Klickitat County Passes Oversight Ordinance After Losing Residential Parcel to Land Trust

LYLE, WA-Property tax revenue is apparently more important than parks to Klickitat County commissioners.

After seven years of negotiating, the Trust for Public Land this spring acquired 35 acres along the Columbia River here, which is located near the confluence of highways 14 and 142. The nonprofit paid Columbia Gorge Investors $1.86 million for the land, and planned to turn it into a public park.

Klickitat County, apparently not at all pleased with the fact that a subdivision will never be built there, recently passed an emergency zoning ordinance that prohibits the establishment of public parks in the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area without the county’s permission.