LETTER: County plan relies too heavily on private interests for housing

Last week’s editorial promoting King County’s special district overlay (SDO) for affordable housing was misleading (“Addressing misinformation about housing in CSA Plan,” April 26). I served on the Land Use/Housing Working Group that developed it. The group was bitterly split on the SDO, not because we opposed affordable housing, but because we opposed a plan that allows for over 1,000 housing units to get the 100 we need.

Well-informed Vashon residents know we must have affordable housing for islanders of all ages, incomes and backgrounds. The question is who to rely upon to construct housing, the market or our community? According to King County, a community housing nonprofit can gain density on a parcel at little cost by going through our councilmember or using existing bonuses. The SDO only serves private interests.

The editorial argued that “the county is not proposing to build out beyond what the island can handle,” and water and infrastructure will limit development. I worked for nearly 20 years in land use and environmental planning. It is not only bad planning to assume water and infrastructure limit development, it’s backwards. Adequate infrastructure often lags behind growing communities and doesn’t meet basic needs. Estimating build-out is essential for planning for future water supplies and infrastructure.

This sort of backward planning has unintended consequences. Water District 19 is a good steward of water today, but it is easy to imagine new commissioners with different interests drilling wells and dealing water shares. It is easy to imagine increased water and sewer rates and taxes to fix congested roads, ferries and stressed infrastructure. Zoning for more density is a one-way trip; once passed, the SDO will not be reversed. Please tell Bradley.Clark@kingcounty.gov that this Special District Overlay is the wrong tool to achieve affordable housing on Vashon.

— Jiji Saunders