In an Oct. 9 guest commentary in The Herald, Kristin Kelly of Futurewise stated, “We all deserve the opportunity to live and work in a great neighborhood where we all have a chance to succeed.” No one can disagree with that premise. However, Ms. Kelly’s proposal to channel the majority of our future growth to Lynnwood and Everett is not only deeply flawed but runs the risk of creating the very kind of sprawl our state Growth Management Act seeks to avoid.
Lynnwood and Everett are logical places for accommodating some of our future growth, especially those who prefer multifamily options. However, the reality is that land supply is scarce in those cities for new single-family homes, a housing choice that continues to be very popular among Snohomish County residents. According to the 2012 Snohomish County Buildable Lands Report, Everett’s urban growth area (UGA), areas where urban densities are allowed, has the capacity for only 3,205 additional single-family residences while Lynnwood has the capacity for just 321 such homes.
Fortunately, to comply with the GMA, Snohomish County, in collaboration with its cities and citizens, created several UGAs. Growth in rural areas is limited to no more than 10 percent of our county’s growth, and over the past decade has seen only 8 percent of our growth. Clearly, Snohomish County is succeeding in its effort to prevent sprawl. In fact, since the original adoption of our UGAs, there have been no major expansions, and no more are currently being considered. Ms. Kelly’s assertion that “special interests are pressuring the county to take the high-cost route” is simply not supported by facts.
Those buying new homes base their decisions on a multitude of factors, including housing type, proximity to work and family, desired school districts, price and more. Our existing UGAs afford future generations choices in where and how they live. Backtracking from our planning efforts that have proven successful would eliminate choice.
To prevent sprawl, protect the environment and best utilize limited infrastructure funding, we must make efficient use of all our existing urban areas. Largely planning for growth in only two of these areas will simply drive those who seek a variety of choice even further out of our urban core. Anyone who drives north from Everett for their evening commute can attest this is already happening.
We also cannot lose sight of the fact that employment is a major factor that determines our growth patterns. For example, people who work on the Eastside have been moving to the Bothell-Mill Creek corridor because housing is not affordable near their jobs. According to research compiled by Metro-study, the Bothell-Mill Creek corridor is the No. 1 new home sales market. By comparison, the Everett market ranks 36th. Simply saying growth should occur elsewhere won’t make it happen.
Rather than using the GMA to force housing choices that the market does not support, as a matter of policy, we should be focused on facilitating and incentivizing employment growth in those desired areas that are arguably under-utilized now.
Snohomish County is currently in the process of updating its 10-year Comprehensive Plan. In planning for future growth, we must be mindful of the choices people make and why. Our working families demand choices to help meet their housing needs.
As part of this update, Snohomish County has offered three future-growth alternatives to accommodate the expected 200,000 new people living here by 2035. The county’s first two alternatives are essentially status quo options with no UGA expansion, no up-zones and no new land designations.
Alternative three prevents sprawl by holding the line on our UGAs while providing for in-fill development and limited re-zones in certain areas to accommodate demand. In choosing between these three options, let’s be mindful of how real life circumstances drive the choices made by families and plan accordingly. Failure to do so will leave us unprepared for the growth we know is coming.
Shannon Affholter is the executive director of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, www.masterbuildersinfo.com.
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