Camas sits against the Columbia, with a mill-town grid downtown and newer hillside plats climbing toward Washougal. Plenty of those lots come with a Mount Hood view and a real slope. We’ve already set detached ADUs here. The work comes down to matching a model to a lot that may be tight, steep, or both. The floor plan also has to be one we can actually deliver up a Camas driveway.
Wolf’s factory is in Battle Ground, so our field team’s first site visit is a short drive. So is the punch-list work after the set. The reviewer is the part that changes from lot to lot. The City of Camas and Clark County are separate jurisdictions. A Camas mailing address can still sit on unincorporated land.
City of Camas or Clark County first
Pull the parcel on Clark County GIS. It shows city limits, zone, and taxlot. If the lot is inside Camas, the city’s Community Development and building staff handle it. If it isn’t, you file with the county, even when the mail says Camas. On the east edge, a Camas address can also sit inside Washougal city limits.
State law allows two ADUs on a qualifying lot inside the urban growth area. On a Camas hillside, though, the slope, the trees, and stormwater usually limit what fits before the unit count does. The Washington ADU laws guide covers the statute, including the Clark / Vancouver section. Camas sets the local requirements. Lot coverage, parking, and impact fees vary by zone and by lot. We confirm them against the current handout when we file.
Setbacks, the distance a building has to sit from the property line, depend on the underlying zone. There’s no single citywide number. On a hillside lot, the cut for a level pad and its retaining wall can take more of the yard than the setbacks do.
How Camas handles an ADU permit
City staff see plenty of infill ADUs. A complete packet moves. A packet missing tree, stormwater, or access information comes back with comments. Here’s the path we use:
- Confirm the dwelling is allowed in this zone, using GIS plus the current Camas ADU materials.
- Draw the plot plan. It shows the existing house, the proposed cottage, setbacks for that zone, and utilities. It also shows a truck and crane path that works on a hillside.
- Prepare the engineered modular plan set. These are modular homes built under the Washington State Building Code and inspected by L&I in the factory. They aren’t HUD-code manufactured homes, which follow a separate federal standard. Camas still reviews the foundation, placement, and utilities.
- Submit to the City of Camas (or Clark County if the lot is unincorporated) with utility connection plans. Site prep is part of the job from the start. That includes grading, the foundation, and sometimes retaining walls.
- Complete inspections as they’re called, then get occupancy.
County lots may also need WAVE, septic, critical areas, road approach, or habitat review. Sewered city lots still need the laterals checked and panel capacity confirmed.
Camas neighborhoods and what they mean for a lot
Downtown Camas still has its mill-town layout. You’ll see short blocks, older houses, mature trees, and alleys that look useful until you measure the turning radius. The main street wasn’t laid out with a crane in mind.
Around Lacamas Lake, trees and drainage come into play. A wooded lot isn’t automatically an ADU site until we measure the pad and the truck path.
Prune Hill and the upland plats that filled in toward Washougal feel like a different city. They have wider lots, views, thicker HOA packets, and driveways drawn for a passenger car.
These are the site issues that come up on Camas lots:
- Slope and retaining. A backyard rectangle that looks perfect on a plat map can shrink once you cut a level pad.
- Delivery and crane. Expect narrow streets, parked cars, overhead lines, and a maple in the only swing path. A 12-foot-wide Model K needs a very different plan than a two-piece home.
- Trees. Camas takes canopy seriously on some sites. Protecting the roots can change the cost.
- Stormwater. Every hillside lot needs on-site infiltration or a legal connection. It’s part of the design from the start.
- Panel and laterals. A house with 100-amp service needs a utility plan for the new dwelling before anyone picks light fixtures.
Case studies
We’ve built multiple ADUs in Camas. Here are two completed projects:
- A detached ADU in Camas: one bedroom, about 400 sq ft on a 10 × 40 footprint with a gable roof. The owners use it as an additional dwelling. It’s compact by design and works as a full home.
- A Portland-metro / Camas backyard ADU: a compact one-bedroom built to keep family close, with details that make it easier to get around.
Browse case studies for more Clark County projects.
Models that fit Camas lots
- Model K (~432 sq ft). A one-bedroom guest cottage or rental on a typical residential lot. On a slope, it’s often the model that fits when a wider home can’t get to the pad.
- Model E / Model F (~616 sq ft). Two bedrooms, when the zone and the hillside allow.
- The full lineup has other sizes. We check each one against your house, your coverage, and the route to the pad before we lock a plan.
Choosing a model gives us the starting home price. We price trenching, retaining, and the foundation after we review the property.
Uses, rentals, and what counts as an ADU
Camas doesn’t care whether you call it a granny flat or a mother-in-law unit. If it has a kitchen and a bath, it’s a dwelling. Inside the UGA, state law removed owner-occupancy mandates. Local short-term rental rules can still apply, so check them before you plan on Airbnb income. Tell us during the evaluation whether the home will be a rental, a parent’s home, or a guest cottage. The use can affect parking, and sometimes the model.
Camas is close enough to Portland that extra housing is valuable, but it’s still Washington. Portland’s DevHub process, its 800 sq ft limit, and Oregon’s SDC waivers don’t apply here.
Washougal shares SR-14 and much of the same hillside with Camas. It has its own city hall, though, and a Washougal pad isn’t reviewed like a Camas mill-town lot. Vancouver’s east-side plats are close on SR-14 and still belong to Vancouver. Our factory is in Battle Ground, but your permit still goes to Camas or Clark County.
Site work, delivery, and set
On Camas jobs, the field team handles foundation excavation, utility trenching, and grading the disturbed area. They also do the minor tree and brush work the home needs to sit. Tree removal happens when the city agrees it’s necessary. On a hillside, that prep decides whether the truck gets to the pad. Budget for it as part of the project.
Delivery from Battle Ground is local, usually over I-205 and SR-14. The hillside last mile is the part people underestimate. On a steep driveway, the delivery truck may only get so close. Then a crane makes the last swing onto the foundation.
That’s set day, the day the home is placed on its foundation. The home is weather-sealed the same day when the weather allows. The mechanical and plumbing tie-ins follow. A two-piece plan adds a day on site to join the halves. That’s why we look at access in the first week.
Climate, soils, and the river
Southwest Washington is wet from fall through spring, and the house is built indoors. On a Camas hillside, saturated soils and a cut pad change the excavation and erosion control plan. Low spots near the Columbia and the lake need a flood-map check. We confirm any base flood elevation from the maps. A summer set is simpler on a cut hillside pad. A winter one needs more erosion control.
Cost, time, and financing
Site work, retaining, trench length, and electrical upgrades can make the total project cost differ between two Camas properties with the same model. Factory construction makes the home price more predictable than a site-built project. Substantial retaining can still add cost. Camas owners usually pay with a HELOC, a cash-out refinance, or a construction loan. See financing for details.
City review moves faster on a complete file, and that’s what we submit. Every Prune Hill backyard is different. A free property evaluation is the first step, and a scoped proposal follows once the deeper site checks are done.
After the set
Next come inspections, a walk-through, the punch list, keys, and warranty. Because Battle Ground is close, fixing a missing piece of trim is a routine trip for the same field crew that set the home. Camas inspectors still control occupancy, or Clark County inspectors on an unincorporated lot. The approved drawings stay on site until they sign off. Once they do, the home is ready for a parent, a tenant, or guests.
Questions we get on Camas lots
Will the city allow two ADUs? Inside the UGA, state law says qualifying lots must be allowed at least two. Camas puts that into practice through the packet you file. We confirm it against the current handout.
Do I have to live on the property? No. Washington removed owner-occupancy mandates inside UGAs. We check the current Camas handout when we file.
What about parking and impact fees? Both vary by lot. Impact fees are one-time charges for new housing. HB 1337 caps them and limits parking requirements near major transit, but your street may not qualify.
Can I put this on a slope? Sometimes, if retaining can give us a level pad and the truck can make the grade. We find that out on the site visit.
What the Camas evaluation covers
Bring the address, your best guess at the pad location, and any survey or prior permit. The free evaluation is our first look. It covers:
- City versus county, using GIS.
- The zone, coverage, and setbacks.
- Whether the home is for family, a rental, or a cottage you might live in yourself.
As the project moves forward, we check the rest:
- Slope and trees.
- Water, sewer, and electrical.
- The truck path from SR-14 and city streets to the curb, then a crane or rollers to the pad.
An address and a rough idea of where the cottage would sit is enough to start. Send the address for a free property evaluation, and we’ll match a model to the Camas lot you actually have.
