The county receives $10,000 a year from the Washington Legislature to defray the costs of processing development permits, but officials say it is significantly lass than the actual cost given the detailed documentation and legal review the Columbia River Gorge Commission mandates to support land-use decisions.

Only about 2% of the nearly 300,000-sf Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area lies within Clark County's purview. All told the scenic area covers parts of six counties in Washington and Oregon that border the Columbia River Gorge. The revocation of a governing ordinance has never happened, though adoption of them is optional.

Klickitat County is the only affected county that has not adopted a zoning ordinance for its portion of the scenic area. In that instance, the gorge commission itself acts as the land-use board, and Klickitat is not eligible to receive money for economic and recreational development in the scenic area. Clark County officials are now wondering if that isn't a small price to pay.