New Planner Gets to Work

DAYTON - Karen Scha- rer spent 29 years working for the King County plan- ning department. During that time she worked in of- fices in downtown Seattle, Renton and Snoqualmie. More recently she worked as a city planner in Auburn and Sea-Tac.

"This is the first time I've ever been able to walk to work," Scharer said of her ten-minute commute on foot to her new job at Dayton City Hall. "I love it."

Scharer took over as Day- ton City Planner in late April. She replaces Kim Lyonnais, who was hired as Columbia County Planner. Scharer's position is full time, while Lyonnais' was part time.

Scharer grew up in the Seattle area and attended the University of Washington. After graduating, she went to work for King County.

"After working for a county all those years, I wanted to see what working for a city was like," Scharer said of her move to the City of Auburn four years ago. "Cities have different issues than counties."

Scharer said she particu- larly wanted to move to Day- ton because her brother owns property outside of town and is building a home here.

Scharer says her planning plate is full for the next few months. The city is due to complete an update of its development regulations by December 1. This involves updating various planning and zoning documents to bring them in compliance with the city's 2008 com- prehensive plan as well as meeting new state mandates.

The city's zoning map also needs considerable refining, Scharer said. "We need to make some correc- tions, and we want to make the map fully up to date and available online."

Dayton is preparing to update its shoreline management plan this year as well, Scharer said. Representatives from the Washington State Department of Ecology will meet with city officials soon to determine how that plan will proceed.

Scharer said that the city hopes to reduce the size of its planning commission from seven to five. Currently, the commission has only three members and is not function- ing. "With five, we'll have a quorum, but we'll still need to fill two openings," she said.

Scharer says she is enjoy- ing her new life in Dayton. "I'm excited to work with the community" on planning issues, she said. "I want to listen to people's ideas."