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Isthmus bill faces opposition in House

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published March 26, 2009

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OLYMPIA – A bill that would restrict building heights on the strip of land between Budd Inlet and Capitol Lake and override a decision by the Olympia City Council has run into stiff resistance in the state House of Representatives.

Supporters of Senate Bill 5800, which passed easily in the Senate, want to scuttle developer Triway Enterprises' plan to build condominium and office buildings on the land, saying the structures would block the public's views of Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains and the Capitol. Opponents say the City Council's decision should stand.

Rep. Brendan Williams, a Democrat from Olympia, said the state should focus on its problems, not reconsider council decisions.

"I personally would like to block the Wal-Mart in Tumwater; that might be our next bill," he joked, adding, "I've said this before, that Cabela's wasn't necessarily my vision of economic investment. I'm a public critic of big-box stores ... but at the same time that was a decision that the Lacey City Council made and I'm not a Lacey city councilman. I didn't second-guess that process."

Williams did intervene with legislation in response to Lacey's former requirement that churches host tent cities for the homeless indoors only, saying that it infringed on churches' constitutional rights. Lacey council members since have voted to allow outdoor camps.

The capital's other two legislators, Sen. Karen Fraser and Rep. Sam Hunt, both Democrats, support SB 5800.

"We have a really unique and exquisite setting here, and it is of statewide significance," Hunt told a House committee Wednesday.

The local government committee heard nearly two hours of testimony on the bill, which passed the Senate on a 36-10 vote.

Architects, historians and activists told lawmakers Wednesday that the original plans for the Capitol Campus called for offering views from the bluff over the lake looking north to the Olympic Mountains.

They contend that the proposed 65- to 90-foot buildings allowed by the council's decision would block some of the views.

Some business owners, city officials and supporters of the proposed buildings said the public had a chance to share opinions with the city council. They said more people living downtown in the new buildings would be just as beneficial as a good view.

"Please don't destroy our best chance of owner-occupied housing downtown in the name of a view that has been compromised for 40 years," said Dick VanWagenen, a retiree who noted that the nine-story former Capitol Center building already occupies the isthmus. The proposed buildings would not be as tall as that building.

The bill will have to pass out of the House committee by Monday to survive. Some supporters expressed optimism, but Williams said the committee might not approve it.