I see our mostly pro-development County Council is at it again. They appointed a group from the real estate and development area to write new rules to govern the permit enforcement department. This group has come up with a 30-page tome that will severely limit any code enforcement in our county. This in a county that already avoids any strict interpretation or enforcement of the building code.
Isn’t this like letting the fox guard the chicken coop? What about having some simple voters and taxpayers help with these rules? Maybe some rural residents who will bear the brunt of bad developments? After recent dealings with the planning and development folks in this county, it’s apparent the deck is stacked totally on the side of development. We now have new rules for “cluster” developments that are essentially an end around the Growth Management Act. These rules go way beyond the strict R-5 zoning in much of our rural county. Now the county won’t even enforce the rules they are supposed to go by. Rather, they allow developers pretty much a free reign on what they build.
I have lived in the rural county for 24 years. I do not want to find myself in the middle of suburbia because our County Council needs re-election money so members will continue to sell out to the developers and real estate segment of our community. I realize growth is going to happen. But let it be under the GMA and let it be strictly by the rules. And maybe the rules should be tightened up, not loosened.
Steve Morse
Snohomish
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
