Make your voice heard on annexation bills | Letter to the editor
Published 11:49 am Friday, March 22, 2013
The City of Maple Valley’s effort to make it easier to annex the Donut Hole property is in the home stretch.
Last week Senate Bill 5417 was passed by the Washington State Senate and sent to the House of Representatives for consideration. On Thursday the House Local Government Committee held a public hearing on the bill—the first step in the legislative process. Sometime next week the Local Government Committee will discuss the merits of the proposed bill and hopefully send it to the House Rules Committee. This committee determines whether a bill will be sent to the House floor for a vote.
During this process the City found out that King County is adamantly against the bill. They have enlisted the support of the Teamsters Union, one of the unions representing the King County Road Maintenance staff, by saying that, if the City annexes the property, around 50 union jobs will be lost as the City will close the maintenance facility down. City officials had to remind legislators that the City cannot unilaterally shut down any type of business due to annexation. If a property’s use at time of annexation is considered a non-conforming use, the owner of that property can continue that use until THE OWNER discontinues the use.
The County also has stated that if the City annexes the property and changes the zoning of the property it would lead to a reduction in value of the property. City officials again had to step in and state that the market establishes the value of the property, but also that the zoning change process the City would utilize would be an open and public process. Any zoning changes would reflect the desires of the citizens of Maple Valley. This practice is standard throughout the country.
The City approached its 5th district legislative delegation last fall about sponsoring a bill to make such changes. The 5th district legislators are Representatives Jay Rodne and Chad Magandanz and Senator Mark Mullet. Their collective hard work has led to the passage of the bill in the State Senate and a positive reception in State House of Representatives. Unfortunately, the political intrigue of State politics is not for the faint of heart. Political fates of proposals and bills often decided behind the scenes that the citizen will not witness. Political trade-offs are made, often in favor of those with more political influence with the legislative members.
The City would like to annex the property to take advantage of an opportunity to support the Tahoma School District’s desire to create a regional educational center on about 35 acres of the Donut Hole, involving the Tahoma School District, Green River Community College and Renton Technical College. This concept would be a natural attraction to invite private investment on the rest of the Donut Hole that would be partners with the educational center. This partnership would serve as a bridge allowing advanced manufacturing firms to provide real-world applications to our students—an important component to help expose our students to various career options as they graduate from high school.
The City asks for you, our citizens, to help make this development opportunity a reality. Please contact the members of the House Local Government Committee and encourage them to pass Senate Bill 5417 out of their committee. Second, contact the King County Council and encourage them to embrace this development concept—stating that this concept helps our children, helps retrain our citizens that need new skills to be successful in the job market, and helps bring living wage jobs to southeast King County. After you help out, please encourage your family members and friends to send the message to them, too.
David Johnston
City Manager
Maple Valley
