Clatsop County’s Long-Range Plan: From the 2030 Vision to the Comprehensive Plan Update
Photo: Pete Forsyth / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
How should Clatsop County grow? Where should housing go, which farm and forest lands should be protected, and how should the county prepare for hazards? Questions like these are answered through long-range planning, a process that starts with public input and ends with policies that guide individual land-use decisions.
The 2030 community vision
In 2014, the Board of County Commissioners launched a community visioning effort known as “Clatsop Vision 2030 Together.” Workshops around the county asked residents about their priorities: jobs and the economy, the environment, public safety, housing, transportation, arts and culture. The result was a vision statement and set of goals meant to guide county policy through 2030.
Visions don’t change zoning on their own. They set direction and help prioritize work, such as updating the comprehensive plan.
What a comprehensive plan does
Every Oregon city and county must adopt a comprehensive plan that complies with the state’s 19 statewide planning goals, which are overseen by the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). For a coastal county like Clatsop, the goals that apply include:
- Citizen involvement (Goal 1)
- Agricultural and forest lands (Goals 3 and 4)
- Natural hazards (Goal 7), which covers tsunami, landslide and flood planning
- Housing (Goal 10) and economic development (Goal 9)
- Estuarine resources, coastal shorelands, beaches and dunes, and ocean resources (Goals 16 to 19)
The plan is put into practice through the county’s zoning and development code, which sets rules for what can be built where.
Updating the plan
Clatsop County has worked in phases to update its comprehensive plan. The process includes advisory committees, public meetings, hearings before the Planning Commission and final adoption by the Board of Commissioners. Some issues draw a lot of public interest, such as rural housing, short-term rentals, development in hazard areas and estuary management.
How residents can take part
- Watch the Community Development Department’s web pages for planning projects, drafts and meeting schedules.
- Attend Planning Commission and Board hearings, or submit written comments.
- Apply to serve on advisory committees.
- Get to know the zoning that applies to your property and neighborhood.
City plans are separate. Astoria, Warrenton, Seaside, Gearhart and Cannon Beach each have their own comprehensive plans and planning commissions.
See also our guide to how the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners works and our explainer on tsunami evacuation maps.
Sources: Clatsop County Community Development and Board of Commissioners; Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, Statewide Planning Goals; Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 197.
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