For Warren Neth, one of many nice issues about his Harney Heights dwelling was having the ability to stroll among the many timber on the neighboring ridgetops. Though Neth now lives on a farm in Yelm, he nonetheless owns his home in Vancouver and comes again frequently to go to. Just lately, he observed that the timber are disappearing as builders construct housing.
Neth needs Vancouver, Clark County and different jurisdictions to do extra and undertake restrictions just like these in Portland, which he stated has lengthy prioritized preserving its ridgetops, recognizing their psychological and aesthetic significance for city dwellers.
Though Vancouver and Clark County don’t have ordinances that particularly defend ridgetops, officers level to different laws that defend timber and demanding environmental areas.
Neth just lately voiced his issues about the way forward for town’s ridgelines in a put up on Fb.
“For decades, the ridgeline walk along Sixth Street in Vancouver’s Harney Heights neighborhood stood as a rare undeveloped stretch of land — steep, tangled with blackberries, and hiding the remnants of a long-abandoned gravel mine from the early 1900s,” Neth wrote. “Though the terrain was challenging, the rewards for those who walked its paths were unmatched.”
In an interview March 25, Neth stated he thought prior growth restrictions on the previous mine web site may restrict any future growth.
“I just always hoped that if they did build on that ridge, that they made so it was below street grade so that pedestrians on the sidewalk would still have those views,” he stated.
Strolling alongside the ridgelines is a good way to connect with neighboring areas of town, Neth stated.
“Being able to go from Fort Vancouver up to the ridge gives you a different perspective of that whole area,” he stated. “It’s got really good territorial views of Portland and the Columbia River and Mount Hood.”
With the cities and the county presently within the strategy of updating every jurisdiction’s 20-year development plans, Neth stated now could be the time for metropolis and county officers to take motion.
The one ridgelines particularly protected by Clark County ordinances are within the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Space, stated Jose Alvarez from the county’s group planning division.
In response to Clark County’s guidelines for designated scenic areas, the silhouette of recent buildings should stay beneath the skyline of a bluff cliff or ridge as seen from key viewing areas. Different laws for scenic areas embody restrictions on the elimination of timber and vegetation on the property, limiting constructing exteriors to darkish earth tones and nonreflective supplies, and plenty of others.
Ridgefield has given little consideration to preserving its rural ridgelines.
“We haven’t discussed ridgeline development specifically in our comp plan, though we more generally address the topic in the environmental protection element of the comp plan,” Metropolis Supervisor Steve Stuart stated.
Nonetheless, Stuart stated town does have some growth necessities particular to essential areas, which incorporates areas with steep slopes and ridgelines. For instance, each new subdivision should put aside 25 p.c of its acreage for parks and open house, half of which will be designated as essential areas.
“We have a tree protection ordinance that was adopted a couple of years ago that is helping reduce the clearing along ridgelines during development processes and requires replacement for tree canopy that is removed,” Stuart stated, including that town requires each business and residential developments to make use of current slopes and topography to the best extent practicable.
“That requirement was extended to residential development last year, after the (city) council saw several subdivisions recreating slopes/ridges with mass grading efforts to create flat lots with tall retaining walls behind them,” he stated.
Nicole Walters, from Vancouver Public Works, stated town’s current restrictions “apply to critical areas including steep slopes, wetlands, river/stream corridors, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s project tree groves (under the agency’s Priority Habitats and Species program).”
She stated Vancouver’s growth codes particular to defending and preserving timber and different vegetation additionally applies to ridgeline areas. In response to the event codes, town’s aim is to advertise web site planning, constructing and growth practices that stop indiscriminate elimination or destruction of timber and vegetation.
Growing steep slopes requires a essential areas allow, Walters stated.
Walters stated there are not any adjustments to those growth codes presently being thought-about as a part of the expansion plan replace.
“A skyline framed by trees, not buildings, provides a sense of place, an anchor in the landscape that urban planning too often disregards,” Neth stated. “Maybe they could incentivize developers not to build that second story above the sidewalk. … You can still make a lot of money below the sidewalk level.”
Nonetheless, Walters stated Vancouver’s topography is completely different from Portland’s and people restrictions gained’t essentially meet town’s wants.
“Vancouver has some vistas, but that is primarily along the river and some prominent viewpoints of the river and the Cascade volcanoes. Vancouver lacks significant ridgelines (other than critical areas as defined as steep slopes) that would warrant special regulation related to viewpoint protection,” she stated.
