Camas launches development project map

Wondering what that “notice of development” sign down the road is all about? If you live in the city of Camas, there’s now an easy way to find out.

The city recently launched its user-friendly development map showing the status of nearly 400 development projects that include everything from boundary line adjustments and permits to build something small, like a carport, to mixed-use developments with hundreds of residential units.

The new map allows users to look up specific projects, view them by date or project type and zoom in to see the project’s status.

“This is another tool for the community, another way for us to reach the public and let them know what’s going on,” said Camas Director of Communications Bryan Rachal. “We’ve tried to make it as accessible as possible, and to make it really user-friendly.”

Ken Pearrow, the city’s new geographic information system (GIS) coordinator, said he wanted to build a dashboard that would entice users curious about the city’s many development projects.

“Previously, (the city) had a list of (development) projects, but it wasn’t being used too well,” Pearrow said. “This dashboard takes a look at developments going on in the city and has more information.”

Pearrow included projects going back five years on the new development map, and said he has created a dashboard that can be easily updated.

The map helps show the scope of development occurring in Camas. One recent search shows there have been at least 25 permit applications submitted to the city since June 1, including:

• 34-lot single-family residential subdivision off Northeast 28th Street;
• A mixed-use site plan for 55 dwelling units, an internal road and a private alley on Northwest Camas Meadows Drive;
• The development of a mixed-use complex with ground-floor retail shops and 56 apartments in downtown Camas on Northeast Sixth Avenue;
• Demolition work at the Georgia-Pacific paper mill off Northeast Adams Street;
• Three different boundary line adjustments and one short-plat division of one lot into three lots on Northeast Everett Street;
• Permits to build a carport on Southeast Russell Street and have a job-site trailer off North Hargrave Drive; and
• A 28-lot single-family residential subdivision off Northwest McIntosh.

In the wake of two conditional-use development projects that have met with fierce opposition in Camas’ Prune Hill neighborhood — the Discover Recovery drug and alcohol rehabilitation center and the proposed Camas Station, which could build a gas station, car wash and drive-thru coffee shop at a busy intersection located one block away from Prune Hill Elementary School — many Camas residents have said they feel “blindsided” by development projects happening in their own neighborhoods or close to their children’s schools.

Camas City Councilwoman Leslie Lewallen told her Council peers during a Sept. 19 meeting that she often fields questions about zoning from her constituents.

“There are concerns that everything marked ‘conditional use’ gets approval,” Lewallen said.

Now, thanks to the new development project map, residents concerned about the city’s approval of conditional-use permits can look up all conditional-use permits that developers have applied for over the past five years.

A search for “conditional-use projects” shows the city has had six such project applications over the past five years, including:

• A Jan. 28, 2021, application to add three units to an existing single-family residence on Southeast Everett Street;
• An application submitted on Jan. 30, 2022, to construct an indoor-outdoor food cart complex with a drive-thru coffee shop and parking off Northwest Lake Road near the Camas-Vancouver border;
• An application submitted on June 1, 2022, to build 55 residential units at the Camas Meadows Hole 9 Subdivision off Northwest Camas Meadows Drive;
• A Feb. 23, 2022, application for the Camas Station development proposal to build a gas station, car wash, drive-thru coffee shop and convenience store, as well as electric vehicle chargers, at the corner of Northwest Brady Road and Northwest 16th Avenue, near the Prune Hill Elementary School;
• An application submitted on Sept. 27, 2018, to build a duplex with two residences off Northwest 11th Avenue; and
• An application submitted on Oct. 31, 2018, to construct a 36-bed residential care facility at 3401 N.W. Lake Road.

The new development dashboard is a way for residents to get immediate information about proposed and ongoing development projects in all parts of the city, Rachal said.

“As we progress, and learn more about what the community wants, we can adjust this and update it,” Rachal said of the new development map dashboard.

To find the new development map, visit the city’s Community Development website at cityofcamas.us/com-dev and click on the “Development Map” located on the main page.

Residents who are interested in exploring development projects even further can search for certain projects on the city’s main website at cityofcamas.us to find related public hearings, design review meetings and State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) decisions.

Anyone who wants to learn more about a proposed development commercial and/or residential project in the city of Camas will want to keep an eye on the city’s design review committee meetings, which often share a wealth of details about a proposed project.

For instance, an Aug. 23 design review committee meeting shared details about two projects proposed for the city of Camas: the Green Mountain Urban Village apartment complex off of Northeast Goodwin Road and Northeast Ingle Road and the Oak Tree Station project at the corner of Northwest Lake Road and Northwest Friberg-Strunk Street.

If approved, the Green Mountain Urban Village will construct seven, four-story multifamily residential buildings with room for 350 apartments, a “single shared amenity building,” outdoor play areas, pedestrian pathways and parking; while the Oak Tree Station development would add a 12,574-square-foot commercial building, drive-thru coffee shop and an indoor-outdoor eating area with food carts to a community commercial-zoned piece of land near the Camas-Vancouver border.

For more information about community development in the city of Camas, visit cityofcamas.us/com-dev.