Call to Action! SPF Needs Your Help!
We need your help! E-mail the Skagit County Board of Commissioners by Tuesday, February 19th!
The Board of Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland does not do this often, so know that when we ask for your help it is important.For the third year in a row, developers seeking to build a new community in Skagit County have petitioned the Board of County Commissioners to construct a mega subdivision known as a Fully Contained Community (FCC) just three miles north of the City of Burlington. The proposed project would violate the 2002 Framework Agreement and Skagit County Countywide Planning Policies(CPP Policy 1.1) that have been agreed to by the County, Cities and Towns and would disregard 30 years of community led and supported comprehensive planning.
Site of the proposed Avalon development.
The project proponents would crowd 8,500 people onto approximately 585 acres of buildable land within 1,244 total acres of the project site. This would be the highest density development ever in unincorporated Skagit County. Although the proposed project is touted as a Fully Contained Community, it will not truly be fully contained because it does not include adequate commercial, retail, health services and other infrastructure to fully support the population density. This means 8,500 people will be leaving and entering this mega subdivision multiple times a day.The 2008 North Sound Household Travel Survey prepared for the Skagit and Whatcom Council of Governments found that the average person in Skagit and Whatcom Counties takes 3.7 car trips per day. This means the proposed development, when fully constructed, will be generating a staggering 31,450 additional car trips each day onto our local roads and highways. Interstate 5 between Mount Vernon and Burlington currently has in excess of 78,000 cars a day travelling over it. Imagine the impact of another 31,450 cars on our local roads and highways!For three years in a row Skagit County’s Growth Management Steering Committee, made up of the Mayors from our local towns and cities in addition to all three County Commissioners, has said no to discarding 30 years of planning for one development.Help SPF join with our local Mayors and the Growth Management Steering Committee in saying NO to ignoring the County Wide Planning Policies that direct urban growth into existing Urban Growth Areas instead of creating sprawl.Email the Board of County Commissioners TODAY and ask them to vote NO on allowing Fully Contained Communities in Skagit County.You can email written comments to pdscomments@co.skagit.wa.us. Be sure to put the proposal name (“Skagit County’s 2019 Docket”) in the subject line. You can mail or hand-deliver written public comments to: Skagit County Board of County Commissioners1800 Continental PlaceMount Vernon, WA 98273 All public comments must be submitted by Tuesday, February 19th, 4:30pm. For complete instructions on how to submit public comments, please go to this page from Skagit County and it will provide detailed instructions on submitting public comments. Here is a sample of what you may want to include in your comments (please feel free to use as is or change into your own words):Dear Commissioners:The Avalon Fully Contained Community proposal is inconsistent and in conflict with the 2007 Skagit County Countywide Planning Policies (CPPs) which have been mutually agreed to by Skagit County and local municipalities to sustainably manage growth. Specifically, CPP 1.1 directs all urban growth into EXISTING Urban Growth Areas.Because there is no credible evidence that local municipalities do not have the capacity within existing UGAs to accommodate existing growth projections, moving forward with docketing this proposal will be in violation of the 2007 County Wide Planning Policies and the 2002 Framework Agreement between Skagit County, The City of Burlington, The City of Mount Vernon, the City of Anacortes, the City of Sedro-Woolley, and the Town of La Conner.In addition, the proposal is inconsistent with the Skagit County’s Comprehensive Plan, UGA designation policies and the Envision Skagit 2060 Citizen Committee Final Recommendations. Please vote no on docketing this proposal. Additionally, if you would like to see SPF's public comments submitted to Skagit County, click here.