Friday June 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Eastsound Fire Station
— from the Eagle Forum —
Presentation with Discussion to follow.
The state legislature has passed [GMA repeal legislation] and it has been signed into law that counties, with less than 20,000 residents in one of the past 5 years, can opt out of the GMA. Given that fact that estimates run as high as a half million dollars in costs a year for San Juan County, and the fact that neighbor has been pitted against neighbor in this ongoing battle over property rights, this is a big deal. There are a few other provisions that need to be looked at, which are being investigated by legal representatives right now.
Can San Juan County opt out and how? Eagle Forum is presenting a meeting and inviting William Wright to speak about our options.
Mr. Wright has lived on San Juan Island 18 years. He has selflessly stayed active in the San Juan County regulatory process and is an expert on the current Critical Area Ordinance and the Growth Management Act. William H. Wright retired with a permanent rank of LtCol, after 23 years in USAF; his last duty station was the Joint Chief of Staff Pentagon. He moved to Seattle and worked at Boeing as a Software Engineering Manager on many defense programs. After retiring from the Air Force he has actively supported private property rights starting in 1992 (GMAHB 92-3-0006) as the second challenger to the GMHB ever brought in the State of Washington.
William (Bill) has prepared a presentation on the reasons San Juan County should opt out of the GMA as provided for in the just passed amendments to the GMA 36.70 RCW and signed into law by Governor Inslee. This new law allows small Counties with populations under 20,000 to opt out of the GMA allowing them to plan based on State and Federal laws and local needs.
Please attend this meeting to find out what we can do to opt out.
Guess those that have always used the “we don’t have a choice” for answer to all questions will have to get another answer.
This sound like we may get Olympia out of running “our” county.
The state realizes it made a mistake with it’s one size fits all. Repeal Now.
This is wonderful news! Maybe Islanders won’t be forced to live scrunched together only in Eastsound. The GMA has encouraged the separation of Islanders according to financial means. Spirit Eagle
Sounds like a horrible idea to me! The Growth Management Act is the one thing that saves the rural county we love from being paved with subdivisions. 20,000 folks may not seem like a lot in Ferry County and certainly does not take into account all those Seattle-ites who would love a piece of the waterfront and hillside summer home action.
Yep, a few folks with acreage could turn it into big bucks if the GMA disappeared – at the expense of the rest of us.
I am certain that those who would hate a reprieve of the GMA restraint on private property rights possible under the GMA hall monitor mind set. Free Enterprise and American Exceptional-ism are dependent on the concept of private property rights. If the government wishes to constrain an individual’s specific use of his property, there is always the principal of eminent domain, the government can pay the fair market price for the property, and thus restrict the unacceptable use, but there are those who would rather steal the property. If there is an advantage to the general public, the general public should pay for same, rather than imposing the economic burden on the individual property owner.