Everett, Wash.
Published: Monday, March 9, 2009

County Council must settle disagreements on rural housing developments

By Noah Haglund
Herald Writer

 EVERETT -- It's almost time for the Snohomish County Council to decide whether to allow mini-­cities to be built in rural areas, but meetings between two opposing factions have yielded little common ground.

The outcome could have a huge impact on vast tracts of rural land, including 6,000 homes proposed near Lake Roesiger.

Developers say the mini-cities are a convenient way to accommodate growth. Environmentalists fear these developments would ruin rural areas while putting unnecessary burdens on roads, schools and public safety.

"We'd really rather see them go away," said Ellen Hiatt Watson, leader of the opposition group 7-Lakes and a candidate for County Council.

The council imposed a temporary ban last year to review the issue. In the meantime, a stakeholder process with three people from each faction was supposed to generate advice. The council released the feedback last week.

With the moratorium set to expire in May, that advice has been leading in opposite directions, not toward a consensus.

"It looks like both sides in the stakeholder process are still at odds," Councilman Brian Sullivan said.

A land-use attorney for Dave Barnett, the developer who wants to build the homes near Lake Roesiger, said the stakeholder process was cordial, but not productive.

"We were more than willing to look at in-good-faith ways to improve the ordinance," George Kresovich said. "I don't think that the other side was really looking at ways to improve the ordinance."

The other stakeholders were Cindy Howard, president of the Lake Roesiger Property Association; Brian Holtzclaw, an attorney for the McNaughton Group, which has plans for smaller rural developments; Mike Pattison from the Master Builders Association; and Kristin Kelly, Snohomish County director for Futurewise, an environmental group.

Under the current county code, the mini-cities must provide jobs, roads and environmental protection. The concept is known as a fully contained community, which in theory would minimize urban sprawl by giving residents everything they need close to home. There is debate about how well that works in practice.

Kresovich believes these communities are the best solution for handling some 300,000 additional people who are expected to move to Snohomish County by 2025. Rural land also is much less expensive for developers to buy than urban land.

Opponents view the mini-­cities as an unnecessary drain on areas that don't have schools, roads or fire stations to handle the extra people.

"We have a hard enough time providing those services in the urban areas," said Councilman Dave Somers, who favors getting rid of the developments.

Public meetings next month will determine whether the council follows that course, amends the rules codes or leaves them as is.



Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465 or nhaglund@heraldnet.com.


Eliminate requirements for shopping and other businesses.

The full report on mini-­cities, also called fully contained communities, is available at www.snoco.org. The issue is expected to come up on:

  • April 14, 9 a.m., planning and community development committee

    April 15, 9 a.m., public hearing at general legislative session

    April 29, 3 p.m. (tentative), public hearing
    © 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA