufacturing jobs could attract employment from graduates. Additionally, Connelly expressed hope that the city may support the development of elder care institutions, allowing older residents to downsize while remaining in Ridgefield.
“It’s really hard to [grow] and still maintain kind of a cohesive community feel … I think that community involvement is what holds the people that are managing the growth accountable to retain the quality of life in the community that we have,” Connelly said.
Participants at the open house also provided feedback on which areas of Ridgefield should grow or remain preserved. Using stickers, residents mapped out where development should be prioritized or slowed, and identified potential locations for 250 affordable housing units, which are expected to be required by Clark County. Although ideas on where to implement growth varied, the general consensus was to limit development near natural areas, particularly places near the Wildlife Refuge and Gee Creek.
“It’s the reason that a lot of us came here in the first place. … We need to be close enough to the urban vitality of Vancouver and Portland in order to have that economic engine, but yet [we] want to be connected to nature,” Connelly said.
An online questionnaire is available until Friday, Oct. 4, at ridgefieldroundtable.org, allowing participants to share feedback on how the city should implement the community’s vision. The site also includes an interactive map for residents to suggest areas where growth should be limited or increased and to propose locations for higher-density, low-income housing. The Ridgefield City Council will review community feedback prior to its plan adoption in late 2024.
