The city of Woodland and Cowlitz County have approved an agreement that helps plan ahead for the development of the Woodland Bottoms.
Both the Woodland City Council and the Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners approved the agreement during their respective meetings last week. The agreement lays out the tasks and resources both the city and county will put forth in the planning effort of The Bottoms.
The Bottoms comprises unincorporated land in Cowlitz County to the southwest of Woodland city limits and is bounded by the Lewis and Columbia rivers.
The Woodland City Council got its first look at the agreement on June 5 and voted unanimously to approve it on June 19. The agreement will impact many in the region, specifically those in Woodland, Bill Fashing, the executive director of the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments said at the later meeting.
“It’s an important opportunity for the city and the county to look at The Bottoms a little bit differently, in a very positive way, hopefully,” Fashing said.
The council of governments serves as an economic development and regional transportation planning organization in the two-county area, Fashing said. He said the agreement would allow greater communication between the city and county, and also allows citizens more opportunity for input
This year, the city and the county have worked to coordinate planning efforts, which the approved agreement will facilitate. In 2022, the city attempted to make its own planning decisions for The Bottoms unilaterally, though the city council rescinded its decisions following legal threats by the county.
Now, both governments are taking a more balanced approach to planning in The Bottoms. The agreement prevents both the city and the county from making any changes to planning policies or development regulations in The Bottoms on their own until the master planning is complete, except in the case of an “immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare.”
That part of the agreement isn’t intended to stop individual property owners from requesting code changes, the document stated. The agreement has a provision for those requests, which require the city or the county to notify the other about that activity. The city and the county will also notify the other about any development permit applications in The Bottoms.
Several Woodland councilors expressed their support of having an agreement for planning in place
“There has been a lot of work gone into this by both parties and the staff, and I think it’s a wonderful thing that we’re finally getting together and trying to work collaboratively,” councilor Carol Rounds said.
Councilor Aaron Alderman said having the support from the county is a “huge step” in finally addressing the future planning needs for the area.
“The Woodland Bottoms has a lot of things to offer for everybody if it’s utilized the right way,” Alderman said.
Cowlitz County Commissioner Richard Dahl was present at Woodland’s council meeting. The next day, he and commissioner Arne Mortensen approved the agreement from the county’s end. Commissioner Dennis Weber was on vacation.
Fashing was also present at the commissioners’ meeting to speak on the importance of joint planning.
“I think it’s pretty clear to a lot of us that The Bottoms will see significant development pressures over the coming years. … Now, is the time to start those discussions and make sure that we’re ready for whatever happens in the future,” Fashing said.
He said the council of governments is working on its long-term transportation plan, which includes a bridge across the Lewis River from Clark County into The Bottoms. The more work that can be done on that, the better, so future development doesn’t happen where the needed corridor for a bridge and roads would be.
“People 30 years from now will be happier that they have a straight road to drive down instead of some crazy road with seven right turns,” Fashing said.
Mortensen said a Lewis River bridge is a “fantastic” idea.
“I would put that on a priority (list), ‘let’s get that done now’ kind of thing, because everything else would depend on that,” Mortensen said.
Mortensen also asked what the council of governments envisioned for The Bottoms. Fashing said the council’s board has not made any formal statement on what development in the area would look like.
“From my perspective, the region could lead some of that discussion, but it needs to be a local decision as far as what happens,” Fashing said.
He acknowledged farmland is disappearing across the nation. It is his hope a chunk of current farmland could be preserved for long-term agricultural use.
That proposition has its challenges, as Fashing said some farmers in The Bottoms have “huge problems making ends meet.”
“It’s just a matter of time before they sell … to get out of the business,” Fashing said.
