At its Sept. 11 meeting, the Shoreline City Council conducted a public hearing on proposed Initiative 933, which would create a new state law governing land use regulations.
If passed, I-933 would require local governments to undertake a number of studies prior to the adoption of any future land use regulations. It would also generally require that regulations adopted after Jan. 1, 1996, that resulted in a reduction of the “value or use” of property must be waived or compensation paid.
Although Shoreline incorporated in 1995, all of the city’s land use regulations have been revised since Jan. 1, 1996.
Council members were provided with a copy of the proposed Initiative, a fiscal analysis prepared by the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) and information from both the initiative supporters (www.propertyfairness.com) and opponents (www.protectcommunities.org).
The AWC study estimated that the state-wide costs of I-933 to cities would range between $3.5 billion and $4.5 billion. Expressed as a cost per household, this works out to between $2,410 and $3,078 per household. Since there are 21,000 households in Shoreline, the impact would be between $50.6 million and $64.6 million. Shoreline’s 2006 general fund budget is $29.4 million.
The Council concluded that, in addition to a major cost for the city’s taxpayers, I-933 would restrict the city’s ability to adopt and enforce reasonable land use development standards, including standards to mitigate traffic impacts, assure appropriate building heights, provide for the preservation of open spaces and protect environmentally sensitive areas.
After considering the information, the Council passed Resolution 251, which urges voters to vote no on I-933.
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