| Referendum drive aims to fight land restrictions By
Jim Downing The group, led by May Valley resident Rod McFarland, hopes to collect 8,200 signatures from residents of unincorporated King County by Dec. 31 to qualify its three referendums for the ballot. Each referendum would overturn one of the three new critical-areas ordinances passed by the King County Council on Oct. 25. The three ordinances, which passed by a 7-6 party line vote, impose some of the strictest land-use restrictions in the United States. The most controversial provision requires property owners in unincorporated areas of King County to keep existing vegetation on 50 to 65 percent of their land, depending on lot size, when they develop. The fate of the group's referendums may be decided even before the signatures are due. In recent cases in King and Clallam counties, courts have determined that zoning decisions aren't subject to the citizen initiative process. "We do not believe these planning decisions can be overturned by referendum," said Elaine Kraft, spokeswoman for King County Executive Ron Sims. The county has not yet initiated legal action against the referendum effort. "At this point, we're still reviewing the options available to us," Kraft said. Only residents of unincorporated King County would vote on the referendums proposed by McFarland's group — assuming the measures make it onto the ballot. Land within the city limits in King County is subject to the critical-areas ordinances of each city. The Pacific Legal Foundation, a national property-rights group, is also planning to file a suit challenging the ordinances in King County Superior Court, according to Sam Rodabaugh, an attorney in the group's Bellevue office. Because the county ordinances would sharply restrict new development, many rural landowners say the government has effectively stolen their land. The ordinances are intended to protect streams and wetlands — and the animals that live in them — from damage because of land clearing, which alters runoff patterns, can increase the severity of flooding and can degrade water quality. Opponents and supporters of the ordinances disagree on the amount of land that needs to remain uncleared to realize the county's environmental objectives. McFarland said he chose a hay-scented setting for his group's meeting for a reason."This is a picture of the kinds of things that happen in rural America," he said. "[Rural America] is not virgin forest. This area has been cleared forever — it long predates the urbanization of Seattle." About 30 supporters attended the event. They drank coffee and ate cookies while chickens clucked in the feed-store barn. Most, like Jim Carlson, who owns 14 acres in May Valley, expressed frustration that urban residents don't appreciate the consequences of the ordinances in rural areas."I'd just like to see what the people in the urban areas would do if the government invaded their property and took 65 percent of it and then still made them pay taxes on it," Carlson said. For more information: King County Council Critical Areas Ordinances Information: www.metrokc.gov/council/cao/
Jim Downing: 206-515-5627 or jdowning@seattletimes.com Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company
RELATED STORY: Petition targets controversial land ordinance Rural residents struck back at county government Wednesday, kicking off a petition drive to overturn what they call land-grabbing regulations. Their target is the controversial Critical Areas Ordinance, or CAO, and its companion regulations that control land clearing and stormwater runoff approved late last month by the King County Council. ``At some point, we say enough is enough,'' said Rodney McFarland, president of the Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights. Their goal is to collect a cushion of about 12,000 signatures from registered voters who live in unincorporated King County, or those, they explain, who don't vote for a mayor. They still don't know how many valid signatures are needed to place the referendum before voters in unincorporated areas in March, but right now they're estimating it's about 8,200. Their biggest push comes Monday and Tuesday during the afternoon and evening homeward commute at key locations throughout eastern King County and on Vashon and Maury islands. They want to collect at least 1,000 signatures each night. Then they'll go door to door and volunteers will staff key locations until Dec. 20. The county then will check signatures against those on record for registered voters to determine which ones are valid. ``We certainly think we can win the vote,'' McFarland said. It's the rural residents' ``opportunity to fix the problem,'' he said. McFarland's group has divided the county into nine areas, with a captain assigned to each. He still is looking for volunteers to collect signatures. The group spent about $2,200 to print the petition, which by law must include the entire text of the ordinance it seeks to repeal. In the case of the Critical Areas Ordinance, that's 50 pages. A spinoff legal fund is collecting donations to offset the costs of the petition drive and other efforts by the property rights organization. In particular, rural residents don't like maximum limits on land-clearing -- 35 percent for lots larger that 5 acres and 50 percent for lots 5 acres and smaller. But supporters say the regulations are needed to protect the natural systems of rural areas from further development. The referendum is one of two actions designed to overturn the ordinances. The Pacific Legal Foundation also plans to filed a lawsuit against the county. McFarland Wednesday spoke above the coos of doves and raucous roosters at Keppler's Feed and Recycling on Sunset Boulevard, or State Route 900, in May Valley east of Renton. It was a fitting place to kick off the referendum drive, because Keppler's and May Valley symbolize the true face of rural King County, he said. He points out the County Council is trying to preserve a rural ecosystem that no longer exists, one covered with forests and filled with homes on five acres from which people commute to their jobs. Instead, he said, rural residents work where they live and rely on natural resources for their livelihood. The description doesn't fit May Valley, he said. About 150 years ago trees were first burned off, then cut down and the land was used to grow food for the miners digging for coal. Back then, McFarland said, ``Seattle for all intents and purposes was nothing.'' FOR MORE INFORMATION To learn more about the petition drive to overturn King County's
Critical Areas Ordinance, go to www.proprights.org
or call 206-335-2312
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