Step right up, folks! Sultan's future is now being served!

Oh, you like fast food chains served along with those fast-and-loose ordinances? No problem there.

You say you'd like a little bit of greens served along with all that black asphalt? You got it!

You say you like a bit of smog, stink and poor air quality along with your gridlock? Hey, your wish is our command.

Sultan is, and has been, relentlessly reordering your future for some time now, beginning with the concept of putting a sewer to the east end of town, otherwise called LID-97, more commonly known as the Wagley Creek LID. (Which may soon be followed by "Son-of-Wagley," the North Wagley LID.)

Now that the city has the LID virtually in place, it is ordering your future in the form of new ordinances that will surgically alter the future face of Sultan.

I hope your eyes don't glaze over at the word, "ordinances," as most people's do. People of Sultan: Do not fear that word. It is a simple word. It is by its definition a pure and uncomplicated word. The origin for this word is "order" -- "to ordain." More precisely: "to put in order, arrange, prepare and decree." Yup. That sounds about right. That's precisely what the city is doing.

The definition is simple. It's the implementation by Sultan that has made it complicated. It's complicated by the Sultan Shag, a sort of dance of hide-and-seek; a now-you-see-it-now-you-don't kind of implementation, where one thing is said but another thing is done. A dance where the leading partner will tell you there's only a slight impact, but the sleight-of-hand impact is something entirely different.

The first and primary approval basis for any land use ordinance revision is that it be consistent with our current comprehensive plan. The reason is simple: It's the ordinances that comprise the basement and foundation upon which our future will be constructed.

On the eve of a major overhaul of our comprehensive plan, the city is working feverish -- virtually "hiding in full view" -- to set in place ordinances that will reflect what the current administration wants to happen here, NOT what the majority of the residents and people wish to see for our future. The city has already given broad administrative review approval (read: no public input) on a little thing called a short-plat. If that particular ordinance had been in effect during the time of ex-mayor Bob Broughton's short plat review for his property bordering south of Willow Run, ground would already have been broken. It would have added significantly to that community's existing problems; problems owed in large part to Mr. Broughton and other "Friends of the City."

In addition to that one, other major ordinance changes now under the knife are a cluster ordinance, a PUD (Planned United Development) ordinance, and an ordinance that increases maximize lot coverage from 30% to 65%.

Folks might remember the PUD and PARD ordinances as causing a bit of trouble in places like Eagle Ridge and Willow Run. And despite best attempts to drive a stake through their collective hearts, they are -- hey, presto-chango! -- back again! And no matter what paint job you slap on those, they still look like a ghetto-in-the-making to me, at least, if this particular city administration is holding the paintbrush. But in a town where developers promise "estate homes" during an annexation hearing, blue land use signs morph into a red stop work order signs on a regular and repeating basis, what else could we expect?

Revising maximum lot coverage from 30% to 65%: I'm not a rocket scientist, but even I know that a 65% lot coverage is a bit hard on the eyes, our stormwater system, greenways, air pollution and drainage -- especially -- in a flood plain. (My "ecological links" page has a link to a story about the negative effects of Wal-Marts -- or other big box stores -- because of lot coverage problems). During the February 5^th Planning Commission hearing, a resident testified that 65% lot coverage wasn't so bad. I mean, Lynnwood and other major cities have 75% lot coverage and greater, and they're doing okay.. Thanks for proving my point.

Clusters? Well, actually, clusters, if done properly (Ah, there's the rub!), could be a terrific addition to our future. Clusters are designed to "cluster" homes and development in a concentrated area in order to conserve greenways and open, recreational and ecologically-sensitive areas. But the operative words here are "If done properly." As I testified during the February 5^th Planning Commission hearing, the city's track record on implementing projects is the reason Sultan's future is so far off-track. In a place where the natural beauty of the area should shine and shimmer, Sultan is doing its best to bury our light under, well, asphalt.

These and other ordinances will be coming up for review by the Planning Commission and city council within the next few weeks. Look for them. Get familiar with them NOW. Bug the city. Call and email Rick Cisar and ask that he get draft copies out with plenty of notice. Contact the City Council and Planning Commission members NOW to make your voice heard. Tell them what you want, and tell them that you want early review of draft ordinances. (Otherwise, commenting on ordinances is difficult, due to the city's well-established habit of bringing these up with little, if any, notice -- or even an actual draft to review -- or if provided, with precious little time by which to review them.)

Try to keep in mind one thing: Once passed, these ordinances will be the foundation upon which Sultan's future is built; they will be reflected in our new comprehensive plan. And I don't care what you may hear some of our leaders saying, ultimately it's Sultan -- not the county or the state -- who will determine how much, how big and how gracefully we grow, And WE will determine how that happens. We can either lie down in the road and let this administration's cart (followed by the horse) of progress run over us, or we can get active now, put the horse in front of the cart, and take the reins of our future.

Everyone thinks G.R.I.T. is against development. What we are AGAINST is ugly, stinky sprawl. Just look at Monroe. That's what we DON'T want. What we are FOR is maintaining our humanity and the natural beauty of the area, while building a wise economic base from which we can all grow.

But the ordinances are the key. Do nothing and you get more of the same of what you've seen. Get involved, give input, make comments and stand up for what you believe, and you can change the future.

Your future. Your choice.