Mayor should sign ordinance
Land-use planning and its intricacies are indeed complex. From the March 25 editorial, it would appear the editorial board does not understand the issues any better than the average citizen.
The planners are not at fault for issuing permits. The planners are required by law to issue the permits when the requirements are met. The fault lies entirely with the Spokane County commissioners. They have been doing the bidding of the developers that fund their re-election campaigns and ignoring the Growth Management Act. The result is that citizens have to pay higher taxes for the sprawl. They also have to pay for the county’s defense of the indefensible: the flagrant disregard of the Growth Management Act.
Now that steps have been taken to limit this illegal behavior, the editorial board expects us to believe that talking it over will fix everything. To this point, the county has ignored recommendations of their own planning commission and others, and illegally enlarged the urban growth area.
The mayor should sign the ordinance that was passed by the Spokane City Council. That ordinance would prohibit water and sewer extensions until appeals to decisions made by the Spokane County commissioners are resolved.
Lindell Haggin
Spokane