A few weeks ago you received an action alert from farmer Tristan Klesick and I, asking for your help in telling the Snohomish County Council to not adopt changes to the County’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program. Unfortunately, the County Council did not listen. Instead, Council’s decision was a missed opportunity and allowed exemptions for single family homes and townhouses from the TDR program, and preserving valuable farmland and local food sources.
If that wasn’t bad enough, now the County Council is considering removing even more land and development from the TDR Program!
The County Council is considering reducing minimum density requirements in multi-family zones–even those multi-family zones around Highway 99 are perfect for transit-oriented, mixed use redevelopment. This would allow for single family homes and townhomes in areas that are best suited for higher densities. It would also remove more land from the TDR program, which would reduce opportunities for protecting critical farmlands in Snohomish County.
If the Council approves, we will lose opportunities for affordable housing near transit; we will lose receiving areas for TDR development credits to preserve farmland, and we’ll have further expansion of our urban growth areas into our rural lands.
That is a lose-lose-lose situation. Ultimately, if the Council decreases densities in our Multi-Family zones, we will also be adding more and more cars to our roads creating more traffic nightmares, adding more pollutants into our air and water, and giving the developers exactly what they want…open season on our rural lands for more sprawling development! And we won’t be helping our farmers preserve farmland!
Please CLICK HERE to send a message to the Snohomish County Council today to tell them NO to reducing minimum densities in our Multi-Family zones, and YES to keeping TDR receiving areas intact for these zones to help preserve farmland and local food sources.
Our Council needs to hear from you! They need to know that you want housing choices for all income groups and higher densities in the multi-family zones that will help jumpstart transit-oriented development. We need long-range planning regulations that will house our growing population near transit and urban centers, reduce car trips that are polluting our air and water and clogging our roads, and save farmland from urban sprawl.
The hearing is at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 15th! Please CLICK HERE to send the message before the hearing. If you can, please attend the hearing and speak directly to the Council.
Thank you for your help!
Kristin Kelly, Snohomish/Skagit Program Director, Futurewise
P.S. If you would like more information about how to support your local farmers and about Klesick Farms, contact Tristan by Clicking Here.
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Kristin Kelly
Email: kristin@futurewise.org
Phone:
Address: 1429 Avenue D, #532
City: Snohomish WA 98290