Brace, Brace, Brace
By Andy Valencia
Vashon is awake and very, very interested in what the upcoming zoning changes for our Island will mean. One of our leading citizens helped the Vashon Loop highlight some important questions in our previous issue, and follows that with more commentary in this issue. Our Community Council has also spoken clearly to King County Council, asking for a way to ask and be answered.
Early in the process, some people confused the proposed Thunderbird facility with the updated KC Comprehensive Plan, along with its newest 700 pages of amendments to our zoning regulations. If Thunderbird can open a long-idle Vashon site and operate it successfully – good on them. Reprogramming how Vashon is developed is a completely separate issue.
Progress
The Vashon Loop approached Councilmember Mosqueda’s office in the hope of covering a comprehensive set of zoning questions and concerns, but was rebuffed with the statement that her office is too busy. And yet, some extra information is starting to come out through other channels, and it’s promising.
Their plans have changed. What caused the changes? Maybe it’s because the Council cares deeply about their citizens. Or maybe because we were making enough noise to be noticed. Or it could simply be the fact that it’s an election year. Whatever the reason, we’ll take it.
The most significant response is that Councilmember Mosqueda has apparently indicated that she’ll “carve out” Vashon from some of the most worrisome aspects of the draft zoning changes. This apparently would address car camping and many of the highest-density housing rules that could lead most directly to a fundamental shift of our town towards a new, more urban feel. These parts of the zoning changes would still be in the zoning regulations, but would not apply to Vashon.
Before you pop that champagne, please do remember that she is one vote on the council. Politics could cause her to change her position; politics at the council level could stymie her attempt to add a Vashon carve out. Vashon needs to stay on top of this until we see what gets adopted in December.
Communication
And what precisely will get adopted? The Loop has searched far and wide, but since our Councilmember’s office isn’t talking to us, all we can tell you is that we have seen no details of a carve out. Will it be thorough? What will end up slipping through? We’ll give you answers as we find them.
Amid all this interest, the community was finally granted a 90-minute Zoom call with Councilmember Mosqueda on October 8th. The finalization of these changes is scheduled for November – there’s one more meeting addressing town development and affordable housing. One more general meeting over in Seattle, and then all of this will take its final form and be adopted in December. It’s later in the game than you think.
The Zoom Call
The Zoom call with Councilmember Mosqueda and her staff was 60 minutes of overview, and 30 minutes of questions. She started with a list of issues to be addressed, beginning with affordability and continuing with a list that would surprise no one – health, transportation, child care, and more. “Middle Housing” as a term was introduced, encompassing duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, and the like. Along with ADU’s, they apparently make up the focus of the type of housing development needed to solve Vashon’s supply and affordability woes. At least in this new, post-carve-out world.
The presentation was a mix of carrot and stick. Some modest relaxation in a few regulations. Some new kinds of requirements which can be sprung on a submitted project, such as adding affordable units, or building using whatever green techniques are currently in favor. There’s an “Inclusionary Housing” meeting in November between King County and some of our community council folks; watch for new wrinkles in what town development will look like as the results of that meeting make their way into the plan.
Big Picture
Now take a step back from the question of how many feet away your neighbor’s heat pump has to be from your house. Zoning laws are like arrows, pointing a path through the maze of possibilities. New zoning means a new path. What does the Vashon at the end of this new path look like?
Our county is telling us that we’re rural, and thus hardly any of the changes will have an impact on us. Logically, this is not reassuring, as most of non-rural KC is inside cities – which have their own zoning. How can big chunks of Seattle-adjacent land like Vashon not be an important part of their thinking?
Zoning is all about fitting people and their activities onto locations. Vashon is unusual in that our locations are bounded, and getting to the next land over requires floating or flying. The number of people and their needs can be calculated from the number and kind of developments you zone to accomodate. And yet – what’s our number? Will they tell us that number?
Try out 20,000 or 30,000 people, instead of our current 12,000-ish population. Look at our intersections, water, and septic/sewer. Then go down to the ferry dock and imagine doubled or tripled demand for those poor boats. With our green technology plans for the boats, we’ll be hard-pressed to get back to our pre-COVID capacity in the coming decades, never mind doubling service. How long will the ferry lines get?
Don’t just look at the boats – look at the docks. Even if the Fauntleroy terminal could be tripled in capacity, what do you think its neighbors will have to say? Passenger-only boats can help with commuting office workers, but good luck with bulk supply runs, multiple destination trips, and destinations that are unreachable by transit in any reasonable time. Or if your legs don’t work well.
The inimitable Bernie O’Malley has coined the word VashMauria to describe all of us living a ferry ride away from the rest of the world. My fellow editor Caitlin Rothermel just coined the companion phrase “Low Resource Place” – LRP. VashMauria is a LRP. No hospital, no trained crisis intervention, only the most basic medical lab and diagnostic equipment. Most of the already modest medical options are unavailable at night.
It’s the same story with our two deputies. Every now and then, things get a little sticky, and they hold on by their fingernails until some help can float across. We’ve had fire engines come across when VIFR gets busy enough. We appreciate that help, but there isn’t much of it, and it doesn’t arrive immediately.
And water. And septic. The list is long.
A Low Resource Place
We can double the number of people on Vashon. And double the fire engines, and police, and open lots of clinics. and eventually a hospital. And add lots of other stuff. 24-hour shopping, a big box store or two. We could do this – if we the people want this. Zoning will follow. I wonder if any of the politicians are talking about a bridge again, because that would make it all much easier.
Being an “Islander” is the opposite of this. We came here because it doesn’t look like Fauntleroy. We accepted the lack of services, and the expensive gas, and the crazy ferry service. It’s an honorable tradition to get old enough that all your medical needs tell you it’s time to go to the mainland. And you move away. You won’t be forgotten!
It seems like every decade or so Vashon needs to revisit how it defines itself. Call it maintenance of the soul at the Island level. That time appears to be upon us, so I’ll finish with this great cautionary lyric from Joni Mitchell:
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.
