Brief Update from 1-7-03 Planning Commission Meeting

Sultan's Planning Commission is getting almost as entertaining as the city council.

The PC received a full salvo from anti-annexation activists at Tuesday night's meeting. City Planning Director Rick Cisar said Bob Drewel's recent veto actually supports annexation ("Hel-LO!??!"); says Trout Farm Road is owned by the county, not the city (which will eliminate participation in the Morris petition by folks living on the west side of Trout Farm Road); then like a good ventriloquist's puppet echoes the trite and hackneyed phrase: "We're not talking development right now; all we're talking about is annexation" (you bet); but the best was when he was asked how there can be no fiscal impact to the city on this annexation, as was stated in the city's staff "support" materials and Resolution for approval presented at the last council meeting, Mr. Cisar clarified everyone's confusion by saying the Resolution to accept the annexation petition had no fiscal impact. (Once more, Hello???). And Cliff Morris stated his only goal is to try to take care of his sick and aged folks (his dad is 87) and sister by subdividing his 23-acre property zoned R-9600 into separate ownership. Sounds more like an estate management problem than a city land use issue involving a cast of thousands of taxpayers. And lastly, who will pay for this special election so residents can vote on the annexation? (Duh. Whose wallets will this come out of? "OY" -- Open Yours)

By the way, why wasn't there a council hearing on this annexation? Recent court-ordered changes to the annexation procedure should not relieve the city of its basic responsibility to determine benefits and liabilities that would accrue to the city from a 160-acre annexation.

Question: What's the hurry for annexing right this minute, before completing the comp plan process? A process Mr. Morris is deeply familiar with since he's been at nearly every PC meeting since the spring of 2002. Is it because Sultan's Comp Plan consultant has already gone on record stating the city already has enough unused annexed land by which to achieve our GMA growth goals? Mr. Morris fully understands that once the comp plan is approved, Mr. Morris is set for a steep uphill battle to annex in. Hey! I have an idea! If Morris' only goal is to care for this family -- a worthy effort we wholeheartedly support -- then he shouldn't mind waiving his rights to develop for a predetermined period of time after annexation.

Absenteeism by PC members - Discussion on the total Number of allowable absences for Commissioners before they are removed from office: Tom Green and Bart Dalmasso argued endlessly to allow the most liberal interpretation of the number and definition of "excused" absences. Ron Kraut and especially Josie Falgatter urged that the rules on allowable absences be significantly tightened. (We have hopes of doing a transcription of this exchange, but don't hold your breath!)

Not enough $$$ for commissioners to have development code ordinances? Apparently, Jose Falgatter still has only five chapers of the SMC. Per Rick Cisar, "We can't afford to give everybody a new codebook." (Please, Mr. Cisar, Mayor Rowe, whomever: Give me an original book and I will personally make copies at my own expense to see that PC members are equipped to do their jobs. And that's a promise you can take to the bank.)

Commissioner comments at the close of meeting included: Commissioners Falgatter and Kraut urged development of a formal process by which to empirically evaluate annexations. Referring to the comments made by the public on the Morris annexation, Commissioner Tom Green said, "It just seemed like such a waste of time, to me, to hear all that," to which newly-appointed Chairman John Seehuus said he was a bit blind-sided by the discussion, and, once begun, it was difficult to corral. In response to Commissioner Green's comment, Commissioner Kirkman said, "I don't think it's a waste of time when people come into any kind of public forum to express themselves....And one of the wonderful things is in this country, you can have that opportunity to speak out." Commissioner Botting said the proper forum should be a workshop. (A joint PC/council annexation workshop was held due to the controversy over Garth York's annexation, but no formal process resulted.) On the subject of impact fees, Commissioner Green said, "And certainly I hate impact, uh, school impact fees. And I'm a strong supporter of schools. I think it's a double-tax. And it should be everybody's problem, not just the new homeowners' problem." Commissioner Dalmasso suggested that reducing or eliminating residential growth by too-high impact fees would also curtail commercial tax revenue: "And a majority of my business is commercial, and there is not enough people here to support the kind of businesses that we'd like to have here, some good, clean industry that's going to bring wage-earner jobs to the community -- a living wage job to the community that we don't have to plug the highway to drive to Bellevue or Seattle or Everett to go to work." Is a living wage job a clerk at Safeway or McDonald's? Below is an exchange between Tom Green and Josie Falgatter on this subject during the 12-17-02 PC meeting:

"Green I've been sitting here thinking about living wage jobs. And I know the Safeway checkers, a lot of them, that's their only source of income. And their store managers at all these stores, and probably the real minimum waged ones are like the fast food places. And they even have managers and assistant managers. I don't think there's as many of those sleazy jobs or low-paying jobs, whatever you want to call them, as people think there are in retail.

Falgatter I don't think they're sleazy at all. I just --

Green No, I don't either.

Falgatter -- I think that that if you work at a gift store or a clothing store, I just don't think that you're going to be making as much money as you could be in another occupation.

Green And there is a need for those kind of jobs, too. There's a lot of second households that have second incomes that want to stay in the area and they don't want to go work in a minimum wage job in Monroe or Snohomish if they can work at one in Sultan. Maybe they're a part-time worker just supplementing the family income. There's a place for that kind of thing."

Head-scratchers: What IS a living wage job, anyway? Why hasn't a hearing been held on the annexation? How come we don't have a formal annexation land use/capital facilities review ordinance/procedure in place? How come some Planning Commissioners still do NOT have a complete set of city codes/ordinances? And, finally, the fact that we have to ask these questions at all screams the need for professionalism in Sultan, regardless of whether it's a mayor-council or council-manager form.