Democracy for Vancouver

The Outsider

A Newsletter for the Overburdened Taxpayers of Vancouver Washington

October 23, 2007

Housing for People

After attending a meeting yesterday by the Clark County Association of Realtors, I came away with the feeling that they didn’t want to be regulated by any government entity and that the growth management act was a bad thing. They also indicated that infill or high density housing was a good thing for first time buyers and that mixing them in established neighborhoods would not create problems. Not so, because of an increase of cars with no place to park and additional traffic would lead to more congestion.

In my humble opinion, they were wrong and although a fine presentation, it did not point out some of the pit falls of high density building or collecting funds for needed infrastructure of roads and sewer and parks. What wasn’t mentioned is that once built, the builder moves on to the next project and that local governments are left with the problems and costs to correct what the builder didn’t provide.

There is a greater need to both regulate and communicate between Clark County and Vancouver City governments. They both have different duties toward the people they serve and yet are both dependent upon the other. Both are managers of growth. Clark County plans for Vancouver’s future and Vancouver is engaged in annexation which takes up about 25% of their council time in approving what is presented to them.

If these parcels of land are not up to city standards it could take a decade to get them to that point. Annexing for the sake of improving a tax base and wanting to become the second largest city in Washington is not a good reason as that will occur soon enough. They should be taking care of current residents first and make sure they have a “quality of life” in their homes.

The Marrion neighborhood, my neighborhood, currently has a failed intersection at NE104 and Mill Plain. Within a three block area there is two high density projects going on at the same time. There is no park planned for the people that move into these units even though they will pay park impact fees. Should there have been a moratorium until the failed intersection was fixed. Most definitely!

Please read “The Best-Laid Plans” by Randal O’Toole to get a different prospective.

Charlie Stemper Candidate for City Council Position #5 City of Vancouver USA