Letters to the editor for Jan. 24
Cost of land-use laws
During this session of the Legislature, transparency in government and land-use laws are two issues that are expected to be discussed.
Land-use laws such as zoning need to be examined to see what their economic impact is on families and the community. Research in recent years has provided us with some information that should cause us to ask who is benefiting from these laws.
A Seattle Times article dated Feb. 14, 2008 titled “UW study: Rules add $200,000 to Seattle house price,” reports on a study by Professor Theo Eicher and notes “Between 1989 and 2006, the median inflation-adjusted price of a Seattle house rose from $221,000 to $447,800. Fully $200,000 of that increase was the result of land-use regulations … twice the financial impact that regulation has had on other major U.S. cities.” That $200,000 for regulations is 44.6% of the $447,800 price of the home..
A New York Times op-ed dated Sept. 6, 2017 by Economists Chang-Tai Hseih and Enrico Moretti titled “How Local Housing Regulations Smother the U.S. Economy” noted that the “United States economy today would be 9 percent bigger which would mean for the average American worker, an additional $6,775 in annual income” without land-use regulations. If these regulations have a 9% negative effect on the national economy, how much do they have on Washington state’s economy?
A decent transparency audit would tell us who is benefiting from these regulations and who is losing.
Thank you.
Olympia’s Mitigation Site denies shelter to justify sweeps
He stands outside the locked gate of the downtown Mitigation Site. His clothes, hair, and belongings are drenched. It’s early September 2019, just days before the original planned sweep of the Fourth Avenue Bridge camp. His name is David.
He tells me, “I’ve been here two times a day for a week asking if they have any open spots. They keep saying no.”
The truth was that spots were open — 12, to be exact. But those spots were being held for the people scheduled to be swept from under the Fourth Avenue Bridge.
Every time the city of Olympia plans to sweep a camp, admissions to the Mitigation Site are halted. People seeking legal shelter are turned away. This happened when the city swept B Avenue, Smart Lot, and the first time they tried to sweep the bridge. It’s happening again now.
When temperatures are below freezing and snow is on the ground, people are being denied shelter in order to justify taking shelter away from others.
The city is correct: 28 spots are available now at the Mitigation Site, but it’s not because there aren’t 28 people who want and need that shelter. It’s because the city has yet another camp they must justify sweeping away.