I.  INTRODUCTION

A.  PREFACE

The South County, St. Helens - Columbia City Comprehensive Plan was prepared in 1973 by Cornell, Howland, Hayes, and Merryfield in cooperation with the Columbia County Organization of Governments. The plan was intended as the basis for guiding growth and maintaining livability in Columbia City and St. Helens.

The requirements for the context of comprehensive land use plans were changed in 1973 by the Oregon State Legislature. The 1973 legislation, through Senate Bill 100, established the Land Conservation and Development Commission. The commission was charged with the duty of formulating a minimum criteria of what a comprehensive plan must address. This was done in the form of state planning goals, which were adopted by the commission in 1975. The City Council reviewed the 1973 Comp Plan and determined it should be revised and updated to comply with the established state planning goals. The following pages contain the revised Comprehensive Plan for Columbia City. The goals and objectives for the future development of Columbia City represent the decisions of interested citizens, elected officials, and other governmental agencies. These decisions are based upon the best information available at the time of plan formation, development, and revision. This plan is not meant to be cast in stone; as conditions and needs change over time, it shall be constantly monitored to ensure that it responds to the community's requirements.

B.  PURPOSE OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

The Comprehensive Plan serves as a guide for future community leaders in making land use decisions. Future land development must be in accordance with the adopted plan. Oregon Supreme Court decisions have clarified the importance of comprehensive plans by determining that implementing ordinances must be subordinate to comprehensive plans. Because of the extreme importance of the plan to Columbia City, the planning process shall ensure that:

1.  An adequate factual data base is developed.

2.  A broad-based Citizen Involvement Program (CIP) is initiated.

3.  Information regarding data and the draft and final adopted plan is readily available to the public. The Comprehensive Plan shall be on file at the City Hall in Columbia City.

C.  CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT [State Goal No. 1]

Columbia City is committed to the active participation of its residents, property owners and business owners in planning for and implementing the community’s future. The Citizen Involvement Program provides adequate means of communication between local government and residents.

The Columbia City Planning Commission has been designated as the Committee for Citizen Involvement (CCI). The Planning Commission is appointed by the City Council to reflect the broadest base of experience and expertise possible from a list of volunteers. Citizens volunteer in response to officially-posted notices, newspaper notices, City newsletter articles, planning surveys, e-mail notices and postings on the City website.

All meetings of the City Council and Planning Commission are open to the public, and citizens are urged to attend. Workshop meetings and public hearings are conducted in a manner that will draw the maximum amount of citizen input available. Citizens are asked to assist in developing inventories and reviewing the progress of the Planning Commission. Public hearings were conducted prior to the final adoption of the original Comprehensive Plan and its implementing ordinances--the Columbia City Subdivision & Partitioning Ordinance and Zoning Ordinance and prior to the adoption of the amendments.

Since the adoption of the original Comprehensive Plan, Columbia City has maintained a high level of citizen involvement. Examples include:

• The 2002 joint workshop of the City Council, Planning Commission and various municipal committee members to review a written summary of options and begin the current review of the Comprehensive Plan and implementing ordinances.

• The City newsletter which is mailed to each Columbia City resident and contains general interest and planning information items. As of August 2002, the newsletter distribution increased to monthly. Prior to that date, it was distributed on a bi-monthly basis.

• Citizen questionnaires which are generated to ensure a broad response from citizens and to provide citizens an opportunity to be involved. The results of the 1977, 1979, 1989 and 2001 questionnaires are kept on file at City Hall.

• The 2001 community wide visioning workshop.

D.  VISION STATEMENT

On February 15, 2001, 45 persons attended the Columbia City Visioning Workshop. The workshop was advertised in a newsletter sent out to all City residents. In addition, the project Citizen Advisory Committee placed door hangers containing flyers about the workshop on the front door of nearly all homes. Following a welcome by the Mayor, recognition of Rossin Ebrahimi, winner of the local Young Visionaries Contest, and a presentation by Cogan, Owen and Cogan about the City’s planning requirements, participants discussed the future of Columbia City. The following vision statement was drafted from the results of the Workshop and a special Citizen Advisory Committee/Planning Commission meeting on April 10, 2001 and adopted by the Columbia City Council on August 1, 2002.

E.  LAND USE PLANNING [State Goal No. 2]

The planning process involves several steps. It is initiated by establishing preliminary goals that the plan should accomplish. This is usually done by noting particular problems of the City and specific needs which should be addressed. The next step is to conduct inventories of assessable information concerning various topics and conditions as they exist within the planning area. For example, some of the topics the plan addresses include public facilities and economy.

In the event the necessary inventory information is not available for each appropriate goal at the time of the plan revision, the City shall attempt to obtain the missing information for incorporation at the next update.

After information for each topic is assembled, tentative alternatives and goals are established. Once all topics have been inventoried and alternatives established, the next step is to compare the various goals and objectives with one another to ensure they are compatible. For example, it would not be compatible to project a population of 5,000 for a community and plan public facilities to service a population of 1,000. This step, or phase, of the planning process requires the resolution of conflicts among the goals and objectives of the plan and often will require some tradeoffs between them.

Once the goals and objectives are compatible, the last phase, or step, of the initial planning process is the actual land resource allocation. This is the establishment of the various land use categories the City will utilize, such as residential, commercial, and industrial. These land use categories will be mapped on the comprehensive land use map to indicate the specific boundaries of each.

The adopted plan is implemented by preparing and adopting ordinances that carry out the goals and objectives, in terms of land use, of the plan. The Planning Commission must then constantly monitor the plan and review the ordinances to ensure they are responsive to the needs and desires of the residents of the City.

When the draft plan has been formulated and reviewed by the Planning Commission, the Commission will recommend the draft to the City Council. This elected body will conduct a public hearing on the plan prior to adoption. The plan must be adopted by the City Council.

On March 19, 1975, Columbia City adopted (by Resolution No. 279) the South County, St. Helens - Columbia City Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan).

The plan was developed in cooperation between Columbia City and Columbia County and allocated land resources outside the City limits. Both governing bodies adopted this plan--Columbia City Council, for the lands inside the City limits; Columbia County Board of Commissioners, for those lands outside the City limits but inside the urban growth boundary.

In 1980, the City adopted the Columbia City Comp Plan and Map (by Ordinance No. 370). This plan, submitted to LCDC as being in compliance, was returned to the City for further amendments.

More changes were required before the City plan would be found to be in compliance with the State planning goals. More amendments were adopted in 1983 and 1984 (Ordinance Nos. 391, 403, and 408).

The Columbia City Comp Plan was acknowledged as being in compliance with the State planning goals on April 26, 1984.

A Periodic Review was completed in 1992 (Ordinance No. 473). Amendments were added in 1994 (Ordinance Nos. 483 and 502).

In 1997 additional revisions were made, and all amendments were included in one document as Ordinance No. 507.

The State of Oregon has amended the mandatory requirement for Periodic Review for small cities such as Columbia City. However, in 2000, Columbia City determined that a review and update of the Comprehensive Plan was needed. This determination was based on the community growth, the need for codification of the Comprehensive Plan and implementing ordinances and the need to comply with the Transportation Planning Rules and changes to Goal 5. The City sought and received grant funding from the DLCD to complete a buildable lands inventory and visioning workshop. In 2002, the process continued as the City received grant funding to complete the update and codification of the Comprehensive Plan and implementing ordinances. The current review is scheduled to be complete by June, 2003.

F.  HISTORY AND GENERAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Columbia City was incorporated in 1926. City boundaries have been expanded by the following annexations:

182, October 3, 1960, Water

183, October 3, 1960, Water/Streets

192, July 2, 1962, Bring reservoir into City

207, November 4, 1963, Water

227, April 2, 1966, Water/Streets

270, March 15, 1971, Water/Eventual Sewers

283, March 20, 1972, Create common boundary between St. Helens and Columbia City

285, May 3, 1972, Addition to Ordinance No. 283 above

290, September 6, 1972, Public Streets and reservoir

476, February 18, 1993, Bring River Club Estates into City

518, March 19, 1998, Columbia View Heights and Takemoto property

The total acreage within the City limits is approximately 603 acres. The City has always been primarily residential. Commercial uses have been limited through the years. Crown Zellerbach built a sawmill at the north end of the City in 1960. It closed in the early 1980's, and the Port of St. Helens purchased the property and is leasing portions of the site for industrial uses.

Appendix A illustrates the existing designations for land uses in the City. The commercially designated properties are located at the corner of "I" and Second Streets and at the northwest corner of the Columbia River Highway and "A" Street intersection. Adjacent to the A Street commercial site is the Commercial Recreational designation. The Port of St. Helens' property lying north of "E" Street and east of the Columbia River Highway represents the industrial land of the City. Much of the remainder of the City is designated for residential uses.

2. Topography

Columbia City is bounded on the east by the Columbia River and on the west by the abruptly-rising foothills of the east flank of the Pacific Coast Range Mountains. Its northern boundary is circumscribed approximately by McBride Creek; its southern limit edges a boggy, wooded area that has formed a one-half-mile wide buffer between the jurisdictions of St. Helens and Columbia City. The City sits on a shelf of silt loam and fill land, varying between a quarter and a third of a mile in width, that extends from the lower slope of the hills to the banks of the Columbia.

The area is partially drained by McBride Creek, which circumscribes half of the City--flowing northerly along the slope above the City before it veers east to empty into the Columbia.

The elevation varies throughout the City and is approximately 22 feet along the Columbia River, 94 feet at the highway, and 380 feet at the northwest corner of the Riverview Heights subdivision.

The City is dominated, ecologically and visually, by the Columbia River, which is nearly a mile wide here. Steep slopes provide a backdrop to the west of town; across the river, the foothills of the Cascade Range rise up. Snow-covered peaks in the Cascade Range are visible from the City including Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams and Mount Hood.

3. Hydrology

The hydrologic characteristics of the Columbia City planning area are formed by the nature of the climate, its topography, and geologic structures. Heavy rainfall in the winter months, mild temperatures, light winds, and dry summers are the predominate climate characteristics affecting the hydrologic patterns. Surface drainage flows into one small drainage basin--McBride Creek. The City obtains its drinking water from the City of St. Helens' water source which is located within Columbia City's City limits. However, Columbia City is in the process of developing an independent local water source.

4. Climate

Columbia City has a temperate climate with dry, moderately-warm summers and wet, mild winters. Average annual precipitation in the county is slightly less than 50 inches. Measured snowfall is one of the lowest in the state. During three or four months of the year, temperatures occasionally drop below freezing. Temperatures greater than 100^oF are seldom reached. Prevailing winds up and down the Columbia River provide some circulation in local air sheds and assist in dilution of air pollutants.

In November of 1986, the United States Department of Agriculture (Soil Conservation Service), in cooperation with the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station, issued the "Soil Survey of Columbia County, Oregon." Columbia City's soil types are shown in the survey, and a copy is filed at City Hall.

The Latourell and Multnomah associations underlie a great portion of the City, with smaller amounts of Aloha, Quatama Philchuck, Wollent, and Xerochrepts groupings. There is also a fair amount of fill land long the shoreline north of "E" Street. The soil associations are predominately soil capability classes I-IV.

The soils within the City limits of Columbia City are mostly of high agricultural capability, but there are no agricultural lands within the City limits. This is due to the topography and size of the study area. The flat lands are restricted to a narrow shelf bordered by the river and the slopes. The size of the City precludes agricultural operations of even a moderate scale. The shelf of level land remains narrow many miles northward, with the only exception at Deer Island, which is in agricultural uses. To the south, the narrow shelf continues for about one-half mile, at which point it widens substantially--this is the urbanized area of St. Helens. There are agricultural lands to the west of Columbia City, beyond the thickly-wooded escarpments. It does not appear that agricultural lands will present a conflict with further urbanization of Columbia City.

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