Our Camas 2045 Preferred Alternative Map
The City of Camas is undertaking a multi-year initiative to update the City’s comprehensive plan.
About
A key part of the comprehensive plan update is preparation of a future land use map. This map identifies land use designations (you’ll learn more about land use designations below) throughout the city. Over the last several months, the City has worked with the community, the Our Camas 2045 advisory committees, Planning Commission, and City Council to prepare different versions of the land use map, or “land use alternatives.” When preparing the alternatives, the City also considered the number of jobs and amount of housing that will be needed in the future based on housing and jobs projections provided by the State and Clark County. Keep reading to learn more about how we got here and view and share your thoughts on the preferred alternative!
The plan contains a comprehensive plan map that identifies land use designations, such as commercial, low-density residential, and high-density residential. The map depicts how and where the city will grow and change over the next 20 years to accommodate population and job growth while remaining consistent with the community’s vision. The current comprehensive plan map will be updated to reflect the community vision, ensure there is enough land to meet the city’s housing and employment allocations, and to address new state legislation that requires housing that is affordable at various income levels. For more information about the comprehensive plan update, see Our Camas 2045 .
Developing a Community Vision
The Our Camas 2045 Community Vision sets a roadmap for the community for the next 20 years. Over approximately seven months, from December 2023 through June 2024, over 1,000 community members shared their thoughts at community events and through online surveys. We heard a lot about maintaining Camas’ small-town feel and natural beauty and a desire for housing diversity and affordability, improvements to walkability and trail connectivity, and a need to celebrate Camas’ rich history and diversity. Take a look at the outreach summary under "Project Documents" to learn more! This process resulted in the Our Camas 2045 Vision Statement, which the City Council adopted in July 2024.
Land Use Alternative Development Process
The land use alternatives show two different options for achieving the community’s vision and meeting the needed jobs and housing targets over the next 20 years. The City prepared draft alternatives by incorporating what we heard from the community, committee members and City staff, as well as existing conditions.
- Mapping Activity Workshops: We held workshops with the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and City staff to get their input on where more housing and jobs should go in Camas. Participants at these workshops placed sticker dots for different land use types and added their thoughts on future roads, transit, and bike and pedestrian routes.
- Participation at Camas Days: We hosted a table at Camas Days and asked community members for ideas on how to bring the community vision to life. Similar to the mapping activity, participants at Camas Days placed sticky notes on a map for different land use types.
- Community Summits: We hosted two Community Summits, one in June 2024 and one in October 2024. The purpose of the first Community Summit was to report back on the outreach and engagement activities that happened over Spring 2024 and to ask for feedback on the Vision Statement and Goals. The purpose of the second Community Summit was to have community members comment on the draft land use alternatives.
We took all the information we heard from these activities and used it to prepare digital maps to compare all the input. During this step, we also layered in the existing comprehensive plan map to compare the existing with potential changes.
Alternative A
A Hub concept that focused development into Neighborhood and Regional Hubs. Neighborhood Hubs are areas that can support a variety of neighborhood-serving uses, including commercial/retail, higher-density housing, and parks. Regional Hubs can support higher scale residential and commercial uses that act as a regional destination.
Alternative B
A Corridor concept that focused development into Mixed-Use Residential and Mixed-Use Commercial Corridors. Mixed-Use Residential areas focused more on residential development with some neighborhood-serving commercial uses. Mixed-Use Commercial areas focused on commercial and office uses with some higher density housing.
Draft Preferred Alternative
Multiple workshops were held with CAC members and City staff to review and refine the land use alternatives before they were presented to the community at the second Community Summit. We then compiled the feedback and created the draft preferred alternative. Learn more about the key features and the proposed land use designations in the Preferred Alternative section [hyperlink tab]. Explore the Preferred Alternative map in the Explore Map section [hyperlink tab].
Preferred Alternative
Land Use Designations
The interactive preferred alternative map has a proposed plan for future growth and development in Camas. How and where growth and development will occur is determined by the land use designations shown on the map. Each designation is shown on the map in a different color and represents a different type of development. As described further below, some land use designations allow only housing, some allow only commercial and industrial uses, and some allow a mix. You will also see designations specific to the downtown area and parks and open spaces. Land use designations are intended to be broader than zoning districts. For example, the Residential Low designation corresponds with multiple lower density residential zones. Some of the zoning districts identified below already exist in Camas while others would be new.
Residential Low
Residential Medium
Residential High
Mixed Use
Mixed Employment
Commercial
Industrial
Parks / Open Space
Public Facilities
Preferred Alternative Features
You will notice several features on the preferred alternative map that may or may not be familiar to you. Keep reading to learn more.
Design Overlays: The draft preferred alternative uses design overlays to provide greater emphasis along key corridors and intersections. While the intention is to create unique standards for the design overlays that promote more mixing of uses and walkability, the specific standards are not yet developed. Through community and committee outreach in Spring 2025, we will seek feedback on new standards and zoning code updates to implement the design overlays.
The 1/2 Mile Buffer Map shows the distance from design overlays in Camas. A 1/2 mile represents about a 15-minute walk or roll, also known as a “walkshed.” Creating this buffer helps us see how easily people can reach the proposed design overlay corridors.
Proposed Transit Routes: Throughout the alternatives development process, community members identified the need for improved access to public transit. The draft preferred alternative proposes to extend existing C-TRAN bus routes from east Vancouver and create new routes that circulate throughout the city, providing connections to key districts including downtown and the proposed design overlay areas. The implementation of the proposed transit routes will require close coordination with C-TRAN.
The 1/2 Mile Buffer Map shows the distance from proposed transit corridors in Camas. A 1/2 mile represents about a 15-minute walk or roll, also known as a “walkshed.” Creating this buffer helps us see how easily people can reach the proposed transit.
Proposed Trails: Aligned with the City’s Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan, the draft preferred alternative includes proposed trails that will connect neighborhoods and destinations throughout Camas and provide improved access to the extensive natural areas and open spaces in the City. Providing greater trail connectivity throughout Camas will also increase opportunities for multimodal transportation.
The 1/2 Mile Buffer Map shows the distance from trails in Camas. A 1/2 mile represents about a 15-minute walk or roll, also known as a “walkshed.” Creating this buffer helps us see how easily people can reach the proposed trails,
The 1/2 Mile Buffer Map shows the distance from transit, trails, and design overlays in Camas. A 1/2 mile represents about a 15-minute walk or roll, also known as a “walkshed.” Creating this buffer helps us see how easily people can reach the proposed transit, trails, and design overlays in Camas.
Downtown Subarea Plan
In conjunction with the comprehensive plan update, the City is developing a downtown subarea plan to establish a more detailed vision and action plan to catalyze public and private investment in our historic downtown that preserves and enhances its unique sense of place. Drawing ideas and input from our residents and businesses, Our Downtown Camas 2045 will be a visionary roadmap that honors our rich heritage and maintains our hometown feel while setting the stage for a thriving future.
Through the process described for the comprehensive plan update, the community and a Downtown Advisory Committee have provided input on options for downtown. The preferred zoning map for Downtown Camas includes new zones to highlight the distinct character and potential for different parts of downtown. Keep scrolling to see an example of the types of development that could be located in each zone. The preferred zoning for downtown is incorporated into the preferred alternative map for the comprehensive plan.
Downtown Land Use
Explore Maps
1. Click on the interactive map below.
2. Enter an address in the search bar or zoom to a property you're interested in learning about.
3. Click on the property and view the pop-up box that appears with the property information, current zoning, and proposed land use designation. You can also view the land use designation in the Legend.
4. Under “Layer List,” you can view additional components by checking the box next to the name:
a. The Downtown Subarea Plan
b. Transit Options
5. Scroll to the second map and use the slider to compare existing comprehensive plan designations to the Preferred Alternative.
Our Camas 2045 Comprehensive Plan Map
Experience
Use the slider bar on the below map to compare the preferred alternative to the existing comprehensive plan map. Moving the bar to the right will reveal the existing land use and moving it to the left will reveal the preferred alternative land use
Current Comprehensive Plan Designations Preferred Alternative Designations
Share Feedback and Stay Involved
We want to hear from you!
- If you have a comment on a specific location, please follow these steps:
o Use the Find Address bar or zoom to an area you want to review.
o Select the Provide Feedback button, select the type of comment, and drop a pin on the location you want to comment on.
o Write your comment in the text box.
When you submit your comment, it will not be shown on the map but will be viewable to the project team.
2045 Preferred Alternative - Comprehensive Plan Public Comments
To stay involved and learn more, visit our project website at www.engagecamas.com/OurCamas2045
