🏕️ Between Zoning Codes and Housing Reality - Klickitat BOCC 5/12 & 5/19

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🏛 May 12 & 19, 2026 Meetings

The Body: Klickitat County Board of County Commissioners

The Bottom Line: The Board is gearing up for a significant overhaul of code enforcement rules and departmental structure, while simultaneously navigating funding hurdles for major community projects like the Dallesport Park.

The Vibe: Methodical and forward-looking, with commissioners pressing for structural clarity on long-standing infrastructure and compliance headaches.

🔎 What Changed

• Budgeting: Passed the Quarter 1 Supplemental Budget (Resolution No. 03126).
• Fire Safety: Adopted a resolution establishing the Zone Three burn ban, effective June 1.
• Contracts: Finalized a 5-year maintenance extension with Long Building Technologies for the jail control panel, and approved guardrail upgrades with Dirt & Aggregate Interchange, Inc.

⚠ What Escalated

• Code Enforcement: The proliferation of multiple RVs being used as primary housing on single parcels has prompted the Board to schedule a major workshop to overhaul enforcement procedures, fines, and fee schedules.
• Grant Readiness: Public Works confirmed a federal appropriations request for Dallesport Park was denied, highlighting a gap in the county's ability to produce shovel-ready, engineered plans required by federal funders.

🧭 What’s Next

• June 1: Burn Ban Zone 3 goes into effect.
• June 18: Back-to-back major workshops regarding Dallesport Wastewater rates (9:30 AM) and Code Enforcement policy (10:30 AM).

🏕️ Code Enforcement & The Rural Housing Squeeze

• A major workshop is scheduled for June 18 to refine county-wide code enforcement procedures.
• The discussion will heavily target the complexities of multiple RVs being used as housing on single parcels.
• The County Administrator is finalizing an organizational chart to consolidate Planning, Building, Code Compliance, Economic Development, and Natural Resources into a single Community Development Department.

Code enforcement remains one of the most urgent flashpoints across the Gorge. Planning Director Scott Edelman and Code Compliance Officer George Sendejas are preparing a "three-step procedure" for enforcement to move the county from inconsistent, legacy practices toward a standardized system of clear fines and fee schedules. The county is actively struggling to draw a policy line between acceptable alternative shelter and actionable code violations, acknowledging that their current enforcement often strays from the written law. Concurrently, folding Code Compliance into a unified Community Development Department is a structural move designed to streamline the permitting pipeline, theoretically reducing the bureaucratic runaround for residents trying to get into compliance.

⚠️ Editor's Note: Regulating a Housing Crisis

This policy debate is unfolding against a backdrop of severe regional housing strain. When Klickitat County looks to "clean up" RV usage through new fines, they aren't just adjusting a zoning policy, they are actively navigating a "hidden homelessness" crisis. Washington Gorge Action Programs (WAGAP) data consistently highlights that a lack of affordable shelter is a primary burden for low-income residents. If the county creates a strict new fine structure for RV living without addressing where displaced people can go, it risks undermining the work put in to stabilize people already navigating many barriers to permanent housing. The upcoming June workshop must weigh the need for public safety and sanitation against the reality that, for many in the Gorge, the RV is their only viable alternative to the dangers of sleeping outside.

🏞️ The Dallesport Park Catch-22: Why Federal Funding Failed

• The county's request for federal construction dollars for a 5-acre community park in Dallesport was officially denied.
• The BOCC originally intended to ask for a "planning grant" to cover upfront engineering costs, but shifted to a full construction funding request late in the application process.
• Federal reviewers rejected the application because the county only submitted conceptual drawings, not the required stamped, engineered plans.
• The application also lacked a defined long-term funding mechanism to cover the park's ongoing maintenance and utility costs.

The failure to secure federal funding for the Dallesport Park is a classic example of a community colliding with the rigid, sequential requirements of federal grants. The county owns a 5-acre parcel in Dallesport that was platted for a park decades ago, and residents have rallied around conceptual drawings featuring a splash pad and community gardens. However, federal infrastructure agencies want "shovel-ready" projects. The county's application failed because it attempted to secure construction dollars without having completed the expensive, unglamorous planning phase first.

To become eligible for federal construction money in the future, Klickitat County must first spend an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 out-of-pocket on stamped engineering plans. Those plans dictate everything from utility pipe sizes to water meter capacities, which are necessary to calculate the park's exact water bills and maintenance needs. Because the county lacked these plans, they couldn't tell the federal reviewers how much the park would cost to maintain. While a local recreation district tax was briefly floated to cover these future costs, preliminary community feedback was strongly against a new levy. The Board acknowledged they need to revert to their original strategy: securing a planning grant first, pointing to the neighboring community of Wishram, which recently spent roughly $60,000 on its own engineering plans to successfully reach grant eligibility.

🛠 Jargon Buster:

• Shovel-Ready vs. Conceptual: A conceptual drawing shows what a park might look like (e.g., "a splash pad goes here"). A shovel-ready, engineered plan is a legal document detailing the exact soil depth, water pressure requirements, and electrical load needed to safely build it.
• O&M (Operations and Maintenance). This refers to the ongoing, long-term costs of keeping a facility running, such as mowing, trash removal, and repairs, after construction is finished. Grantors rarely pay for O&M, making it one of the biggest hurdles for rural project approval.

🚓 Public Safety & Jail Infrastructure

• The Board authorized the Sheriff's Department to purchase rifle plates ($11,894.88), night vision/thermal scopes ($33,385.60), and 17 Glock firearms ($15,044.58).
• A small works contract was approved with Southern Folger for the jail hold 4 door addition.
• A 5-year maintenance agreement extension was signed with Long Building Technologies for the jail control panel.

How to Join & Learn More

• Review the Raw Materials: Agendas and minutes are available on the Klickitat County website.
• Attend the Next Meeting: The BOCC meets regularly on Tuesdays in Goldendale. You can stream the meetings live via Zoom (Meeting ID: 586 587 651).