The city administration seems to be relaxing these days, taking it easy, kickin' back.

R-i-i-i-ght…

The only thing that's being relaxed are the city's code and ordinances. Lots of them.

There has been a flood of code changes recently, all designed to relax and loosen our standards for critical areas and density of development. Codes are -- quite literally -- the backbone (or foundation, if you prefer), of our future. They are the changes will set the foundation for Sultan's future.

Put simply, these codes will specific whether our town ends up looking like Lynnwood or Monroe, or if it will look more like Snohomish or other less-dense areas.

To give you an example of how codes affect the actual construction of a city, let's use Monroe as an example. If anyone has ever used the access "roads" east of Route 2 by which to visit Staples, Mailboxes, Etc., Alfie's or Blockbuster, then you know what bad codes can do. Ever attempt to make a left-hand turn where this western access road intersects with Galaxy Drive/Kelso? Good luck on that one, even though the area has not even been built out yet (including a 352-home community called "The Farm" that will use that road). And the turning radius of that access road is a complete joke. Well, those were all built using the ordinances that were in place during the approval process. They are high-density codes. They stink. Even in the best of traffic conditions, it's very difficult to see, navigate and turn properly on those access "roads." Just imagine what they'll be like when the population density increases.

Is THAT what you want Sultan to be like?

All of the proposed ordinances are designed -- not to shore up and make ordinances tougher so that a development like Willow Run will never happen again -- but to ensure that it WILL. These code changes are broad, loosening up construction and density standards, which will allow for greater density of development.

What's the purpose? Why would the city be trying to push through so many significant revisions on the very eve of a major comprehensive plan revision? Why not WAIT for the comp plan approval process to be completed -- BEFORE making these wide-scale changes? The answer is as clear as the reasons why it should NOT be done: The problems in Willow Run and other communities. The reason this is being done NOW, is in order to facilitate MORE development FASTER in a SMALLER amount of space. It is being done in an attempt to help a few property owners along the LID-97 develop more profitably, due to the increased costs of construction due to -- not to put too fine a point on it -- screw-ups by the city administration.

You want a one-word answer? Here it is: G-r-e-e-d.

This has little, if anything, to do with economic viability or vitality. The city's long-term economic base will come from our ability to capitalize on our assets. And those assets have little to do with more development faster. Those assets are our natural and beautiful environment, assets that, once ruined and cemented over, cannot be retrieved.

Look at other areas that have had the foresight to FIGHT FOR AND RETAIN their natural assets; when all else is overgrown with asphalt, the value of buying a home or having a business in those areas has increased significantly. People pay extra to live or work in places where the people have had the wisdom of nurturing and maintaining the natural beauty around them rather than selling it to the highest bidder with loose codes and wallets open, as Sultan has been trying to do.

• Easing the transfer/density calculation for critical areas of streams and wetlands for Cluster subdivisions and PUD's (Planned Unit Developments)
• Allowing Cluster developments
• Rebirth of PUDs (Planned Unit Developments; these were removed from our code because of Willow Run and Eagle Ridge problems)

• Major changes to our SEPA "threshold" requirements (minimum standards at which an environmental review is required) are listed below, all of which will INCREASE our threshold criteria to make it more permissive:

• Increase the number of "dwelling Units" (homes) that would require a review under the SEPA from 4 to 20.
• Maximum lot coverage (the amount of impervious surface that can be legally covered) - increased from 30% to 65%
• Increase total structure size from 10,000 s.f. to 30,000 s.f.
• Increase the size of offices, commercial, service or storage buildings from 4,000 s.f. to 12,000 s.f.
• Increase the total number of parking spaces from 20 to 40 spaces.
• Increase the landfill and excavation minimums from 350 cubic yards to 500 cubic yards

There are more; significantly more code changes this administration is trying to railroad through. We cannot keep up with them at this point. Who can stop them?

Gee, I wonder why the city's trying so hard to get these changes through before our "future road map" -- our comp plan -- is completed?