PORT ANGELES — Clallam County has decided what it wants to be when it grows up.
From an economic-development standpoint, at least, it dreams of being attractive to tourists and luring new businesses, all the while keeping faith with its ties to fishing, farming and forestry.
Its goals are outlined in the revised economic development element of the county’s comprehensive plan that will receive a public hearing before county commissioners Tuesday.
The hearing will open at 10:30 a.m. in the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.
Some of the plan’s goals are clear: “Work to promote a strong, economically viable and ecologically responsible agricultural economy.”
Others are opaque: “Advocate solutions to local industry issues in order to expand employment opportunities and revenue generation.”
And a few might not have occurred to everyone: “Amend zoning standards to allow for small-scale, on-farm enterprises in rural areas.”
Much of the plan is a catalog of statistics.
For example, it discloses that the most developed commercial/industrial-zoned land lies in the Port Angeles region, 1,676 acres, followed by the West End, 1,469 acres, and Sequim, 837.
The West End leads in vacant commercial land, 1,361 acres, followed by Sequim, 702, and Port Angeles, 480.
The plan notes that the county’s population stands at about 66,800, increasing at around 1 percent a year since 2000. By 2010, it forecasts that residents will number 72,383 and total 81,894 by 2020.
