Council should take another look at ‘facts’

By overriding Bob Drewel’s veto of the Island Crossing rezone, County Council member John Koster invites us to look at the facts. Here are some facts.

Four members of the County Council have elected to represent their campaign contributors instead of representing the citizens of Snohomish County and obeying state law.

One recent morning, the north end of Dwayne Lane’s property was under 5 feet of water, and the rest of the property was swamped. This is at least the fourth time since 1990 that his property has flooded. Dwayne Lane has promised his development will not make flooding worse. Lane also claimed that if he didn’t have the I-5 location for his dealership by January 1997, Chevrolet would take the franchise away from him.

The rezone of this property is likely to cost the county millions of dollars as the state levies sanctions, and tens of thousands more defending itself from the inevitable lawsuits that will follow. (Council chairman Gary Nelson says “we welcome the lawsuit.”)

The 38 jobs from Lane’s car lot that Koster uses to justify this zoning change are not new jobs. The residents of north county are not going to buy any more cars because Lane’s lot has moved. Any incremental increase in employment because of the new location will come at the expense of jobs at the car dealerships 10 minutes south or 20 minutes north of Lane’s property.

Besides Lane’s dealership, this rezone will allow a 164,000 square foot discount superstore, an even larger retail center, and a 200-room hotel at Island Crossing, adding 17,000 cars daily and an additional six minutes to pass through Island Crossing. None of these developments will be required to mitigate flooding, as Lane has “promised” to do. I could add conjecture and opinion, but I think the facts are enough.

Arlington