Dunn puts district first in votes on King County Comprehensive Plan update

Key amendments benefit Maple Valley and Black Diamond

Metropolitan King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn put his district first in his votes on the 2008 update to the King County Comprehensive Plan, the set of policies by which King County manages growth in the unincorporated areas. Dunn was among the Councilmembers who voted unanimously today to adopt it.

“My district has a large swath of unincorporated King County,” said Dunn. “Some of the most controversial questions directly affect my constituents. I put the best interest of the citizens in my district first when deciding how to vote.”

Perhaps the biggest issue in this Comprehensive Plan for District 9 was a proposal to change the Maple Valley “Donut Hole” from rural to urban. Last Thursday, the King County Executive, Maple Valley and the Yarrow Bay Group came to an agreement to move forward with joint planning at the Donut Hole, a 156 acre parcel owned by King County that is completely surrounded by the City of Maple Valley. Councilmember Dunn today offered an amendment to zone the Donut Hole as “urban reserve,” which will allow Maple Valley to negotiate density, housing types, and mitigation, and allow it to be annexed into the city before any development begins.

“I’m proud that we fought for two years to have a rational joint planning process that recognizes the City of Maple Valley’s rightful role in the process,” said Dunn. “The city was steadfast and I am so happy that they finally got everything they wanted.”

Dunn represented the interests of Black Diamond on the “Reserve at Covington Creek,” where the King County Executive proposed moving 40 acres of rural land into the urban area near Kentlake High School outside the City of Black Diamond. Dunn made sure that the city’s development standards would apply to any project there, and that the property would be annexed into the city before development could begin – positions supported by the city.

The last big land use battle for Dunn’s district was the “Covington Notch,” a 32 acre proposed development along Jenkins Creek outside the City of Covington. Dunn sponsored an amendment to allow for the proposal to be studied and seen by the public. Dunn ultimately voted against the proposal because the people who live nearby were overwhelmingly opposed to it and because of the potential impacts to the environmentally sensitive Jenkins Creek.

Councilmember Dunn also offered two policy amendments to change the way that King County government views affordable housing and property rights.

King County currently significantly underestimates population growth, according to the latest population forecasts from the State of Washington. Economic experts have suggested this led to increases in home prices that forced people to live further away from their jobs due to the lack of affordable housing. The Council unanimously adopted Dunn’s amendment to urge the regional Growth Management Planning Council to commit to yearly updates of its population growth numbers.

The second amendment would have made the protection of private property rights a framework policy of the King County Comprehensive Plan. Framework policies are overarching themes of the county’s land use policies. Dunn believes that protecting private property rights is fundamental to King County government and should be a theme of the County’s land use policies. The amendment failed on a 5 to 3 vote.

“I’m very pleased that we moved the ball forward on King County land use policy,” said Dunn. “Though I wasn’t able to pass the property rights amendment, I was able to help King County more accurately estimate our growth rate. This is a better way to ensure we have an adequate supply of housing to keep houses affordable.”

King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn represents District 9 including the cities of Bellevue, Black Diamond, Covington, Enumclaw, Kent, Maple Valley, Newcastle, Renton and a significant section of unincorporated King County.