For those who lived in Snohomish County before 1990, you remember it as being very different. The way we’ve planned and built our community over the last 20 years has led to traffic gridlock on our roads and strip malls on our farmlands. It doesn’t have to be this way.
In the next 20 years, our county needs to plan for another 200,000 people. The decisions made today about how we plan for this growth will affect our lives and our taxes now and in the future.
Twenty-five years ago, our state Legislature adopted the Growth Management Act to better manage population growth and preserve our rural character, protect our limited agricultural lands, grow our economy, provide sufficient housing, and ensure effective transportation.
On May 13, the County Council will hold public hearings on the Update to the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Policies as required by the GMA, which lays out how we will accommodate another 200,000 people. We hope the council’s decisions will be consistent with the future our region all agreed to and will ensure thriving, healthy communities while protecting our remaining farms, forests and rural lands, while also preparing for the impacts of a changing climate.
That is why we support the Alternative 1 Population Growth Scenario and why we oppose any efforts of the County Council to weaken or eliminate the newly adopted County-wide Transfer of Development Rights Program.
Alternative 1 is based on the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Vision 2040, which focuses growth in the cities of Everett and Lynwood. Everett acknowledges they have more than enough available land to house that many more people. Everett is suited for this growth because for many reasons; among them, it is:
The only regional transit station in Snohomish County, served by Amtrak, Greyhound, Northwest Trailways, Sound Transit, Community Transit, Everett Transit, Skagit Transit and Island Transit;
Located next to I-5 with good connections to U.S. 2; and
Home to many urban amenities, services and jobs.
Placing this growth into Everett and Lynwood will reduce traffic on our roads, the costs of government services, and sprawl on our farmlands.
Snohomish County does not have the roads, transit, services or funding to serve expansion of growth in unincorporated and rural areas. Placing more people away from transit services means even more traffic on our already clogged roads. Alternative 3 would result in a $165 million deficit in transportation dollars. It would also put growth pressures on rural areas and forests and farmlands as Mill Creek, Bothell and other cities are forced to expand. Either way you look at it, Alternative 3 means more traffic congestion, more loss of our natural resource lands, and more costs for less services.
We have another big concern as well.
Just recently an amendment has been introduced to the Comprehensive Plan Update that would weaken the newly adopted Countywide Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program. Instead of ensuring protection of farmland and financial assistance to our farmers in exchange for increases in density in unincorporated urban areas, the amendment would allow for increased urban densities without these farmland protections. This last-minute amendment would make the TDR program useless. More urban density without protecting farmlands is a lost opportunity. We need a secure, safe food supply for Snohomish County, and we need to support our farmers.
The current development rights transfer program is supported by Futurewise, Pilchuck Audubon Society, Forterra, the Snohomish County Agricultural Board, farmers and even some developers, and it is one of the best tools identified by the Sustainable Lands Strategy for ensuring net gains for farming.
Please join with us and let our County Council know that you support Alternative 1 and the current TDR program for a better, more livable and more affordable Snohomish County for our children.
Kristin Kelly is Snohomish/Skagit County program director for Futurewise and Smart Growth executive director for Pilchuck Audubon Society. Mark Craven, owner of Craven Farm, is a board member of the Snohomish Conservation District and member of the Snohomish County Agricultural Advisory Board.
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