July/August Update:

Snohomish County’s reorganization will never end. In fact, they are subcontracting some of the engineering reviews, which is unprecedented at Sno. Co. Will they ever have the ultimate program done? Will it work? Considering the number of times they’re tried and the degree of chaos reigning now, it seems doubtful. Plus, any organization is only as good as its people, and they’re not canning anyone. Mr. Ladiser’s tenure is thus far uninspiring.

Edmonds has passed a new zoning designation in its effort to stave off the threat of a "non-compliance" determination from the state on it’s comprehensive plan. The problem is that several areas of the city are still designated for 12,000- and 20,000-square-foot lots. Washington’s Growth Hearings Boards have repeatedly upheld that urban areas (cities and surrounding) must attain minimum densities of 4 dwelling units per acre. Edmonds’ large-lot zones clearly do not meet that criterion.

Edmonds already has passed critical-area provisions which are sketchy at best, in order to classify more areas as protected. This would be used to reduce the amount of available land, thus, the amount of development achievable. Combined, their GMA-compliance strategy could be termed the "Barely Enough Plan", as in "barely enough" not to get sued or "barely enough" to prevail come fighting time. They probably will get some fights. Whether they have done barely enough for the new regulations to survive has yet to be seen.

Regulatory updates are the order of the day. State requirements have every jurisdiction reexamining their comprehensive plans, shoreline plans, and critical-area regulations. Early returns on buffers are bad for business and property values, with buffers doubling or tripling. Snohomish County has finished their draft of the Best Available Science but will be arguing about it for some time. Master Builders is taking this on directly and pointedly Buffer increases for "ditches" could be as high as 100 feet. These increases fly in the face of urban density and planning projections for population capacity.

Prices are astronomical and don’t seem ready for any kind of correction in the immediate future. Some commentators are speculating that interest rates will soon climb to cool the inflationary jets nationwide. Let’s hope when the landing comes, it’s a soft one. We have confirmed, paid prices of small lots selling for $205,000 near Bothell, abutting I-405. This relates to home prices around $600,000. It seems the madness cannot continue at this rate

That’s all for this update, but certainly much more is going on. Write or call for more information.

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