The Commissioner — Winter 2006

Commission Profile

Ahead of the Curve

Yakima, Washington, Urban Area Regional Planning Commission

When it comes to growth management and regional planning, "We came to the solution before it was imposed," says Bill Cook, community and economic development director for the City of Yakima. When Washington State mandated comprehensive planning and regional cooperation in 1990, the city and Yakima County had already been planning together for more than a dozen years.

In 1974, the city, county, and the city of Union Gap agreed to cooperate in land-use matters — such as comprehensive planning, zoning, and subdivision controls — in the urban Yakima area. Part of the rationale, according to Deb Patterson, chair of the Urban Area Regional Planning Commission, was to reduce the number of nonconforming uses in areas that the city would annex. "We no longer have major issues because of our regional approach," she says.

Yakima's urban growth boundaries were legally established in 1976 as the result of an agreement between the three jurisdictions to regionalize sewage treatment in urbanized areas. Shortly after that, the same jurisdictions established the Yakima Urban Area Regional Planning Commission to provide for the planned growth and development of the Yakima urban area. The original RPC had two members from the city, two from the county, and one from Union Gap. "Now we have three, three, and one," says Cook. "The other major change took place in 1986 when we changed to a hearing examiner for rezones and subdivisions."

Today, the RPC functions in a purely advisory capacity and deals exclusively with long-range planning and ordinance reviews, says planning commissioner John Hodkinson, who serves as chair in Patterson's absence. Once the RPC reviews and recommends, the city council and county commission must approve or adopt. "The switch to a hearing examiner really freed us up," says Patterson. "We were no longer bogged down in the day-to-day stuff. It allowed us to focus on land use and to consider exactly what we want for our community. We don't get burned out as easily."

The RPC currently is preparing to update its comprehensive plan. "By December 2006 we must look at all of our plan elements ... and bring them in line with current thinking and actualities," says Cook.

Yakima's planners use the RPC as a sounding board. The commissioners' diverse backgrounds — commercial realtor, small business owner, retired policeman, community activist, builder/developer, and union labor representative — allow for a variety of perspectives.

In addition, the RPC oversees the creation of specific area plans — a fairly recent development, according to Patterson. "It's exciting when a neighborhood comes together to plan," she says. Two neighborhoods have developed plans which will be incorporated into the comprehensive plan update.

The commission also administers the comprehensive plan amendment process. At least once every five years, but no more frequently than once a year, the RPC accepts applications for changes to the plan or map. "The land-use map visually depicts how we want the community to grow over the next 20 years," says Patterson. "If someone wants to do something specific on a lot and the land-use designation won't let them do it, they must first change the land-use map and then the zoning."

Applications to change the plan map or text must meet certain criteria for approval. Amendments may receive the commission's endorsement if they address circumstances that have changed since the last time the plan map or text was considered, implement plan policies better than the current plan map or text, correct a mapping error, or address a deficiency in the plan.

The RPC provides its recommendation, along with findings of fact, to the city council and county commission. During a joint meeting, the two elected bodies consider the RPC's recommendations and direct planning staff to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the individual applications.

"This approach has worked well for us," says Patterson, "and I expect that as growth pressures accelerate, it will allow us to preserve those things we cherish and change the things that are keeping us from becoming the community we envision."

Evolving Standards

"Long-range, comprehensive planning is critical to our ability to handle growth and provide opportunities here in Yakima," says Cook. Poised for significant growth, the Yakima Urban Area Regional Planning Commission (RPC) has laid the groundwork to support increased demand for housing, transportation, and jobs, he says.

For each of the past five years, Yakima has set records for new construction. "We're looking at more than $100 million valuation in building permits this year alone," says Cook. In this agriculturally based community of nearly 82,000 people, that figure is substantial.

"We're starting to attract business from the Seattle, Tacoma, and Everett areas, mostly because of traffic there," says Hodkinson. Yakima's transportation network is one of its greatest strengths, adds Cook. "The joke here is that the average commute time from just about anywhere to downtown is 12 minutes if you stop for a latte and eight minutes if you don't."

"If we want to protect what's important to us, it's time to consider design standards and land-use controls," adds Deb Patterson. "Our community has a major discussion going on about compatibility," Cook says. "The idea of prescribing what a building will look like may not be embraced by everyone. For some, our setbacks and requirements for curbs and gutters are sufficient."

"There are people living here now who come from other areas — areas that have effectively used design standards and sign ordinances," says Bruce Enson, supervising planner. "What we have now is fairly limited, but there is some support for higher standards and enforcement of those standards," he says.

Economic diversification also is important to the region. "We're still primarily an agricultural community, but we're finding ways to expand upon that. We're on the cutting edge in developing farm equipment such as grape harvesters," says Hodkinson. The commissioner notes that wineries, and the tourism associated with them, are growing almost exponentially. "We are on the same parallel as the Rhine River Valley in Germany. Our climate and soils are similar," he says. "Due to the soil conditions here, we do not have to fortify our wines with sugar like they do in California." Yakima is building on its association with the industry. "Our downtown is in the process of being rehabilitated," says Hodkinson. "We're redoing the sidewalks and street lighting with a wine country theme."

Water and storm water issues "are on the front burner," he adds. "We need to come up with better ways of dealing with water, especially because we're totally dependent on irrigation. Without it we have nothing."

"If we are going to grow faster — and by all accounts we will — then we must be prepared to face new challenges," says Patterson. Yakima's history of regional cooperation and planning has equipped the community with many of the tools necessary to manage what lies ahead, she says.