SnoCo council kills FCC option

The Snohomish County Council overrode county Executive Aaron Reardon's veto last week and removed fully-contained communities from the county code.

In a 4-1 vote, with Councilman John Koster as the lone dissenter, the council brought the debate on fully-contained communities to a close Tuesday.

Reardon had said that he vetoed the original ordinance eliminating fully-contained communities, also called minicities, because the council failed to suggest an alternative way to manage growth. He also said councilmen Koster and Dave Gossett asked him to veto it.

However, Gossett and Koster denied requesting the veto. In a Sept. 2 letter, the two stated, "At no time did we ask you to veto the proposed legislation related to FCCs."

In a Sept. 2 memo to Council Chair Mike Cooper, Reardon said he wished to rescind his veto, since he based it on requests made by Gossett and Koster.

"In light of the fact that these two councilmen now deny having contacted my office to make the request cited above, I wish to rescind my veto," Reardon said.

In a voicemail message to Executive Director Brian Parry released by Reardon's office, Koster is recorded as saying, "I'm calling in regards to that FCC ordinance that the council passed, 3-2 vote. Just wanted to talk to you about encouraging Aaron to veto that."

Koster did not respond as of press time.

Since the county charter was silent on Reardon's ability to take back a veto, Cooper said he felt it was safest to put the issue to a vote.

Councilman Dave Somers said the mini-city code was vague, weak and "not salvageable in my view." It's not a concept that has worked in other counties, Somers said.

Placing a large population in a rural area where there isn't infrastructure to handle it is a concept that just doesn't make sense, he said.

Somers said he has pledged to work with Gossett to ensure that Gossett's district does not receive a disproportionate level of growth when the county updates its comprehensive plan.

When Gossett originally voted against scrapping mini-cities, he had said he was worried about how his district would handle the population growth it was slated to have.

The council spent the last year working on the mini-city issue, said Koster at the Tuesday board meeting. Some of the amendments that came out of that process are ones he was prepared to support.

Koster said he would have preferred to modify the code rather than scrap the mini-city option altogether.

Staff Reporter Kristi Pihl: 629-8066 ext. 125 or kpihl@scnews.com.