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Business groups which opposed county
growth management plan file appeal
As they did throughout the last several months of
hearings during the development of Clark County’s Comprehensive Growth
Management Plan update, the county’s major business organizations are continuing
their opposition by filing a formal appeal with the Western Washington Growth
Management Hearings Board.
The four organizations claim a combined membership of
4,000. They are the Building Industry Association of Clark County, Greater
Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, Clark County Association of Realtors, and the
Responsible Growth Forum.
The sense of the argument is that the updated plan does
not realistically plan for future growth.
When the management plan update was approved by county
commissioners in September, it was by a split vote, with chair of the board of
commissioners Betty Sue Morris
dissenting. The majority, Craig Pridemore
and Judie Stanton, voted for the update.
The state hearings board is expected to hear the appeal
early next year.
Local investors buy Port of Ridgefield
site for mixed retail and office project
Ridgefield residents
Nanette and Ned Walker, and
Weldon and
Carol Burton, Vancouver, have acquired a
1.3-acre site at the Port of Ridgefield’s 75-acre industrial site southwest of
the Ridgefield junction on I-5. A 20,000-square-foot, two-story retail and
office building is planned, according to port executive director
Brent Grening. Groundbreaking is expected
in the spring of 2005.
According to Grening, only a three-acre parcel of the
original 75 acres acquired in the 1980s remains to be sold.
More than 700 are employed in the industrial park,
including those working for Corwin Beverage, Pacific Detroit Diesel, Cascade
Container and US Foodservice.
The port currently is completing its master plan for
another 75-acre industrial park, on the northeast corner of the junction, to be
called Discovery Pointe Corporate Park. The port and other property owners have
petitioned Ridgefield to annex the site, according to Grening.
The two industrial parks make up the heart of Discovery
Corridor, Grening says. The Ridgefield area is quickly becoming one of the
hottest development areas in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area, according
to Grening and Scott Fraser, senior vice
president of Kidder Mathews, who represented the port in the sale.
“The Ridgefield area offers some of the best land values
in the region and has tremendous visibility and transportation advantages by
being located directly on I-5. Those factors, coupled with the expedited
permitting and planning services being managed by the City of Ridgefield, make
it incredibly attractive,” Fraser added.
Jeanne Lipton asks to be considered
for county commissioner position
Former Vancouver city council member
Jeanne Lipton today entered her name in
the running for the Clark County Board of Commission position being vacated by
Craig Pridemore, successful Democratic
candidate for the state senate.
Lipton served a four-year term on the council, twice
running for mayor. She lost both times to incumbent
Royce Pollard.
A committee of three Democrats,
Dan Ogden,
Carleen Pagni and
Norman Banks, will select three names
that will be forwarded to the board of county commissioners, which is to name a
successor to Pridemore. The appointed term will continue until the 2005.
Mayor getting major league
to help light Christmas tree
Two of Vancouver’s world champion major league pitchers,
Randy Meyers and
Alan Embree,
will join Vancouver’s champion mayor
Royce Pollard at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 26, in Esther Short Park to light
the city’s official Christmas tree. Meyers, a 1980 graduate of Evergreen High
School, was a member of the 1986 New York Mets and 1990 Cincinnati Reds World
Series champions. Embree, who graduated
from Prairie High School, pitched this year for the World Series champions,
Boston Red Sox.
The tree lighting is part of the three-day Festival of
the Trees celebration that opens the day after Thanksgiving in the Red Lion
Hotel at the Quay. Thirty-eight decorated Christmas trees will be on view at the
Quay 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 26, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27,
and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 28. General admission is $4.
Gingerbread houses, being judged at Westfield
Shoppingtown through Wednesday, Nov. 24, will be on display at the Quay Friday
and Saturday, where judging continues. The public is encouraged to vote for
favorites at a dollar a vote.
The gala event of the festival is the $100 dinner and
oral auction of the Christmas trees and wreathes, also in the Quay. It begins at
5 p.m. A Teddy Bear Tea for children and mothers is at 9 a.m. until noon,
Saturday, Nov. 27, in the Quay. Admission is $3. A Senior Tea in the Quay is
1:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 28, and is $5 per person.
For more information, call
750-0409.
People
Jim Rogers has
been appointed to a three-year term on the Clark County Mental Health Advisory
Board.
News briefs
The Vancouver City Council meets in workshop session at 4
p.m. today. g Clark Public Utilities’
commissioners meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 23, to continue discussion on the
2005 budgets for the electric, water, and waste water utilities.
g Port of Vancouver commissioners
meet in regular session at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 23.
g Clark County commissioners meet in
regular session at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 23.
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MIRIAM GREEN 
"Working to help you!"
