Land-rules protesters come to town

By Ashley Bach
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

ELLEN M. BANNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Robert Larsen of Carnation yells his support to rural King County residents as they drive up Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle early yesterday afternoon to protest the newly-passed critical-areas ordinances.

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The trucks wheeled down Fourth Avenue, past the aged facades of the King County Courthouse and Administration building, while a handful of supporters on the sidewalk waved signs and cheered. Headlights flashed, horns honked and taped to the trucks were slogans including "Save Rural K.C.!" and "Ron Sims, Kiss My Grass."

Many rural residents have been upset since the critical-areas ordinances (CAO), which limit how rural land can be developed, were first discussed two years ago. The ordinances were approved by the Metropolitan King County Council last month.

They say they have already collected half the 8,200 signatures needed to get referendums on the March ballot that could overturn the new laws. They plan on getting at least 12,000 by the end of the year.

"It's building, and it'll just keep building," said Rodney McFarland, president of the Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights.

	ELLEN M. BANNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Rob McKenna speaks with demonstrators who drove in a parade along Fourth Avenue in Seattle yesterday to protest the county's critical-areas ordinances. He said he was there as a Metro King County councilman, not as the state's attorney general-elect.

But the effort may not get to a ballot at all. King County filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging the legality of the residents' referendums. The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring CAO opponents from turning in petitions.

The county argues, along with environmental groups 1,000 Friends of Washington and the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, that the CAO were required by the State Growth Management Act. And changes mandated under state growth law can't be overturned by local referendums, they contend.

"(Residents) have a right to appeal county rules and regulations... " said Karen Wolf, a county policy analyst. "(But) there is an avenue for appeal, and that is through the State Growth Management Hearings Board."

But opponents who gathered downtown countered that the legal argument may rest on whether the new guidelines were required by state law. The CAO made up an extreme package that was approved by county officials who were intent on going far beyond what the state required, said McFarland, of the property-rights group.

"The seven months of hearings down at the (county) council certainly bore out the fact that it was discretionary," McFarland said.

The new laws, which take effect Jan. 1, will require owners of rural land to leave 50 to 65 percent of their property in native vegetation when they develop. The laws will also require wider buffers around creeks and some wetlands.

During the protest yesterday, county officials handed out fliers and spoke to reporters, which led to a few confrontations.

Carolyn Duncan, a spokeswoman for the county's natural-resources department, said the CAO are much less strict than residents claim. Many types of development are still allowed, she said, as long as the landowner completes a stewardship plan with the county.

"There's enough flexibility ... that there's very little that a property owner can't do that you could do before," she said.

But Steven Pyeatt, who was standing near Duncan outside the courthouse, disagreed.

"I think the phrase is, 'Shame on you,' " said Pyeatt, who lives north of Kirkland. "Can I come take 65 percent of your condo?"

The Pacific Legal Foundation, a national property-rights group, is also planning a lawsuit to challenge the CAO.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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