State
Growth Management Board Rescinds its own Invalidation of Whatcom
County's Comprehensive Plan. Rules against Futurewise
It seems
the "Governor appointed three person Growth Management Board" can
invalidate any county's comprehensive plan if said County will not do
what the Board tells it to do.
Click Here to see the Bellingham Herald Article
Click Here to see Blog post
Now in a difficult to understand
bureaucratic move the State Board has removed the invalidity of the plan
in Whatcom County for a period of time because it believes the County
moratorium on development in certain areas gets the job the state wishes
done. The bureaucratese can only be described as daunting in this
ruling from these non judicial functionaries Please click here to read and download the "legal" decision of the GMB.
It is pretty obvious that the GMA
has become a State Planning Department for all counties in the state
over a certain size. The elected officials of these counties are
not the final arbiter of land use for their counties as they were in the
days before GMA and if counties do not follow state rules they will be
financially and legally punished.
Updates, hearings, history of the process are located on the Whatcom County Web site. Click here for details.
When this lamird rezoning
issue all began I believe over 17000 property owners were sent
notification that they might be affected by the County Executive's
planning department decisions on downzoing. There has been no
clarification that this number has been reduced.
There are those that say a property owner
should be certain they are affected before spending money on "land use
consultants" who stand to make money....
Sadly it has only been since the
takeover of land use decisions by the state and the large percentage
increase in planning departments and planning staff in the County and in
the other towns and cities in Whatcom County that more and more
property owners have had to hire someone to help them protect their
right to the pursuit of happiness and to protect their property rights..
Former State Senator Harriet
Spanel often said in my presence that the Growth Management Act would
not result in additional expenditure for anyone. Sadly in my view
the Board and the Act have not been enacted in such a way to help
counties nor property owners in predicting the future for their rightful
land ownership but created a morass of bureaucracy that speaks legalese
and speaks not to the people it was intended to help. Simply put
the state has interceded with yet another bureaucracy between the people
that represent them locally and the Statist attitude of the progressive
movement.
Click here to read about the Growth Management Board. . Contact your County Council People Here
Everyone should be informed about this
"taking" as the process continues; educate yourself on both sides of the
issue and become involved.
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