Rural Economic Development Task Force Meeting
Lawmakers endure painful evening on development
DEVELOPMENT: Dredging rivers said morally correct
By Jim Feehan, The Chronicle, 5/28/98
A legislative task force on rural economic development heard
Lewis County residents bicker about housing developments during
a Wednesday night hearing in Chehalis.
The 14-member, bipartisan panel of state legislators listened
as citizens railed against "greedy" developers, and developers
criticized regulations they see as being excessive.
Many of the lawmakers had pained expressions during the two-hour
public testimony period, as one person after another spoke about
housing-development issues. One lawmaker - Sen. Mary Margaret
Haugen, D-Camano Island - eventually had enough and abruptly left
the Lewis County Courthouse Annex.
"People don't want to see developers go crazy," said Bob Reid
of Toledo.
Filling in wetlands will cause runoff, and developers have no
interest in salmon restoration, Reid said.
"Developers want to make money," he said.
Tammy Baker, a Chehalis-area farmer, said developers are motivated
by greed.
"Developers can come in like thieves in the night and steal us
blind. That's morally wrong," she said.
With urban sprawl swallowing up more farming acreage for housing
subdivisions, Baker said, agricultural land will be needed in
the future.
"Who is going to feed the people?" she asked.
Bob Kling, a Realtor representing the Lewis County Rental Owners
Association, said development does not cause flooding.
"Dredging rivers is the only way to stop flooding," Kling said.
"It's the moral thing to do."
His comment was greeted with hissing from the audience.
"We need high-quality, rural subdivisions in Lewis County," he
added.
Frank Dipola, a Centralia real estate broker since 1968, said
he would like to see the area open up for more development.
"It's the American dream to have 5 to 7 acres of land," he said.
Merrily Knutsen of Onalaska told lawmakers that development must
protect watersheds, preserve wetlands and stop flooding the area.
"Until environmental issues are resolved, economic development
will not occur in Lewis County," she said.
Dan Wood, a Hoquiam School Board member, urged lawmakers to consider
offering tax incentives to lure businesses.
"We need a major tax incentive to compete with Oregon," Wood
said.
He told lawmakers that Nucor, an East Coast corporation, decided
against building a steel plant in Grays Harbor County.
Earlier in the day, economic development directors, county commissioners,
and city and port officials commented about economic development
and the state's growth management act.
Results of Gov. Gary Locke's 1997 Port Angeles economic development
summit were discussed. Locke's recent rural economic development
proposals and his next rural summit in Moses Lake later this year
were presented by state trade and economic development officials.
The task force's next meeting will be June 15 in Colville.
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