Snohomish County Council bans vast rural developments

Snohomish County no longer has any authority on the books to create vast, fully contained communities. The concept was always a stretch.

Tortuous political melodrama the past couple of weeks resulted in a 4-to-1 County Council vote Tuesday to overturn County Executive Aaron Reardon's veto of a ban on rural development.

Reardon tried to rescind his veto, only to learn the county charter has no provisions for such a change of heart. The council found a fourth vote for an override when County Councilman David Gossett, who initially opposed the ban, changed his mind.

Gossett said he supported the enormous planned communities because they provided an outlet for population growth and housing that might otherwise turn up in his district. Gossett subsequently said assurances from his colleagues that his district would not suffer disproportionately allowed him to switch his vote.

Gossett and Reardon had fiercely wagged fingers over the implications and subtext of their exchanges before the executive's veto.

Fully contained communities envision thousands of homes being built simultaneously with retail, commercial and employments centers that make them, well, fully contained.

Built in rural areas, but so self-sustaining they do not send commuters out on the road.

For Snohomish County the focal point has been a rural enclave at Lake Roesiger, with as many as 6,000 houses, and all the bells and whistles.

Fully contained communities suffer on two points. Retail and commercial development lags far, far behind expectations in the sales pitch. Redmond Ridge in King County gets mentioned as Exhibit A, the last such development allowed in the county.

Fully contained communities are also seen as large sinkholes for public infrastructure dollars for roads, fire stations and schools, complicating planning and finances elsewhere.

The council's vote means no fully contained community will be built, and none will be contemplated in the future. Nor is any project far enough along to escape the ban.

Subdivision construction will continue in Snohomish County, but the specter of a massive, resource-gobbling, road-stressing rural development is gone.