Council passes resolution opposing FCCs

The La Conner Town Council passed two important resolutions at its Oct. 26 meeting. On a motion by Councilmember Bill Stokes, council unanimously voted to increase the 2022 property tax by 1% after Finance Director Maria DeGoede reported there was zero banked – or extra – tax capacity this year.

No one spoke at the public hearing preceding the vote. Staff and council determined the town needed an increase in property tax revenue from 2020, which brought in $339,196. The tax increase will bring in estimated new revenue of $3,387, based on a 0.015433 increase from the previous year

More time and discussion went into the next item on the agenda: A Resolution of the Town Council of the Town of La Conner Expressing Opposition to New Fully-Contained Communities. The three page resolution listed 23 “whereas” – reasons the Skagit County commissioners need to vote against placing Fully Contained Communities in the county’s comprehensive plan.

Administrator Scott Thomas provided background, noting he had a soft spot in his heart for the Countywide Planning Policies adopted by the county and municipal governments in 2002, having worked two years on them as a municipal lawyer. The policies call for unanimous agreement by governments on documents that must be consistent with established policies.

Councilmember Mary Wohleb reminded council “this is consistent with our desire two-three years ago when (Mayor) Ramon (Hayes) came to council to support” a presentation by lawyers for the Avalon development. Hayes replied “You are right” and requested that council sign the resolution if they passed it, that he would not, noting it is nonbinding.

Stokes spoke against the resolution, saying a development in northeastern Burlington would be out of the floodplain while many city urban growth areas are in floodplains. He later noted he was not against FCCs and asked to delay the vote.

Councilmember Chamberlain recalled they “said no thank you” three years ago and the resolution highlights an inconsistency, that FCCs would not be in compliance with countywide planning, that dense growth is to take place in cities.

Chamberlain made a motion to approve the resolution. It passed 3-1, with Wohleb and John Leaver voting for and Stokes against.

Hayes then reiterated “The council is going to sign this document.”

Earlier, when DeGoede brought up a proposed increase to $7,500 for funding the school district’s Braves Club, Chamberlain suggested providing an allocation for the La Conner library, noting it serves the larger community. Stokes spoke against it, noting the library is its own taxing authority. No action was taken,

Hayes again credited the council with past support for the library, though council has not provided funds to the library and it was Hayes who advocated to county and state representatives for large appropriations in 2018 and 2019.