Scenic area review to start

By Nancy Lemons
of The Chronicle

  Oct. 24, 2001  The Columbia River Gorge Commission is ready to begin the first-ever review of the scenic area management plan in January 2002, once a list of priority issues is approved.
        Although the recommended priority list has been boiled down from 1,600 public and gorge planner comments to 26 issues, review of the plan will still be a lengthy process, lasting from 12 to 24 months, according to Martha Bennett, commission executive director.
        Meanwhile, public comment is still being taken.
        The recommended list, which is expected to be approved at next months’s commission meeting, contains 13 policy issues and 13 other measures that address technical matters of the plan.
After approval, a detailed work plan will be developed to address issues individually.
        According to Bennett, research on each issue will take time, plus the list contains two “huge” issues — scenic standards and land use — which are each expected to take up to six months for review, debate and deliberation.
        On scenic standards, public comments requested that terms such as “visual subordinance” be better defined for such issues as practicality, clarity, flexibility, and how well they achieve scenic protection.
        On land-use issues, comments suggested that the commission possibly open lands for new uses and clarify gorge rules which were described as “confusing, problematic or inconsistently applied.”
        In the early 90s, when the management plan was being developed, debate on these very issues was often long and heated.
Bennett says she does not foresee the same exact debates taking place again, but rather a narrower focus with “miniature” debates.
        “We’re not expecting to reopen the whole plan,” she said.
Through public hearings and comment gathering in preparation for plan review, Bennett says they have learned a lot about what issues are important and how they should be framed.
        At the Oct. 15 public hearing in Stevenson, suggestions for changing the management plan ranged from allowing churches and cemeteries in the scenic area to conducting a “build out” study to examine what the gorge would look like in 100 years, to creating a “negotiation board” for mediation of land-use disputes.
        “We received a lot of good feedback ... We appreciate the thought that people put into the issues they commented about,” said Bennett.
        “We’re asking ’Is policy taking us where we want to go?’,” she explained of the review. “The commissioners will consider with the management plan what changes need to be made in order to take us into the next 10 years.”
        Following the review process, each of the six counties within the scenic area will be asked to adopt the new plan and update their ordiances to reflect the changes made.
        Congress requires a plan review every 10 years to determine how the 1986 Scenic Act is meeting its twin goals: protection of gorge resources and promotion of urban area economies.
        Public comment on the recommended list of 26 priority issues will be accepted by the commission until Oct. 29. Written comments may be mailed to the Gorge Commission, P.O. Box 730, White Salmon, Wash. or via e-mail to crgc@gorge.net.
        Commission staff will review and summarize comments received during October to commissioners during the Nov. 13 meeting at Rock Creek Center in Stevenson. The commission will also hear public comment on the list during the meeting.
        The priority list is available on the commission’s web site at www.GorgeCommission.org   or by calling (509) 493-3323.

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