The Lewis County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) will hold a series of meetings leading up to a public hearing on seven amendments to the county’s Comprehensive Plan Map. The amendments include rezones for the YMCA at Mineral Lake, new surface mine south of Ethel, Adna Grocery Store and De Goede hillside, as well as three urban growth area (UGA) boundary changes for Chehalis.
Of these changes, the most notably controversial has been the request for a rezone on YMCA land north of Mineral Lake, with dozens of residents having submitted written testimony or given public comment on the matter to the planning commission earlier this year.
In general, resident concerns are over the eventual establishment of a proposed overnight camp on the property, such as emergency services being able to support increased population, noise and pollution. These are project-specific issues that will likely not be addressed at the rezone part of the process.
The public hearing is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 8 at 10 a.m. The public will be invited to submit written testimony when the record opens starting on Oct. 20.
Before the public hearing, BOCC will hold two workshops on Oct. 11 and Nov. 2. The public is invited to listen to the staff presentations and commissioners’ discussion. Public comments will not be taken at the workshops. All public comments need to be provided as testimony when the record is open on Oct. 20.
Information on each of the seven proposed amendments is available on the Lewis County Community Development webpage. The rezone proposals are found at https://lewiscountywa.gov/departments/community-development/rezones/. The UGA proposals can be found at https://lewiscountywa.gov/departments/community-development/rezones/comprehensive-plan-and-development-regulation-amendments/.
Questions should be directed to Mindy Brooks, senior land use planner with Lewis County, at mindy.brooks@lewiscountywa.gov or 360-740-2610.
