Rebuttals to City of Lake Stevens "Myth versus Fact" analysis of plans to expand their UGA by 1,000 acres.

At the second of three public workshops hosted by the City of Lake Stevens, they presented a host of Myths about their proposal to expand their urban growth area by another 1,000 acres into rural land south of Hewitt Avenue and west of Highway 9.  There then proceeded to tell the public what the facts are.

We disagree with some of those facts.

Here are the facts as we see them.

The Myth:  The City of Lake Stevens Proposal is "aggressive or unwarranted."

City's Fact:  Lake Stevens has included the project areas its planning for the past 15 years.

Real Fact:  Futurewise has been involved with the planning efforts of the county and the City of Lake Stevens since 1996.  The city only recently started planning for this area ourside their UGA.  While it has been in an overlay called the Rural-Urban Transition Area, as where urban growth should go if needed, the city plans began only after the City of Snohomish began planning for this area as well last year.

The Myth:  The City of Lake Stevens proposal is "developer driven."

City's Fact:  Lake Stevens has been planning in the area for the past 15 years.  No developer is involved.  The City is asking the citizens for their vision of the future of this area.

Real Fact:  Again, the city hasn't been planning for this area for the past 15 years.  Developers will be the one who develop the area, not the city.  Citizens at the first workshop overwhelming told the city they want to keep the area rural.  There is no need to accommodate the growth by a UGA expansion.  The City only lacks about 100 acres for job growth.  Where was the City of Lake Stevens when they let the Hewlitt Packard industrial site slip away into hundreds of homes if they were so concerned about employment land.  Now they want to expand to make that up.  Why aren't they creating more employment land within their own city limits and within the already existing UGA.  They certainly can do that.

City Fact:  The City of Snohomish application to expand the UGA was proposed by a developer; the City of Snohomish joined int he application later in partnership with the developer.

Real Fact:  The same developer gave the same presentation to the City of Lake Stevens.  The City of Lake Stevens were upset by losing land between City of Marysville and Lake Stevens and feel pressure to secure land for the future.  Once land is inside a UGA, it will be developed.  It won't remain rural.

Myth:  Lake Stevens doesn't need more land.

City's Fact:  Lake Stevens completed a Buildable Lands Analysis in conjunction with the Snohomish County's effort in 2006-2007.  Results show the City of Lake Stevens does not currently have the land capacity to accommodate its mandated jobs target.

Real Fact:  Lake Stevens doesn't agree with the county planners who did the county Buildable Lands Report because it shows they have more than enough land to accommodate the growth.  There is land to rezone to commercial or employment land if they need it and still have enough land to accommodate the people too.  Again, if the City of Lake Stevens was so concerned about employment land, why did they allow the county to rezone the Hewlitt Packard site into a massive amount of homes?

City's Fact:  The City of Lake Stevens is working with the County to increase the job target for a more sustainable future and to create land capacity for family-wage jobs on this side of the US2 Trestle.

Real Fact:  To increase the job target they need to go through the Snohomish County Tomorrow process to change the target for other cities as well.  This is an arbitrary process.  To date, the commercial and job land that currently exists within the City and UGA has never provided very many family-wage jobs.  There is no guarantee whatsover that this UGA expansion will provide those jobs.  Employers left Hewlitt Packard because of the difficulty of moving goods and cars back and forth over the trestle.  Lake Stevens plan will add more traffic to an overly congested Highway 2 Trestle, which has no money to be widened in the foreseeable future.

Myth:  If area does not come into a city's Urban Growth Area, nothing will change.

City's Fact:  Piecemeal development will continue without coordianted services and transportation planning based ont he County's land use designations.

Real Fact:  Currently the RUTA area could support Rural Clusters Subdivisions, but that only happens if landowners sell their property to a developer for that, or do it themselves.  Even so, the county's code for rural cluster subdivisions makes sure that RUTAs develop in a manner that will fit in with urban development when it is deemed necessary.  At this point in time, there is no need for the UGA expansion by either the  City of Lake Stevens or the City of Snohomish, and if the County Council allows for either UGA expansion, it will not comply with the Growth Management Act and most likely will get challenged.

City's Fact:  If this area is not comprehensively planned, the opportunities for a high level of open space land preservation and long-term community sustainability will be lost.  The City wants to plan for this area as a whole.

Real Fact:  In the Rural Cluster Subdivision code, there is now, and will be more soon, provisions for protection of open space.  It is the main feature of the RCS code in order to retain rural character.  Looking at the city's current state of affairs and their current UGA, why didn't they choose to comprehensively plan that area.  There is no guarantee that planning will be done with a Master Plan.  The City of Snohomish created a master plan for Bickford corridor, and when the politics changed, the master plan got shelved.  Today it is getting developed out piecemeal.  Politics rule land use.

Myth:  If this area is added to the City of Snohomish UGA, the area will not change.

City's Fact:  The developer submitted to the City of Snohomish and Snohomish County a limited land use proposal that contains increased density of residential uses and also includes commercial industrial land.

Real Fact:  We are opposed to that UGA expansion as well.  The City of Snohomish has not yet justified the need for more residential or employment land.  Both the City of Lake Stevens and City of Snohomish have not justified the cost of expansion to the taxpayer, nor the environmental and transportation impacts.  The council can either deny these proposals in May or allow them to continue with their environmental work and deny them next year.  Either way, both cities will be hard pressed to show these UGA expansions comply with the Growth Management Act or the County's policies.

Myth:  Area is Rural -- No Change can occur.

City's Fact:  The County has designated this area as rural residential with a Rural Urban Transition Area designation where ciaties are expected to look for next planning efforts and/or expanisons.

Real Fact:  It is too early to be looking for UGA expansions, as the County's 2007 Buildable Lands Analysis has shown that there is more than enough land available collectively to meet the population target adopted by the county and cities of 950,000 by the year 2025.

City's Fact:  Rural cluster subdivisions at densities higher than 1 unit per 5 acres are currently allowed by Snohomish County Code.

Real Fact:  While this is true, the county is currently in the process of amending that code and there is heavy pressure from rural and urban residents that these densities stop.  Again, rural clusters only happen if a landowner sells his property to a developer or develops it him/herself into a rural cluster.  The open space requirement around a cluster is 45 percent, and there are measures in place to help assure rural character is maintained, and these measures are currently getting amended to make them even more protective.

City's Fact:  This is an area that will have great impact on Lake Stevens as it grows.  The City treats managed growth as an asset.

Real Fact:  We have seen no evidence of managed growth anywhere in the city's boundaries or their UGAs.  There is no guarantee that this vision of the city will stay, as land use can change with new leadership.  We are not opposed to the City making a Master Plan of the area; we are opposed to the UGA expansion at this time as it is not needed.

Myth:  Lake Stevens will destroy this area with poor development.

City's Fact:  Long-term targeted planning of the project area will create a land use pattern that will have a good network of services and/or systems such as transportation, sewers, parks, et.

Real Fact:  There has been no analysis done on the cost or who will pay for these services and infrastructure.  When Marysville received their UGA expansion of Whiskey Ridge, about 600 acres on Highway 9 north of Lake Stevens, they annexed it and now are having difficulty finding funding for the roads that will be needed.  More than likely there will be a road tax levy to pay for that paid for by taxpayers.  

Last but most importantly, the city states their proposal meets the Growth Management Act.  It clearly does not.

Futurewise appeals Island Crossing to Supreme Court

Futurewise, along with state agency CTED, Stillaguamish Flood Control District, Pilchuck Audubon Society and Agriculture for Tomorrow, have filed their appeals to Supreme Court on the Island Crossing Urban Growth Areas Expansion of Arlington, and rezone of prime agriculture land into carlots and big box stores.

Futurewise files appeal on City of Lake Stevens Critical Areas Ordinance

Futurewise, along with Pilchuck Audubon Society and city resident Tom Matlack filed an appeal on Monday, July 2 to the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board to the city's Critical Areas Ordinance.  There were numerous issues that did not meet Best Available Science, most notably the wetland, fish and wildlife conservation and stream buffers.