Congratulations to Steve Hammond and his group: State Supreme Court nails Ron Sims' moronic Critical Areas Ordinance

Originally, I'm from King County... which, as it turns out, is a great place to be FROM.

King County Government is a reflection of, say, Portland city government... or the government of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Washington's Vancouver.

In other words, it's a place where the needs or wants or desires of the people get short shrift to the agenda of those unfortunately in power.

In everything from a lying light rail effort, where the closest thing to a Nazi government agency, Sound Transit, lied to the voters as to how much rail for how much money (something like 21 miles for $2.2 Billion, only later to be reduced to 14 miles at $4 Billion... after the vote... a move the Supreme Court allowed) and has admitted that, once built, the light rail system will have absolutely no impact on congestion, making it a waste of billions, to this moronic ordinance that would restrict the amount of a property that a property owner could clear (50 to 65 percent, depending on its size) to massive cost overruns on a sewage treatment plant to... you name it.

Until now.

The Supreme Court put an end to this idiocy on Tuesday when they refused to review the ruling of the State Court of Appeals overturning this monstrous imposition of dictatorial government.

So, congrats to former King County Councilman Steve Hammond and his group, the Citizen's Alliance for Property Rights. Well done!

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Big court victory for rural property owners

The state Supreme Court has handed a huge victory to rural property owners in King County who fought a part of the Critical Areas Ordinance package that requires them to keep native vegetation on 50 to 65 percent of their land.

By Keith Ervin

Seattle Times staff reporter

Rural property owners who fought a King County law severely restricting how much land they can clear have won a huge victory.

The state Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review an appeals-court decision that struck down the law as an improper tax or fee on development. Chief Justice Gerry Alexander signed an order in which he and four other justices unanimously denied the county's petition for review of the Court of Appeals ruling.

The clearing restrictions, part of a package that includes the Critical Areas Ordinance, require rural property owners to keep native vegetation on 50 to 65 percent of their land, depending on its size. They were adopted as a way of protecting streams and wildlife, including the threatened chinook salmon.

Steve Hammond, president of the Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights, said the order "puts the nail in the coffin" of the most controversial element in the critical-areas package.

"I've been saying since 2004, when I was on the [County] Council, this is not the right thing to do," Hammond said of the clearing law. "This is the homeowner having to make a donation to the open-space program. Two-thirds of your property is a pretty significant donation. That's bad.

"The only way I know how to get folks who don't live in the affected area to understand it is to say, 'What if I walked into your bathroom and said you have three fixtures: You can keep one and the other two have to go?' "

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