Snoqualmie’s Comprehensive Plan is a legal document with which the city, not developers, can plan for future population and manage development while ensuring the city’s fiscal ability to sustain growth.

Element 8 of the plan is the annexation section, which guides new growth.

City staff, Planning Commission and City Council are considering deleting element 8 guidelines and policies that ensure growth is phased in an orderly manner over a 20-year period; are consistent with city, regional and state policies; are within the King County minimum population requirements (once the city reaches the minimum population requirements, the city can turn away development); requires the city to sustain new growth; requires new growth to commit to participation in flood damage reduction efforts; and requires new growth to be fiscally beneficial to the city.

These are being replaced with a policy that states: “Do not accept any annexation proposal for consideration unless the proposed annexation area is located within the city’s urban growth area and is in the public interest.”

In other words, everything that gave the city control of growth and required development to commit to the city flood reduction efforts will be gone and replaced with nice, legally meaningless words. With these changes developers, within the urban growth area, will determine growth in Snoqualmie and the city won’t be able to stop it.

I beg city government to keep the element 8 guidelines and policies. No more growth for growth’s sake, or to satisfy developer’s desires. The city can’t absorb any more costs and we cannot afford any more taxes.

Also, ensure those building in future annexations participate in city flood reduction efforts.

Tony Yanez

Snoqualmie