The governor’s exasperation with the Snohomish County Council is well founded. The county’s complete disregard for laws regulating developers at the expense of citizens is becoming sociopathic.
Common story: My non-partisan community simply wanted rules followed regarding impacts of a large development’s traffic on a road operating at failure. The adverse impacts were undeniable, despite the best efforts of county staff to obfuscate and circumnavigate legal procedures. At the original plat process, the hearing examiner was forced to acknowledge them under SEPA and restricted the plat with mitigation that solved the problem – no occupancy until state-contracted improvements on the troubled intersection were complete. A solution is now underway and scheduled for completion within a year, or two.
Alas, our safeguard against the gap of occupancy before improvements lived only for the developer’s convenience. Rules of procedure? SEPA? County code? Safeguard gone.
Citizens may as well have raised the issue with house cats. The hearing examiner acknowledged our certain agony in a footnote. The Council responded as if deaf. Councilman Jeff Sax merely squirmed, mute on an issue that affects his constituents’ daily lives.
Perhaps a more diverse council could at least hold a conversation!
Laura Hartman
Snohomish
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