This is only peripherally birdy, and we may be violating some rule by discussing it, but (1) I'm sure all Tweets would agree that I-933 would be an environmental disaster, and (2) the polls I've heard about say that it's likely to be defeated. But still, this is a continuing threat, and I'm sure the forces of "property rights" will be back with similar initiatives, perhaps written better and more appealing. The argument that we probably need to avoid on this listserve is about the general principle that your right to swing your fist stops where my nose begins, and about the question (which never seems to be taken seriously) of whether the wildlife that has been occupying a piece of land for millions of years has some right to live or whether some human legal documents doom them to extinction. 'Nuf said for now.

Burt Guttman
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA 98505 guttmanb at evergreen.edu
Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S. E., Olympia, 98503

________________________________

From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu on behalf of Suzanne Krom
Sent: Wed 11/1/2006 12:12 PM
To: Tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] Initiative 933


I am very concerned about I-933. If it passes, there will be no reason for Herons Forever to exist-- or any other group trying to save a special place. It will mean that none of us will have any ability to influence any development anywhere in the state.



To give you some sense of how severe it is, if it had been in effect two years ago, we would not have known about the development on the hillside until the land was cleared. There would have been no opportunity to protect the heron colony whatsoever unless Renton had been willing and able to compensate the developer for restricting the timing of construction outside the breeding season, reducing the size of the project, and requiring a vegetative buffer, all of which we achieved. Neither Renton nor Herons Forever has the millions of dollars required to compensate the developer for even one of these protections, much less all of them.



The following is from the Explanatory Statement in the Voter's Guide:

* "Under Initiative 933, if a local or state agency decided to enforce or apply an ordinance, regulation, or rule 'damaging the use or value' of property, the agency must first pay the property owner compensation.
* Initiative 933 would amend current law to provide that "development regulations" could not prohibit uses legally existing on any parcel prior to their adoption. The term 'development regulations' refers to controls placed on development or land use activities by a county or city such as zoning ordinances, critical areas ordinances, shoreline master programs, planned unit development ordinances, and subdivision ordinances."



All living governors of Washington state, Republican and Democrat, are opposed to I-933. Vote No on I-933.

The herons (and all wildlife) will thank you.

Suzanne Krom, President

Herons Forever

http://heronsforever.org/