A top priority for the Washington Environmental Council this year was “Transit Oriented Developments.” According to WEC one goal is to create “Affordable, livable, and walkable transit orientated developments.” However there were other goals in the original bill, House Bill 1490, goals that were far more questionable. The net result is legislation that will:
• Increase homeowner costs and taxes,
• Force high density developments into single-family neighborhoods,
• Regulate your driving patterns instead of vehicle emissions, and
• Waste government and business spending on another ten years of costly lawsuits.
The proposed changes have created a great deal of controversy among neighborhood and political leaders even in Seattle.
| "I like the bill's goals...but then I put my elected official hat on and I'm not as wild about growth management on that detailed a level being handed down from the state to neighborhoods. I'm a believer in the sanctity of grassroots urban planning." --- Seattle City Councilmember Sally Clark quoted in the Seattle Weekly |
One of the most onerous changes is a new ambiguous Growth Management Act planning requirement forcing local jurisdictions to “support state greenhouse gas emissions reduction requirements.” There is no additional language to define what that language means and like a previous 1995 change is certain to result in another ten years of litigation costs and economic development delays while attorneys fight over the meaning.
At the public hearing on the bill, former Thurston County Commissioner Diane Oberquell expressed her concern with the litigation that will result and the $1.6 million the last round of litigation cost her county.
This legislation may make attorneys rich but it sure won't help the economy or homeowners.
The Legislature responded to these concerns and HB 1490 died, but proponents will continue to push these goals in other legislation.
For more details, see here.
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