Partnerships can protect Green Spaces and Housing

Puget Sound Business Journal -June 2, 2006

As the Puget Sound area carries on its cycle of extraordinary growth and development, it’s easy to wonder if we are doing enough to protect and maintain our cherished region from an environmental standpoint.

With predictions that the population here will double in the next 100 years, will our grandchildren and great-grandchildren be privileged by the natural beauty and grandeur that this area has afforded us?  How will we accommodate more than 3.5 million additional people in the region encompassing our four Cascade counties while at the same time supporting a thriving economy, livable communities and the natural landscapes we treasure?

With available land in short supply and growing demand for new housing and conservation measures that will preserve our region’s quality of life for generations to come, there is no better time than now to act—to address the critical challenges facing us head on and lay the groundwork for a long-term agenda to achieve these goals.

At the heart of shaping a future that defies unmanaged growth and sprawl is the recognition that conservation and development are really two sides of the same coin – both are necessary to create the type of desirable and affordable communities that spur economic growth and provide the means to better protect our natural environment. 

We need to sustain our communities over the next century to attract the brightest and most creative minds – creating vibrant, livable neighborhoods where the growing number of people moving to our region will want to live and work that also takes pressure off forests, farms and the most sensitive rural lands.  

It is a future well within our grasp.  With the certainty of unprecedented growth in the coming years, we have already seen a glimpse of what can be accomplished when progressive developers, conservationists and public officials plan together for our region’s long-term viability.

Completed in 2004, the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative represents a compelling example of how non-traditional collaboration among entities united by a common goal can achieve extraordinary results.  Brokered by the Cascade Land Conservancy, a local non-profit land conservation organization, the initiative permanently protects up to 9,000 acres of forest land in East King County from development, including nearly 150 acres of lush green forest directly adjacent to the majestic Snoqualmie Falls – previously targeted for new subdivisions. 

Quadrant Homes, King County and the city of Snoqualmie
helped purchase the 150-acre tract for $13.3 million, with Quadrant also giving up development rights to 2,800 acres in the Raging River Valley and 650 acres of forestland north of Snoqualmie Falls.  The initiative also enabled Quadrant to expedite the construction of 268 new homes within its Snoqualmie Ridge master planned community, where infrastructure already exists and can accommodate growth in a more environmentally responsible way.

The result – successfully striking a balance for the need to protect our natural areas with our need to provide quality, affordable housing options for our region’s growing families within well-planned, urban communities.  Inspiring similar deals that fundamentally embrace a regional conservation perspective that meets the needs of our communities and economy, the Snoqualmie Preservation Initiative is just one of many examples we will point to in the future as a clear step in the right direction.

To be sure, the Growth Management Act (GMA) has been and will continue to serve as a strong force in guiding development aimed at encouraging density within urban growth areas while limiting sprawl in rural lands – the vast majority of growth during the past 10 years has remained within its boundaries.  While the GMA has played a key role in managing the state’s rapid population growth, we must also be prepared to combat obstacles that may threaten its continued progress – shifting political climates, jurisdictions that fail to comply, and a general public that may choose to turn a blind eye.

We need to support – not discourage – the presence of communities that help concentrate and direct growth into urban areas if we are ever to curb suburban sprawl and better protect our natural landscape.  The Redmond Ridge and Snoqualmie Ridge urban villages have already demonstrated the widespread appeal of a “live-work-play” lifestyle that reflects our region’s commitment to smart growth practices.

Spanning nearly 340 acres of homes, open space, parks, a planned school site and recreation areas, Quadrant’s proposed Redmond Ridge East development adjacent to its Redmond Ridge planned community would also help meet the market demand for quality, affordable housing north and east of Redmond without compromising the natural environment. 

The Cascade Land Conservancy’s ambitious 100-year conservation plan known as the Cascade Agenda has identified 1.26 million acres that we must conserve in our region– the landscapes we can protect now and those we can invest in over the next century to help shape a prosperous, sustainable future.  It will certainly take time and money – roughly $7 billion over the next 100 years – and require creative solutions for tapping new revenue streams, implementing new financing tools and creating new markets for development where it makes most sense.

This is a call to action for our region’s developers, conservationists, elected officials and public stakeholders to engage in carrying out this bold vision – one that embraces conservation measures that also meet the demands of a growing population and support a thriving economy. Our quality of life and future depends on it, and that future is now.

Gene Duvernoy is the president of Cascade Land Conservancy, a regional non-profit land conservation organization based in Seattle.  Peter M. Orser is the president of Bellevue-based homebuilder Quadrant Homes and a board member of the Cascade Land Conservancy.