Everett, Wash.
Published: Sunday, June 15, 2008

County shouldn't rush into land-use changes

 Good land-use planning takes time, cooperation and deliberation. It tries to strike a careful balance between property rights and the overall public good, reflects our shared environmental values, and addresses the infrastructure improvements required by growth.

In Snohomish County, planning is often rushed, and thus undermined, by the annual docket process. Every year, a flurry of applications is filed for amendments to the county's 10-year comprehensive plan, seeking things like zoning changes and urban-growth boundary expansions. It has become an overwhelming burden on the County Council and county planners, who end spend countless hours and resources dealing with localized issues at the expense of big-picture planning.

Amending the 10-year comprehensive plan every year makes it anything but comprehensive. A particular case in point this year is a tug-of-war between the cities of Snohomish and Lake Stevens over a still-rural buffer that lies between them at the intersection of U.S. 2 and Highway 9. Both cities have applied to expand their urban growth areas into this "Rural Urban Transition Area," and Snohomish is working with a developer who plans to add homes and commercial buildings in a large portion of the area. The developer currently is paying for necessary environmental studies.

Lake Stevens, which points to a chronic deficit of jobs and a commercial tax base, says it needs some of the broader area for its own commercial development. In a defensive move, it has filed to expand its own urban growth boundaries to include the area, but wants the County Council to reject both cities' proposals.

That's what the council should do. Both proposals are premature, because neither city is close to outgrowing its current urban expansion areas. The county should take a step back, and work with the two cities to come up with a long-term plan for the area that's deliberative, sensible, and serves the needs of all.

An area intersected by two heavily traveled highways requires planning that carefully looks far into the future. Given rising fuel costs alone, transportation and job patterns may be poised for dramatic change. The Puget Sound Regional Council recently updated its long-range plan, Vision 2040, and it should be taken into account as this area is planned.

Rushing into a decision that commits a large portion of this area to development now would be irresponsible, and there's no justification for doing so. The council should reject any changes for now.

Further, it should put a stop to this annual land-use free-for-all. Give good planning the time and resources it needs.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA