EVERETT — A proposed temporary ban on mini-cities in rural areas, which divided county councilmen last week, became a source of easy agreement for all five on Wednesday.
Two major changes were made to the plan to slap a moratorium on applications for new communities of up to 15,000 people in lightly populated areas. Afterward, the ban was approved 5-0.
One change reduced the moratorium from 14 months to six. The other added a requirement that developers interested in creating mini-cities, along with the environmental community that largely opposes such developments, be consulted on possible changes to the law.
“The key here is that all stakeholders have to be included,” said Councilman Brian Sullivan, who introduced the amendments.
The ban was proposed by County Council Chairman Dave Somers as a way to refine the law that allows fully contained communities, as they are called under county code. Under the law, the mini-cities must provide jobs, roads and environmental protection within the community, but critics say the requirements are too loose.
Only one mini-city has been proposed, by developer Dave Barnett at Lake Roesiger, east of Lake Stevens. The project, Falcon Ridge, is under preliminary review by the county and could include 6,000 houses on 3,000 acres, along with a golf course and offices on land Barnett owns. He has not submitted a formal application.
The project is opposed by many who already live near the area. At a hearing last week, nearly 30 people spoke for the moratorium and against mini-cities in general. The few who stuck up for mini-cities were primarily from the development community.
Somers has said he opposes the mere concept of fully contained communities because they would carve cities out of forested areas and potentially create traffic problems on rural roads.
Barnett’s proposal is in Somers’ district. The Democratic councilman has been the target of mailings accusing him of promoting sprawl, global warming, higher taxes and hurting the causes of affordable housing and jobs by opposing the mini-city concept. Strategies 360, a Seattle public relations firm, sent the mailings on Barnett’s behalf, said Lesley Rogers, communications director for the company.
Barnett’s land-use attorney, George Kresovich, said the changes to the moratorium eased concerns that the council would scrap the mini-city ordinance altogether. Last week, he spoke against the moratorium.
The previous version involved too many months, Kresovich said, contending it may have been “a smoke screen or an attempt to kill something without really killing it.”
Councilman Dave Gossett, who said last week he would vote against the moratorium, made a similar point after changing his position on Wednesday.
“It was a moratorium with no requirement that we were even going to look at the code,” he said. The approved moratorium requires that potential changes will be reviewed, he said.
“That I think was a key issue for me,” Gossett said.
The McNaughton Group of Edmonds, which proposes building 640 homes north of Lake Goodwin in the northwest part of the county, has said it is also considering some type of mini-city but has not submitted a plan. The company supported the moratorium from the outset as a way to address points of disagreement in the law, company officials said.
Sullivan said he spoke during the past week with representatives of both developers as well as the environmental community to come up with a compromise that everyone could accept. Last week, Sullivan declined to take a position on the previous moratorium — the other four councilmen were split 2-2 — and the decision was delayed a week.
Councilman John Koster said the key change for him was the reduction from 14 months to six.
“Six months is reasonable,” he said. “It provides six months to make people sit at the table and find a compromise.”
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
