Browning backed fully contained communities

Just a couple of weeks before the primary election County Commissioner Peter Browning had a letter in the Skagit Valley Herald complaining he had been unfairly described as supporting Fully Contained Communities.

Anyone who followed the Board of County Commissioners’ 2021 consideration of a comprehensive plan amendment to allow FCCs in Skagit County knows Browning was indeed a supporter.

Browning spoke in favor of FCCs at commissioner meetings on April 28 and May 11, 2021. At that second meeting, he offered the motion to establish the 2021 comprehensive plan docket, including policies to allow FCCs and all three commissioners voted in favor.

They took this action despite overwhelming public comment opposing FCCs, which are effectively new cities plopped into a rural area. Opponents argued that FCCs are a form of rural sprawl, introduce large amounts of traffic into the rural area, make it harder to farm surrounding agricultural lands, increase taxes for existing property owners to fund new infrastructure and don’t actually provide affordable housing.

Browning and the other two commissioners ignored these concerns.

It was only after several city councils adopted resolutions condemning the commissioners’ action on FCCs that the commissioners voted, on Jan. 20, 2022, to remove the FCC proposal from the 2021 docket. Those resolutions said FCCs can only be considered with the agreement of the cities through the GMA Steering Committee and the cities had repeatedly said no.

It would be one thing for Browning to argue he had supported FCCs, but after widespread public outcry and objections from several city councils he changed his mind. It seems that to suggest he has never supported FCCs is simply a feeble effort to rewrite history.

Eric Hall

Mount Vernon