The Greater Maple Valley Unincorporated Area Council Feb. 1 monthly meeting including information concerning a veterans and human services levy. The council serves as a locally elected advisory body to the King County Council representing all rural unincorporated area residents living in the Tahoma School District.
• Veterans and Human Services Levy
Sadikifu Akina-James of the King County Department of Community and Human Services, DCHS, described the veterans and human services levy passed by King County voters in November 2005.
The levy generates funds to help veterans, military personnel, their families and others in need through a variety of housing and supportive services. This levy allocates $13 million per year for six years to provide housing and human services for these two broad groups. The levy will remain in effect until 2011.
Two citizen oversight boards, one for veterans and one for regional human services, established by the King County Council, oversee levy implementation. Cynthia Lefever, appointed by King County Councilman Reagan Dunn as the District No. 9 citizen representative, spoke of her veteran son who was severely wounded in Iraq in 2004. The services provided for traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder were very important to her son and many other returning veterans. Today her son today is on his own, attending college and participating in recreational sports again.
The overall goals of the levy are to:
• reduce homelessness and emergency medical costs;
• reduce criminal justice system involvement and
• increase self-sufficiency by means of employment.
Both citizen oversight boards are responsible for reviewing the expenditure of levy proceeds and for reporting annually to the King County executive and the King County Council. Prior to 2011 the boards will make recommendations to the executive and council on levy renewal or replacement. More information on the levy, services provided, and key contacts can be found at kingcounty.gov
• Black Diamond master planned developments
At its January monthly meeting the council voted to oppose two master planned developments, MPDs, proposed by YarrowBay in lands recently annexed by the city of Black Diamond. A total of 4,530 single-family and 1,520 multi-family units have been proposed on nearly 700 acres. Over 1,100,000 square feet of commercial and office space also has been proposed.
The council has officially voiced its concerns in writing to both state and county officials, and affected southeast King County cities detailing the adverse ramifications that such large developments will have on the rural/suburban fringe on both the major and minor transportation corridors in the greater Maple Valley area.
The final environmental impact statements (FEISs) for both proposed MPDs, The Villages and Lawson Hills, were released simultaneously on December 11. Many Black Diamond citizens have filed formal appeals of the FEISs. Those appeals will be heard before a hearing examiner. Interested citizens are advised to check the city of Black Diamond Web site.
• Proposed 2009 King County permit process improvements
Last fall the King County Department of Development and Environmental Services (DDES) proposed changes to improve and streamline the permit process. The general purpose of this proposed changes is to simplify the permit process, allow as permitted uses some uses that currently require conditional-use permits, and clarify ambiguous provisions in King County code. The council’s growth management committee, reviewed the proposed changes and provided comments and clarifying questions to DDES.
Harry Reinert of DDES in correspondence dated Jan. 26 provided answers to the council’s questions involving pre-application community meetings, rezones, permitted uses, Critical Areas, temporary uses, transfer of development rights and repealers. In addition, Mr. Reinert provided the updated version of the draft ordinance which includes some of the council’s requested changes. Each of these are under review by the council’s Growth Management Committee.
DDES intends to finalize the proposed changes and forward them to the King County executive for inclusion in the King County comprehensive plan 2010 update by March 2010. Interested citizens can review the proposed changes at kingcounty.gov
• Area council Web site guidelines
Beverly Tonda, chair of the Web Site Guidelines Ad Hoc Committee, reported results of the committee’s first meeting. To ensure a continuing informative and secure Web site, the committee made the following recommendations to the council:
• update council by-laws to reflect the Web site’s operation; • clarify the role and authority of the corresponding secretary and recording secretary and
• handle links to outside non-governmental organizations on a case-by-case basis.
The council decided to have the By-Laws Committee meet to address updates required to accommodate the Web site’s operation.
The next meeting is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. Monday, March 1 at the King County Sheriff’s Precinct No. 3, at the intersection of 231st Street and state Route 169 across from the Maple Valley fire Station.
• Topics and speakers
• Master planned developments King County DDES senior policy analyst Paul Reitenbach and King County Department of Transportation traffic engineer Matthew Nolan.
• Quarterly sheriff’s precinct level community forum –sheriff’s Precinct No. 3 Commander Major Dave Germani.
Comments on council business may be submitted to gmvac_chair@hotmail.com or GMVAC, P.O. Box 101, Maple Valley, WA 98038. The council Web site is www.greatermaplevalleyareacouncil.org.
