Our Camas 2045

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Welcome to Community Summit #3!

This summit is designed as a series of focused conversations on each element (or chapter) of the draft comprehensive plan. Every two weeks we’ll highlight a new plan element on this page with background information and a short survey. This is your chance to review the draft plan, get more information, share feedback, and help shape the next draft of the Our Camas 2045 Comprehensive Plan.


Engagement Schedule

Everything you need to review the plan and provide input will be on this webpage, but if you would like to chat with a planner in person, you can find us at the following events.

Natural Environment & Climate Resiliency

Our next featured elements are Natural Environment and Climate Change and Resiliency! The purpose of these elements is to address the City’s ability to protect and preserve the natural resources in our community and our changing climate.

What are the Natural Environment and Climate Change and Resiliency Elements?

The Natural Environment element of the comprehensive plan provides a policy framework for the identification, protection, and improvement of Camas’ natural environment. Goals and policies include those for environmental stewardship, the protection of environmentally sensitive lands (critical areas), natural areas and open space, shorelines, and landscaping and tree enhancement.

The City developed the Climate Change and Resiliency element consistent with House Bill 1181, signed into law in 2023. This new state law integrates climate planning into Washington’s GMA and requires cities and counties to include a climate element in their comprehensive plans. The purpose of the element is twofold: to reduce contributions to GHG emissions and to build community resilience to climate change.

These elements include a vision and goals, as follows.

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT VISION: Camas embraces its connection to nature and enjoys a wealth of outdoor recreational opportunities. Access to forests, clean water, parks, and trails is foundational to Camas’ quality of life. The community shares a deep reverence for Camas’ beauty, scenery, and tranquility, and is committed to preserving and enhancing its natural resources and tree canopy. Through proactive planning, the City mitigates the effects of changing climate conditions and natural hazards, ensuring a resilient community for generations to come.

CLIMATE CHANGE & RESILIENCY VISION: In 2045, Camas has proactive plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigate the effects of changing climate conditions and natural hazards, ensuring a resilient community for generations to come. The most vulnerable communities are protected, and climate planning contributes to improvements in community health and well-being.

Natural Environment Goals

  1. Environmental Stewardship. Preserve Camas’ natural environment citywide by developing a sustainable urban environment and protecting natural areas and open space, including critical areas.
  2. Critical Areas. Preserve, maintain, and restore the City’s critical areas to protect their function and value.
  3. Shorelines. Use the full potential of shoreline in accordance with the opportunities presented by their relationship to the surrounding area, their natural resource values, and their unique aesthetic qualities offered by water, topography, and views. Develop a physical environment that is both ordered and diversified, and which integrates water and shoreline uses while achieving a net gain of ecological function.
  4. Landscape Enhancement and Tree Preservation. The natural landscape and existing tree cover are important aspects of Camas’ natural environment. Native, mature landscaping and trees contribute to the City’s ecological health, supply valuable animal habitat, and enhance the community’s natural beauty.

Climate Change and Resiliency Goals

  1. Energy. Ensure that development and redevelopment projects, including buildings and energy infrastructure (generation, storage, and transmission) are designed to accommodate and use renewable energy, conservation, and efficiency technologies and practices to reduce GHG emissions and increase resiliency to natural hazards.
  2. Transportation. Improve the efficiency and resiliency of the transportation system to achieve GHG reduction goals and better withstand natural hazards.
  3. Local Agency Sustainability and Preparedness. Support agencies, districts, and businesses in establishing and achieving their own sustainability goals, initiatives, and programs.
  4. Community Health. Protect community health and well-being from the impacts of climate-exacerbated hazards and ensure that the most vulnerable residents do not bear disproportionate health impacts.
  5. Emergency Preparedness. Enhance emergency preparedness, response, and recovery efforts to mitigate risks and impacts associated with natural hazards.
  6. Water Resources. Protect and preserve the long-term quality and quantity of Camas’ water, and natural and cultural resources from climate change hazards such as drought and extreme participation.

After reviewing the draft Natural Environment and Climate Change and Resiliency elements, including the goals and policies, please take the survey below and provide your feedback on the actions the City can take to protect Camas’ natural resources and improve our resilience to climate change

Camas developed a preferred land use alternative map as part of the Our Camas 2045 Comprehensive Plan update process. This map will help the City achieve the new community vision and provide capacity for the next 20 years of anticipated growth.

Please visit our interactive online map to explore proposed changes at a parcel level, learn more about proposed land use types throughout Camas, and provide feedback.

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, community members were asked to share their thoughts on what makes Camas special today and what they would like to see in the future. The Our Camas 2045 visioning process reached over 1,000 community members through Community Conversations, Community Events, a Community Summit, an online survey, online mapping tools, and the Engage Camas project website. 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.

The comprehensive plan is the City's primary controlling document for land use and development. The comprehensive plan represents the community’s vision for the future of Camas.

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 the “About the Comprehensive Plan Update” section below.

The City of Camas is undertaking a multi-year initiative to update the City’s comprehensive plan. The Our Camas 2045 Comprehensive Plan will establish a vision for our community and will articulate goals, objectives, policies, and actions to guide growth and development through 2045.

Why are we updating the plan? Washington’s Growth Management Act (GMA) requires every county and city in the state to conduct a periodic update of their comprehensive plan and development regulations. The purpose of an update is to reevaluate and update the goals, objectives, policies, and actions in response to public input, new state requirements, and changes in the existing conditions or anticipated future conditions.

A lot has changed since Camas’ comprehensive plan was last updated in 2016. We have seen our population grow quickly, as well as changes in our community’s demographics, businesses and industries. In addition, new state legislation on housing and climate change has been introduced requiring updates to the housing element and the addition of a climate element.

  • HB 1110: Known as the “middle housing” bill, HB 11101 aims to increase housing options by requiring cities to allow more types of residential structures, such as duplexes, triplexes, and townhouses, in single-family areas. This bill requires Camas to allow up to two residential units per lot in all areas where single-family housing is allowed or up to four units within a ¼ mile of a major transit stop or if two of the units are affordable.
  • HB 1220: This bill requires cities to “plan for and accommodate” housing affordable to all income levels, including moderate, low, very low, and extremely low income households and provide for moderate and high density housing to meet this need. The bill also requires the City to review programs, actions, policies and regulations that might be a barrier to new housing production and availability, including those that may have contributed to racial disparities.
  • HB 1337: This bill requires the City to allow up to two accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on residential properties. ADUs are smaller housing units on properties with an existing primary dwelling unit, and the City currently allows one ADU on residential properties.
  • HB 1181: This bill requires Camas to develop and adopt a new climate element (or chapter) in the comprehensive plan. The element must identify actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and identify strategies to improve the community’s resilience to hazards associated with climate change (e.g., wildfires, drought).

How do you know how much housing and employment to plan for over the next 20 years? The Washington Office of Financial Management provides population projections and the Washington Employment Security Department provides employment projections to counties throughout the state. The counties then allocate a share of those projections to each entity within its jurisdiction based on the land available within the city to support more housing and jobs. Based on Clark County’s allocations, Camas will need 4,226 new housing units and 11,615 new jobs over the next 20 years. The comprehensive plan update must plan for this growth and ensure available land and infrastructure is available to support the projected housing and jobs needs.

What goes in a comprehensive plan? Comprehensive plans are organized into planning elements, or chapters, that include a vision, overview, goals and policies specific to each element. Our Camas 2045 will develop the following elements:

  • Community Character (new) – will describe the desired character of the built and natural environments in the city based on the community vision.
  • Climate (new) – will address how the city is planning for the effects of climate change and identify actions for a more resilient community. See additional details below.
  • Land Use – will identify the location and type of different land uses throughout the city. This element includes the updated comprehensive plan map.
  • Housing – will address how the city will provide a diverse range of housing options to support community members at various income levels, as required by HB 1220.
  • Natural Environment – will address the city’s natural environment, including its tree canopy, and actions to support its preservation.
  • Transportation – will address the transportation system needed to support anticipated growth and development.
  • Public Facilities and Services – will address utility and public service needs to support anticipated growth and development.
  • Economic Development – will address the city’s goals for economic development and actions needed to support job growth.

What will go in the climate element? As noted above, HB 1181 requires the adoption of a climate change and resiliency element, which includes Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Resiliency sub-elements.

The purpose of the GHG sub-element is to identify actions Camas will take to:

  • Reduce overall GHG emissions generated by transportation and land use;
  • Reduce per capita vehicle miles traveled; and
  • Prioritize reductions that benefit overburdened communities.

The purpose of the Resiliency sub-element is to identify actions Camas will take to:

  • Equitably enhance resiliency to, and avoid or substantially reduce the adverse impacts of, climate change in communities and ecological systems.
  • Prioritize actions that benefit overburdened communities that will be most impacted by natural hazards due to climate change.

Clark County recently completed an analysis of local and regional climate data, including GHG emissions and vehicle miles traveled, which provides a benchmark for Camas to reduce GHGs and vehicle miles traveled through our comprehensive plan. A variety of community events will provide opportunities for community members to contribute ideas on how we can reduce our emissions and improve Camas’ climate resiliency.

Our Camas 2045 is guided by three advisory committees – the Community Advisory Committee (CAC), Project Advisory Committee (PAC), and Climate Policy Advisory Team (CPAT). The committees review and comment on draft products, guide public outreach and engagement efforts, provide technical and professional direction, act as liaisons to specific interest groups, and act as champions of Our Camas 2045. Committee rosters and meeting summaries can be found under the Project Documents tab on the right side of this page.

Multiple outreach events have been, and will continue to be, held to provide community members with opportunities to engage in the planning process and share your ideas. Previous events included the Our Camas 2045 table at First Fridays, the Farmer's Market, and Camas Days, and two Community Summits. Fun and engaging future community events will provide additional activities for Camas community members to share their ideas. Bookmark this page to learn about future events or sign up to receive project updates. An overview of the project schedule is provided below.

In conjunction with Our Camas 2045, the City is has developed a draft subarea plan for Downtown Camas. Our Downtown Camas 2045 will set a more detailed vision for Downtown Camas.

Survey

Our survey on the draft Natural Environment and Climate elements is open through October 24! Please fill out the "Natural Environment and Climate Resiliency" survey below to share your thoughts.

Do you have a general comment on the draft Comprehensive Plan or questions for City staff? You can submit your comment/question using the "Draft Comprehensive Plan" survey form below.

Welcome to Community Summit #3!

This summit is designed as a series of focused conversations on each element (or chapter) of the draft comprehensive plan. Every two weeks we’ll highlight a new plan element on this page with background information and a short survey. This is your chance to review the draft plan, get more information, share feedback, and help shape the next draft of the Our Camas 2045 Comprehensive Plan.


Engagement Schedule

Everything you need to review the plan and provide input will be on this webpage, but if you would like to chat with a planner in person, you can find us at the following events.

Natural Environment & Climate Resiliency

Our next featured elements are Natural Environment and Climate Change and Resiliency! The purpose of these elements is to address the City’s ability to protect and preserve the natural resources in our community and our changing climate.

What are the Natural Environment and Climate Change and Resiliency Elements?

The Natural Environment element of the comprehensive plan provides a policy framework for the identification, protection, and improvement of Camas’ natural environment. Goals and policies include those for environmental stewardship, the protection of environmentally sensitive lands (critical areas), natural areas and open space, shorelines, and landscaping and tree enhancement.

The City developed the Climate Change and Resiliency element consistent with House Bill 1181, signed into law in 2023. This new state law integrates climate planning into Washington’s GMA and requires cities and counties to include a climate element in their comprehensive plans. The purpose of the element is twofold: to reduce contributions to GHG emissions and to build community resilience to climate change.

These elements include a vision and goals, as follows.

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT VISION: Camas embraces its connection to nature and enjoys a wealth of outdoor recreational opportunities. Access to forests, clean water, parks, and trails is foundational to Camas’ quality of life. The community shares a deep reverence for Camas’ beauty, scenery, and tranquility, and is committed to preserving and enhancing its natural resources and tree canopy. Through proactive planning, the City mitigates the effects of changing climate conditions and natural hazards, ensuring a resilient community for generations to come.

CLIMATE CHANGE & RESILIENCY VISION: In 2045, Camas has proactive plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigate the effects of changing climate conditions and natural hazards, ensuring a resilient community for generations to come. The most vulnerable communities are protected, and climate planning contributes to improvements in community health and well-being.

Natural Environment Goals

  1. Environmental Stewardship. Preserve Camas’ natural environment citywide by developing a sustainable urban environment and protecting natural areas and open space, including critical areas.
  2. Critical Areas. Preserve, maintain, and restore the City’s critical areas to protect their function and value.
  3. Shorelines. Use the full potential of shoreline in accordance with the opportunities presented by their relationship to the surrounding area, their natural resource values, and their unique aesthetic qualities offered by water, topography, and views. Develop a physical environment that is both ordered and diversified, and which integrates water and shoreline uses while achieving a net gain of ecological function.
  4. Landscape Enhancement and Tree Preservation. The natural landscape and existing tree cover are important aspects of Camas’ natural environment. Native, mature landscaping and trees contribute to the City’s ecological health, supply valuable animal habitat, and enhance the community’s natural beauty.

Climate Change and Resiliency Goals

  1. Energy. Ensure that development and redevelopment projects, including buildings and energy infrastructure (generation, storage, and transmission) are designed to accommodate and use renewable energy, conservation, and efficiency technologies and practices to reduce GHG emissions and increase resiliency to natural hazards.
  2. Transportation. Improve the efficiency and resiliency of the transportation system to achieve GHG reduction goals and better withstand natural hazards.
  3. Local Agency Sustainability and Preparedness. Support agencies, districts, and businesses in establishing and achieving their own sustainability goals, initiatives, and programs.
  4. Community Health. Protect community health and well-being from the impacts of climate-exacerbated hazards and ensure that the most vulnerable residents do not bear disproportionate health impacts.
  5. Emergency Preparedness. Enhance emergency preparedness, response, and recovery efforts to mitigate risks and impacts associated with natural hazards.
  6. Water Resources. Protect and preserve the long-term quality and quantity of Camas’ water, and natural and cultural resources from climate change hazards such as drought and extreme participation.

After reviewing the draft Natural Environment and Climate Change and Resiliency elements, including the goals and policies, please take the survey below and provide your feedback on the actions the City can take to protect Camas’ natural resources and improve our resilience to climate change

Camas developed a preferred land use alternative map as part of the Our Camas 2045 Comprehensive Plan update process. This map will help the City achieve the new community vision and provide capacity for the next 20 years of anticipated growth.

Please visit our interactive online map to explore proposed changes at a parcel level, learn more about proposed land use types throughout Camas, and provide feedback.

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, community members were asked to share their thoughts on what makes Camas special today and what they would like to see in the future. The Our Camas 2045 visioning process reached over 1,000 community members through Community Conversations, Community Events, a Community Summit, an online survey, online mapping tools, and the Engage Camas project website. 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.

The comprehensive plan is the City's primary controlling document for land use and development. The comprehensive plan represents the community’s vision for the future of Camas.

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 the “About the Comprehensive Plan Update” section below.

The City of Camas is undertaking a multi-year initiative to update the City’s comprehensive plan. The Our Camas 2045 Comprehensive Plan will establish a vision for our community and will articulate goals, objectives, policies, and actions to guide growth and development through 2045.

Why are we updating the plan? Washington’s Growth Management Act (GMA) requires every county and city in the state to conduct a periodic update of their comprehensive plan and development regulations. The purpose of an update is to reevaluate and update the goals, objectives, policies, and actions in response to public input, new state requirements, and changes in the existing conditions or anticipated future conditions.

A lot has changed since Camas’ comprehensive plan was last updated in 2016. We have seen our population grow quickly, as well as changes in our community’s demographics, businesses and industries. In addition, new state legislation on housing and climate change has been introduced requiring updates to the housing element and the addition of a climate element.

  • HB 1110: Known as the “middle housing” bill, HB 11101 aims to increase housing options by requiring cities to allow more types of residential structures, such as duplexes, triplexes, and townhouses, in single-family areas. This bill requires Camas to allow up to two residential units per lot in all areas where single-family housing is allowed or up to four units within a ¼ mile of a major transit stop or if two of the units are affordable.
  • HB 1220: This bill requires cities to “plan for and accommodate” housing affordable to all income levels, including moderate, low, very low, and extremely low income households and provide for moderate and high density housing to meet this need. The bill also requires the City to review programs, actions, policies and regulations that might be a barrier to new housing production and availability, including those that may have contributed to racial disparities.
  • HB 1337: This bill requires the City to allow up to two accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on residential properties. ADUs are smaller housing units on properties with an existing primary dwelling unit, and the City currently allows one ADU on residential properties.
  • HB 1181: This bill requires Camas to develop and adopt a new climate element (or chapter) in the comprehensive plan. The element must identify actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and identify strategies to improve the community’s resilience to hazards associated with climate change (e.g., wildfires, drought).

How do you know how much housing and employment to plan for over the next 20 years? The Washington Office of Financial Management provides population projections and the Washington Employment Security Department provides employment projections to counties throughout the state. The counties then allocate a share of those projections to each entity within its jurisdiction based on the land available within the city to support more housing and jobs. Based on Clark County’s allocations, Camas will need 4,226 new housing units and 11,615 new jobs over the next 20 years. The comprehensive plan update must plan for this growth and ensure available land and infrastructure is available to support the projected housing and jobs needs.

What goes in a comprehensive plan? Comprehensive plans are organized into planning elements, or chapters, that include a vision, overview, goals and policies specific to each element. Our Camas 2045 will develop the following elements:

  • Community Character (new) – will describe the desired character of the built and natural environments in the city based on the community vision.
  • Climate (new) – will address how the city is planning for the effects of climate change and identify actions for a more resilient community. See additional details below.
  • Land Use – will identify the location and type of different land uses throughout the city. This element includes the updated comprehensive plan map.
  • Housing – will address how the city will provide a diverse range of housing options to support community members at various income levels, as required by HB 1220.
  • Natural Environment – will address the city’s natural environment, including its tree canopy, and actions to support its preservation.
  • Transportation – will address the transportation system needed to support anticipated growth and development.
  • Public Facilities and Services – will address utility and public service needs to support anticipated growth and development.
  • Economic Development – will address the city’s goals for economic development and actions needed to support job growth.

What will go in the climate element? As noted above, HB 1181 requires the adoption of a climate change and resiliency element, which includes Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Resiliency sub-elements.

The purpose of the GHG sub-element is to identify actions Camas will take to:

  • Reduce overall GHG emissions generated by transportation and land use;
  • Reduce per capita vehicle miles traveled; and
  • Prioritize reductions that benefit overburdened communities.

The purpose of the Resiliency sub-element is to identify actions Camas will take to:

  • Equitably enhance resiliency to, and avoid or substantially reduce the adverse impacts of, climate change in communities and ecological systems.
  • Prioritize actions that benefit overburdened communities that will be most impacted by natural hazards due to climate change.

Clark County recently completed an analysis of local and regional climate data, including GHG emissions and vehicle miles traveled, which provides a benchmark for Camas to reduce GHGs and vehicle miles traveled through our comprehensive plan. A variety of community events will provide opportunities for community members to contribute ideas on how we can reduce our emissions and improve Camas’ climate resiliency.

Our Camas 2045 is guided by three advisory committees – the Community Advisory Committee (CAC), Project Advisory Committee (PAC), and Climate Policy Advisory Team (CPAT). The committees review and comment on draft products, guide public outreach and engagement efforts, provide technical and professional direction, act as liaisons to specific interest groups, and act as champions of Our Camas 2045. Committee rosters and meeting summaries can be found under the Project Documents tab on the right side of this page.

Multiple outreach events have been, and will continue to be, held to provide community members with opportunities to engage in the planning process and share your ideas. Previous events included the Our Camas 2045 table at First Fridays, the Farmer's Market, and Camas Days, and two Community Summits. Fun and engaging future community events will provide additional activities for Camas community members to share their ideas. Bookmark this page to learn about future events or sign up to receive project updates. An overview of the project schedule is provided below.

In conjunction with Our Camas 2045, the City is has developed a draft subarea plan for Downtown Camas. Our Downtown Camas 2045 will set a more detailed vision for Downtown Camas.

Survey

Our survey on the draft Natural Environment and Climate elements is open through October 24! Please fill out the "Natural Environment and Climate Resiliency" survey below to share your thoughts.

Do you have a general comment on the draft Comprehensive Plan or questions for City staff? You can submit your comment/question using the "Draft Comprehensive Plan" survey form below.

  • Natural Environment & Climate Resiliency

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  • Draft Comprehensive Plan

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Page last updated: 13 Oct 2025, 04:03 PM