Plans are in the works for a new housing development in the small South Lewis County community of Vader, after the Vader City Council approved a rezoning request from Vader residents Anthony and Courtney Hendrickson for their property during the council’s first regular meeting of 2026 on Wednesday, Jan. 7.
The rezoning request was approved after a series of closed record public hearings held during Wednesday’s meeting in which Vader City Councilor Mike Parsons recused himself from both the closed record public hearings and the vote, as his wife is a member of the Vader Planning Committee, which recommended approving the rezoning request.
Also during the meeting, Vader City Councilor Jason Dailey was selected once again to serve as the city’s mayor pro tem, and Vader Mayor Joe Schey announced that Lewis County officials had submitted the city’s Water Utility Action Plan to Washington state Department of Health officials for final review and approval.
If approved, the plan allows county officials to transfer back control of the water system to the City of Vader public works staff.
Lewis County staff have operated Vader’s water system since 2010, when a Lewis County Superior Court order gave county officials control of Vader’s water system due to the city’s financial instability — on top of failing to secure grants or loans to fund badly needed water system upgrades, which led to at least 17 boil water advisories between 2006 and 2010, as previously reported by The Chronicle.
As for the Hendricksons’ rezoning request, the request involved adjacent parcels located on D Street in Vader, stretching from D Street’s end to the bank of Olequa Creek.
Originally, the properties were zoned single residential, or R-1, and the request was to change the zoning to planned unit development (PUD).
According to the staff hearing summary provided to the councilors during Wednesday’s meeting, “the developer intends to make use of a PUD for this development to subdivide the parcels into nine lots for the construction of eight single-family homes. An existing single-family residence will remain on one of the proposed lots.”
Vader City Planner James Eager added the Hendricksons were planning other improvements as well, including to a neighboring parcel where a new park has been proposed.
“The applicant is proposing two off-site improvements in lieu of developing the property as a park. Under normal PUD circumstances, that’s what we sort of would expect, is building that site out as a park. Instead, the applicant has chosen to build out a parking lot on the neighboring city-owned planned park property, which has tentatively been named ‘park street park,’ I think is what people often refer to it (as).”
Along with the parking lot area, the Hendricksons proposed paving part of E Street as well, which borders their proposed housing development on the east.
During the closed record public hearing, both members of the public and the press were asked to vacate for closed session deliberations. After around half an hour of closed session deliberations, the council reconvened its regular meeting and voted to approve the rezoning request.
All documents pertaining to the Hendricksons’ rezoning request, including the staff hearing summary, traffic study, shoreline permitting assessment and more are available online at http://tinyurl.com/vader-202311.
The Vader City Council will meet for the next regular meeting at Vader City Hall starting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
