Seattle Times Story 8:15am Thursday 4-20
The Seattle Times did a story on the contamination issue today. Here it is... Story
The Woodinville Weekly did a story as well.
This year's incorporation of the City of Maltby efforts didn't pass. After reading Gary Strode's comments indicating that he may not give up on this site, we should be all that much more committed to putting together a feasible incorporation proposal for next year. Unwanted projects like this and others would have to go through the Maltby City Council.
The powers that be plan to funnel future developement in Snohomish County to the Maltby-Clearview area to control sprawl, you can see it starting to move this way from Mill Creek and Bothell. Unless we work to incorporate now, we will be constantly fighting to stop the County from allowing projects like this over the next 10-20 years. The time to incorporate is now before the the growth is at our door and before developers can pressure the County Council to be less inclined to let us control our community's growth.
Growth will come, it's inevitable, but we want to have a say in how it's done, not PDS who generates ALL their income from building fees and doesn't like to say "no" to developers.
Greg Stephens has worked hard on incorporating with not much backing and hasn't been able to make it happen. If we can come together strong and vocal as a community next year with a feasible proposal, we can make it happen. We need to do this soon to include Grace in our City, that would include Costco which is estimated to generate 2 million dollars a year in sales taxes. The sales taxes from Costco would fund our Police Dept., which is typically a new city's largest expense. Woodinville wants to annex Grace to get that 2 million, we need to beat them to it.
Greg has a great idea of developing Downtown Maltby with the existing style of turn-of-the-century buildings. The idea of being another Leavenworth rather than Lynnwood. There is currently plenty of land there to work with, but if we don't incorporate soon it will end up as strip malls.
Snohomish County has a current population of around 670,000 and is projected to reach 1 million around 2030 growing by about 1000 people a month. Those 330,000 people will need to live somewhere. With State and County leaders committed to prevent sprawl and infill all close-in areas, we are in the prime developement area. Here's an interesting site showing the population density as of 6 years ago.
posted by CCC @ 8:20 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Concerning incorporating, the time to act is now. Just look across the street from the Maltby Cafe and see the industrial area. We need to have a say in the kind of businesses and zoning that would be in compliance with the vision of a desireable place to live and raise our families. Motorcross, gravel pits, truck and trailers with diesel spewing it's smell and noise, air brakes from trucks, strip malls, with wall to wall pavement and concrete, scattered badly built sub divisions, with make-a-buck and leave developers. These things need to be controled. The ONLY way to keep it under control is to TAKE control. Where do we sign up?
I am worried that if Maltby incorporates we will get a permanent burn ban out here. This would be really bad. We have some rare freedoms here that other nearby communities do not enjoy.
One big reason we moved out here was the freedom that rural living provides. We depend on bonfires to keep our land open and to clear new sections of it, not to mention the fun of it. If we incorporate I fear that there will be a lot more city-folk interfering with our way of life. And what about that occasional, responsible plinking with the .22 rifle? I bet that the new local police force would have a problem with it.
I agree with the opposition to the Maltby race track, but unless someone can assure me that incorporating is not going to take away our freedom, I am against incorporating.
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