"Service Before Self"
Growing up I learned that the 3 basic elements of human survival were: Food, Clothing and Shelter. Developments provide housing and commercial opportunities to secure those 3 essential elements. If it were not for housing, everyone would be homeless.
So let's look into the development of Lake Stevens
Where do we get the regulations for growth?
They come from the Growth Management Act that the voters approved in 1990.
-
GMA adopted in 1990- main purpose was to STOP URBAN SPRAWL
-
The state assigned population targets for each UGA
-
Lake Stevens was assigned a population target of around 53,000
-
All dense growth mandated by state law to be inside the UGA
-
-
Growth area were drawn around City of Lake Stevens (UGA Boundary- called the bright pink line in the past)
-
Portion of the UGA included the then City Limits.
-
All areas within the UGA and outside the City limits were governed by the County
-
Density within the County portion was generally 7200 sf lot size, but did vary.
-
-
-
City has now annexed nearly all property inside the UGA into the City limits
-
City is required to meet population targets, job growth and other GMA planning elements ( transportation, environmental, public services recreation etc.)
-
Development required to address impacts (offsite construction, replacement of aging sewer and water, undergrounding power lines, mitigation fees, etc.
-
City updates its comp plan and zoning periodically to meet GMA goals and population targets
-
To meet population targets, the City as required by the State, has densified its land use via zoning to provide the density on remaining developable land to meet the population targets.
-
BUILDABLE LANDS
-
Lake Stevens has very little buildable land remaining for development
-
The city still has to meet its population targets
-
To meet targets the City will have to identify options including densification (higher density zoning) of remaining land thru zoning, infill and replacement of older buildings .
​