The VBLM is a planning tool developed to analyze residential, commercial and industrial lands within urban growth areas

VANCOUVER – Clark County Community Planning and GIS departments are releasing for public review the county’s 2023 Vacant Buildable Lands Model (VBLM) capacity report. 

The VBLM is a planning tool developed to analyze residential, commercial and industrial lands within urban growth areas. The model serves as a tool for evaluating urban area alternatives during Comprehensive Growth Management Plan updates and for monitoring growth patterns during interim periods. 

The VBLM analyzes potential residential and employment capacity of each urban growth area based on vacant and underutilized land classifications. This potential capacity is used to determine the amount of urban land needed to accommodate projected population and job growth for the next 20 years during comprehensive plan updates. The county is required to complete the comprehensive plan update by June 30, 2025.

Recent model updates include: 

• Modifying VBLM logic to calculate capacity based on zoning, 
• Updating VBLM configuration to reflect allowed residential densities in the yield assumptions, 
• Incorporating yield estimates from the local jurisdictions, and 
• Documenting special cases/exceptions to the established logic.

The report is available for review on the county’s website at https://gis.clark.wa.gov/vblm/. 

Information provided by Clark Co. WA Communications.