Washington Hunter
Well-known member
Voters shun rollback of land-use laws
JOHN DODGE, The Olympian
Initiative 933, a controversial measure championed by private property rights groups, was summarily rejected by state voters Tuesday night.
The initiative would have required local governments and state agencies in most cases to waive land use regulations adopted since 1996 that deprived property owners of full use of their property, or compensate landowners instead.
But critics of the initiative, who outspent initiative backers about $3.7 million to $1.3 million in the Â*emotion-charged campaign, drove home the message that passage of the initiative could disrupt community-based land-use planning to manage growth and protect natural resources, or cost taxpayers billions of dollars to pay claims.
"The whole campaign was about educating the public about the consequences of Initiative 933," said Lacey resident Sandra Romero, a former state legislator and member of Livable Thurston, a grassroots group formed to oppose I-933 in Thurston County.
The initiative, and three others on the ballots in the states of California, Nevada and Idaho, was patterned after Measure 37 passed by Oregon voters in 2004.
The initiative grew out of discontent in rural Washington, where small farmers, tree farm owners and owners of larger tracts of rural land said zoning restrictions and environmental laws infringe on their property rights. Many of those zoning restrictions and environmental laws grew out of the 1990 state Growth Management Act.
"This is not the end - this issue is not going away," said Gary Joiner, director of member relations for the Washington Farm Bureau. "We just had a difficult time getting our message across."
The initiative backers, organized by the farm bureau and financed in part by New York developer and Libertarian Howard Rich, started the summer with a big lead in the polls, but saw it steadily erode as the election drew near.
Two key reports, one by the University of Washington and another by the state Office of Financial Management, pegged the potential claims that could be filed under I-933 at roughly $8Â billion in the next several years, a figure initiative backers called exaggerated.
Details about how difficult it would be to manage growth and protect neighborhoods if the initiative were to pass really resonated with voters, Olympia planning consultant Mike McCormick said.
Much work remains to deal fairly with hardship cases, especially elderly property owners who invested in their land for retirement, but have lost development rights to zoning changes, fish and wildlife buffers and the like, both sides in the debate agreed.
Joiner predicted the battle over private property rights would be front and center in the 2007 state Legislature.
McCormick urged Gov. Chris Gregoire to bring folks from both sides of the initiative campaign together to work on solutions for property owners who experience true financial hardship from government land-use regulations.
JOHN DODGE, The Olympian
Initiative 933, a controversial measure championed by private property rights groups, was summarily rejected by state voters Tuesday night.
The initiative would have required local governments and state agencies in most cases to waive land use regulations adopted since 1996 that deprived property owners of full use of their property, or compensate landowners instead.
But critics of the initiative, who outspent initiative backers about $3.7 million to $1.3 million in the Â*emotion-charged campaign, drove home the message that passage of the initiative could disrupt community-based land-use planning to manage growth and protect natural resources, or cost taxpayers billions of dollars to pay claims.
"The whole campaign was about educating the public about the consequences of Initiative 933," said Lacey resident Sandra Romero, a former state legislator and member of Livable Thurston, a grassroots group formed to oppose I-933 in Thurston County.
The initiative, and three others on the ballots in the states of California, Nevada and Idaho, was patterned after Measure 37 passed by Oregon voters in 2004.
The initiative grew out of discontent in rural Washington, where small farmers, tree farm owners and owners of larger tracts of rural land said zoning restrictions and environmental laws infringe on their property rights. Many of those zoning restrictions and environmental laws grew out of the 1990 state Growth Management Act.
"This is not the end - this issue is not going away," said Gary Joiner, director of member relations for the Washington Farm Bureau. "We just had a difficult time getting our message across."
The initiative backers, organized by the farm bureau and financed in part by New York developer and Libertarian Howard Rich, started the summer with a big lead in the polls, but saw it steadily erode as the election drew near.
Two key reports, one by the University of Washington and another by the state Office of Financial Management, pegged the potential claims that could be filed under I-933 at roughly $8Â billion in the next several years, a figure initiative backers called exaggerated.
Details about how difficult it would be to manage growth and protect neighborhoods if the initiative were to pass really resonated with voters, Olympia planning consultant Mike McCormick said.
Much work remains to deal fairly with hardship cases, especially elderly property owners who invested in their land for retirement, but have lost development rights to zoning changes, fish and wildlife buffers and the like, both sides in the debate agreed.
Joiner predicted the battle over private property rights would be front and center in the 2007 state Legislature.
McCormick urged Gov. Chris Gregoire to bring folks from both sides of the initiative campaign together to work on solutions for property owners who experience true financial hardship from government land-use regulations.
