A bill to allow Mill Creek and other cities to control development in their urban growth areas has gained support in the Legislature.
The chairwoman of the state Senate committee on government operations has expressed support for the bill, which would require counties to enforce a city’s building and zoning rules within that city’s urban growth area.
The legislation, House Bill 2045, died in the Senate committee last year after passing in the House.
This year, the committee’s chairwoman, Sen. Darlene Fairley, D-Lake Forest Park, says she will help move the bill if it again passes the House.
The bill was reintroduced on Jan. 14 in the House Local Government Committee.
Leaders of several south Snohomish County cites have called 2045 a priority for this year’s legislative session.
County leaders lobbied against the bill last year and negotiated an agreement with lawmakers and the Association of Washington Cities to report back to the Legislature on the issue this year.
Mill Creek Mayor Terry Ryan is among the county’s most vocal critics, saying standards for county approved building projects are no where near those of south county cities. He says county planning and development policies ignore infrastructure capacities and undermine cities’ ability to provide services.
Another complaint among city leaders is that county approved building projects look nothing like the cities they are bordering.
“It’s a huge problem,” Ryan said in a phone interview on Wednesday, Jan. 9. “If we’re supposed to annex these areas someday, I think they should at least resemble our own cities.”
A number of Mill Creek council members shared their concerns with Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, in the first week of January, identitifying HB 2045 as the city’s No. 1 priority in 2008.
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