By Janice Podsada
Herald Writer
SEATTLE — Puget Sound residents are like salmon.
Both cross city and county lines every day without a second thought, King County Executive Ron Sims said.
When Puget Sound officials made plans to preserve salmon habitat, they coordinated their efforts and took a regional approach.
By the same token, it is imperative that King and Snohomish counties adopt a regional approach to siting Brightwater, King County Department of Natural Resource’s planned third wastewater treatment plant, Sims said.
Brightwater is an essential public facility that would serve communities in south Snohomish County and north King County, Sims said.
Sixty percent of the wastewater treated at the planned Brightwater plant originates in Snohomish County. Currently, wastewater treatment plants in Seattle and Renton treat sewage generated in Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Mill Creek and Bothell, Sims said.
Under state law, cities, counties and utilities have condemnation powers precisely because some essential public facilities that are critical for the public’s functioning, are nonetheless, unwelcome in individual communities.
Under the state’s Growth Management Act, essential public facilities are to be built where they make the most sense, not where they’re necessarily the most welcome, Sims said.
Sims, or whoever sits in the King County executive’s seat, has legal authority to decide where Brightwater, an essential regional public facility, is sited.
It’s not discretionary power; Sims’ authority is written into state law.
"The state constitution was designed to create levels of government. It says counties — as government authorities — can site essential regional facilities," Sims said. "And county governments are regional governments."
Regional governments, in turn, are subject to the same squeeze from above, he added.
State and federal government officials have the authority to site an essential public facility — such as a sexual offender prison or a U.S. Post Office in King County — "irrespective of the county’s Comprehensive Plan," Sims said.
Sims opposes pending state legislation that would give cities veto power over the siting of essential public facilities if it doesn’t fit a city’s comprehensive plan.
The House and Senate bills, which have been sponsored by Snohomish County legislators, were specifically introduced because of the Brightwater project. "This bill opens up a Pandora’s box," leading to many problems, Sims said.
For example, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is located in King County, but residents from all over Puget Sound use the airport. It meets the definition of a regional facility, Sims said.
Authorities say a third runway is needed to accommodate additional air traffic at Sea-Tac Airport. But a host of south King County cities oppose its construction. Those cities would be happy to see some air traffic diverted to Snohomish County.
"Des Moines would love to have the third runway located at Paine Field" in Everett, Sims said.
On the other hand, "no one in Edmonds is complaining about a third runway being sited at Sea-Tac," Sims said.
Is it fair for one government entity to have sole decision in siting an essential public facility?
It depends upon your vantage point and your back yard.
If Snohomish County’s wastewater department treated King County’s sewage, the Snohomish County executive would have the authority, under state law, to build a plant where it makes the most sense, which could mean a King County location.
Without an authority to make the final decision, essential public facilities — be they prisons, post offices or sewage plants — would never get built, Sims said.
"I have come to the point of saying regional facilities are necessary. Not all of them are going to be welcome."
"I’m going to make a fair decision. I have no desire to fundamentally damage a neighborhood or a community."
You can call Herald Writer Janice Podsada at 425-339-3029 or send e-mail to podsada@heraldnet.com.
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