Rural landowners take to streets

As rural landowners protesting new land-use restrictions circled downtown Seattle in pickup trucks and horse trailers, King County and environmental groups sued yesterday to prevent the rules from going to a popular vote.

Supporters of the "critical areas" rules -- which limit development in ecologically fragile areas and require some tree-covered properties to stay that way -- are asking a judge to block a referendum drive.


		Mike Urban / P-I
	Rural landowners drove a 50-vehicle train through downtown Seattle yesterday, many with signs accusing King County of stealing their land.

The proponents say the law is clear: The fate of land-use decisions mandated by state growth laws can't be decided at the ballot box.

Without the strengthened rules passed last month, they argue, the county would be in violation of state law and would be subject to sanctions that could lead to the loss of millions in state funding.

"What we're saying is that this is an inappropriate way to oppose the critical areas ordinances. There have been ways throughout the process to show their opposition," said Tom Vasquez of the Center for Environmental Law and Policy.

Rural landowners yesterday took their fight to the streets by bringing a 50-vehicle wagon train to the hub of King County government. They drove trucks laden with hay bales, golden retrievers and signs accusing the county of stealing their land.

They rode through downtown with cowboy hats on the dashboards and "CAO = Poison" signs in the windows, in an effort to draw attention to rules in the critical areas ordinances, which they consider an unconstitutional taking of private property without compensation.

A provision in the new rules requiring rural landowners who haven't already cleared their land to leave between 50 percent and 65 percent of it in a natural state has drawn particular ire.

Biologists doing a state-required update of county rules using new science say cutting more trees in a watershed starts to cause irreparable ecological harm.

The lawsuit filed by King County, 1000 Friends of Washington and the Center for Environmental Law and Policy names the grassroots group spearheading the referendum drive -- Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights -- as the defendant.


		Mike Urban / P-I
	Dave and Kathy Jones, of May Valley, which is between Renton and Issaquah, put a protest sign on their horse trailer yesterday. The Joneses were among dozens of rural landowners who drove through downtown Seattle to protest the King County critical areas ordinances.

Citizens' Alliance President Rodney McFarland called the legal action a misuse of taxpayer dollars.

"I can't imagine they want to add fuel to the fire that's out there, but we'll continue to defend our right to a referendum," he said.

Kathy Lambert, a Woodinville Republican on the King County Council who voted against the rules passed by her Democratic colleagues last month, agreed.

"I think it's sad when a government of the people, by the people, for the people, shuts the people off from having their opinions expressed," she said.

But supporters of the rules said the desires of a minority shouldn't derail regulations that serve the greater good.

"It's my understanding that no one has the right to harm public resources, and if we continue clearing land at the rate we've been, we'll continue to lose water quality and salmon streams," said Laura Wishik, a Vashon Island resident and critical areas ordinance supporter.

King County officials said they're trying to address widespread misconceptions about what the new rules do and don't allow on rural lands.

The council made dozens of changes, making the ordinances more landowner-friendly, and have agreed to create two new staff positions to offer property owners free consultations, said Carolyn Duncan of the county's Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

For instance, with a farm plan, horse owners will be able to build stables, loading docks and confinement areas within a grazed, wet meadow. That hadn't been allowed previously, county officials said. Stables, barns and other large structures will also now go through a less expensive drainage-review process, they said.

"There's been a lot of misunderstanding. There's very little that people cannot do under these new regulations that they were able to do before," Duncan said.

A hearing on the lawsuit in King County Superior Court has not been scheduled. If the referendum drive is successful, the measure would be on the March ballot.

P-I reporter Jennifer Langston can be reached at 206-448-8130 or jenniferlangston@seattlepi.com.

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