Council passes zone change for steep slopes

By Dennis Box

The Courier-Herald

Bonney Lake City Council members took a stand on steep slopes and passed a zoning change at their Sept. 13 meeting.

Ordinance 1160 passed 6-1 with Councilman Jim Rackley voting no.

Mayor Bob Young has made no secret of his opposition to the ordinance.

"I think it is an exercise in futility," Young said. "I will be very surprised if the (Puget Sound) Growth Management Hearings Board doesn't rebuff this."

The council heard considerable testimony from property owners and representatives asking the council to halt the rezone.

The ordinance called for the rezoning of parcels along the southern edge of the city to RC-5, which designates one home per five acres. Most of the parcels are zoned R-1 residential, four homes per acre or commercial.

"I will vote for this ordinance, "Councilman Mark Hamilton said. "It protects a natural buffer between two urban areas (Sumner and Bonney Lake)."

Rackley countered that the ordinance would not protect natural areas as it is designed.

"It doesn't protect one tree on the steep slopes," Rackley said. "It does not stop any one from cutting down all the trees on their property. I wish we could do something to protect this area."

Councilman Neil Johnson said he considered it a first step for the city's future.

"I support it because we need to support a vision of this city," Johnson said. "We have to start somewhere."

Deputy Mayor Dan Swatman noted the council had no idea 20 years ago people would want to build on such steep sites.

"We didn't know people would build on 20 percent slopes," Swatman said. "Let's let the Growth Management Board sort this out. I think we vote this in and let the chips fall."

After passing the ordinance, Young said he was considering vetoing the measure.

"I may let it go into law without signing it," Young said. "Someone will appeal it to the board and then we're in trouble. We have already spent $200,000 on legal expenses this year, way beyond what we budgeted."

The zoning change will go into effect in 10 days after it was passed if the mayor does not sign the ordinance.

There is also a question among council members as to how many of the property owners have filed plans or vested the property with the city. For those property owners that are vested, the zoning change will not take effect.

At the meeting, Planning Manager Steve Ladd said it was unclear how many property owners had their vesting documents approved.

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com.