The CGNSA has some fairly strict rules that govern what building you can do in the Gorge. The Gorge Commission has created a handbook that outlines the building rules and regulations for building in the Gorge. The general steps for the granting of an approved Land Use Permit are:

• submit a land use application to the CGNSA
• pay a $900 application fee
• pass a historical site review conducted by the USFS
• pass a Notice of Development public notice
• pass an internal CGNSA internal review

All in all getting a land use permit can take anywhere from 6 months to over a year. The minimum cost is the application fee and if there are objections and lawyers get involved the costs can grow way beyond the application fee.

Our Post and Beam home project is currently is in the Notice of Development Review stage. This is where the CGNSA seeks input from the public. To that end a Public Notice was published on the Skamania County’s website and a Public Notice postcard was mailed to households within a mile of out project site or so requesting comments. As well as notices to the various governmental agencies and the like in the area.

Of specific interest is that the Gorge Commission almost forgot to send out the Public Notice. This had added a delay of a few weeks. The Public Notice review period is 30 days. Once that is complete our CGNSA development application will go to the CGNSA application internal review period of 20 days. Once both those reviews are complete (a minimum of 50 days) the CGNSA will grant our land use application. And then we can start on obtaining Skamania County Building Permits.