Put the Southwest Urban Growth Area Study on the shelf.
A couple hundred people came to a public meeting about the Southwest Urban Growth Boundary planning study on Aug. 8. The study claims the project is not proposing changes to land use, polices, or Urban Growth Area (UGA) boundaries. And yet hundreds of thousands of my tax dollars, and the time and talent of dozens of county employees have been spent over a couple of years to present what the rural lands around Clearview would look like if the urban growth areas were changed.
The presentation showed exquisite maps of options ranging from already permitted (vested) development projects to “Hypothetical Nodes” to full on “Hypothetical Urban.” The exhibits, slides and sheer number of county employees there explaining things was impressive. But it seemed to give the audience the impression that development in the future is a done deal! Please wait!
Growth should not go out into rural areas! We have capacity within the existing UGA areas in Snohomish County. We can’t get the money spent on this study back but we can help guide our County Council to invest in planning where the coming growth should go. Puget Sound Regional Council Vision 2050 will likely recommend growth near transit. I welcome clean, green development in my neighborhood around Canyon Park. Let’s use our scarce dollars to support growth within the existing UGA areas.
Kate Lunceford
Bothell
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
