County says no to rural projects

Published 10:24 pm Monday, June 16, 2008

Future neighborhoods and job centers won’t be allowed to spill into Snohomish County’s rural areas, the County Council decided Monday.

The council killed more than 2,200 acres of proposed developments that might have opened up rural areas of the county to urban housing and commercial development.

Notably, the council rejected competing proposals by the cities of Lake Stevens and Snohomish, two cities vying over a prized commercial development proposal in a rural pocket between the cities.

The council voted 4-1 to kill both cities’ proposals rather than choose a winner. County Councilman Dave Gossett voted to keep the proposals alive only so the cities could negotiate who would control the area.

The county’s urban-rural line — required by the state Growth Management Act to steer development away from rural areas — is “pretty firm,” County Council chairman Dave Somers said.

“The council is not very interested in expanding urban growth boundaries. We’re trying to contain sprawl and make sure we don’t end up like Los Angeles.”

The long list of proposals were part of the county’s annual update to the comprehensive plan. The council’s votes are a key hurdle before a year’s worth of in-depth and costly environmental review begins. Landowners and developers pay the costs.

Killing the proposals now saves people from spending money unnecessarily, Somers said.

Monday’s vote was the second time this month the council turned away bids to move the boundary separating urban and rural areas. Studies show urban areas in the county have enough room for the roughly 250,000 more people expected to live here by 2025, Somers said.

The commercial development fought over by Lake Stevens and Snohomish was proposed on 372 acres of rural land northwest of the U.S. 2 and Highway 9 interchange. Developer Mike Reid pitched the idea and Snohomish backed him up.

Lake Stevens didn’t want to lose out on the tax base and filed a counter proposal to loop in 1,100 acres, including the commercial project.

The county’s rejection of the development proposal was disappointing, Snohomish City Councilwoman Lynn Schilaty said. She said the county should have kept both proposals alive while the two cities worked things out.

“A lot of their concerns would be addressed,” she said.

The decision was the right move, Lake Stevens Mayor Vern Little said. “We can now sit down and plan the area,” he said. He wants to negotiate future development east and west of Highway 9.

Reid, the developer, said he had no comment on the council’s action.

The two cities and the developer are scheduled to continue talks today, Somers said.

“It’s my hope after the short-term smarting we can focus on more comprehensive planning,” Somers said.

The council also:

n Rejected a proposal by Gold Bar to grow by about 200 acres.

n Started the review process to strip out regulations that allow mini cities to be built from scratch in rural areas. Together the votes show a council taking a harder line than ever to contain sprawl, Somers said.

n Denied a proposal by the Edmonds-based developer The McNaughton Group to tweak land-use rules on 2,800 acres near Lake Goodwin. The move would have allowed hundreds of additional houses built in clusters or villages on rural properties. The developer already has applied for development in that area, but with fewer houses.

n Approved 21 acres for urban housing by Pacific Ridge Homes on a 3-2 vote. The project won a year’s worth of environmental study to see if it meets county policies.

The next expansion of urban growth boundaries might not come until 2015, Somers said, when a major update of county plans is expected.

Even so, the county already is accepting applications for the county council’s next annual update to the plan. Another vote might come this time next year.

The council’s two votes this month have signaled the kind of reception more growth in rural areas might face, County Councilman Mike Cooper said.

“Continued expansion of the urban growth area with 20 acres here and there promotes urban sprawl,” Cooper said.

Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.