Pasco approves Planned Parenthood permit

PASCO -- The Pasco City Council voted Monday to approve a controversial Planned Parenthood permit application, despite the condemnation of many in the standing-room only crowd.

People flooded out of the council chambers after the 5-2 decision, shouting, "Babies are a gift from the Lord, and you all voted to kill them. All except for two!" and "Hide behind the law!"

Since the meeting was a closed-record hearing, the public was not able to comment, and the council based its decision on testimony and facts submitted to the city's planning commission earlier this year.

Planned Parenthood of Central Washington appealed the commission's denial of a special permit for a clinic on Court Street. Planned Parenthood submitted its application in May.

Councilmen Bob Hoffmann and Tom Larsen cast the dissenting votes.

Hoffmann said a demand for the clinic's services would add traffic to the area. He also said laws the council has to follow were created by people who used non-legal reasoning to create them.

Councilwoman Rebecca Francik said the traffic for the clinic would not be more than the traffic from the former real estate office.

Although some citizens would like the council to put beliefs before the law, the council can't do that, Francik said.

The council put community opinion before law in the past when it denied an application by Sunderland Family Treatment Services for a special-use permit to operate an eight-bed crisis center in a home already owned by the agency in 1993, she said.

Sunderland sued, and the Washington state Supreme Court overruled the city.

City residents then paid the cost of both the city and Sunderland's court and attorney fees, Francik said.

After researching the law, Councilman Al Yenney said he concluded there was no legal reason to deny the special permit.

The decision was a land use one, not philosophical, said Councilman Matt Watkins. The council had to base its decision on six criteria in the city's zoning code.

Under Pasco ordinances, a permit can be denied if it conflicts with the city's comprehensive plan, will adversely affect public infrastructure, won't be in harmony with the area's character, will discourage other development in the neighborhood or will endanger public health and safety.

Possible protests of the clinic could not be used to deny the permit, Watkins said.

However, the decision did not sit well with some in the audience.

"I feel sick to my stomach because I just feel that they are not following God," said Suzie Murphy of Kennewick, who carried the sign "Babies are gifts from the Lord," colored by her son.

Voting to approve the special permit in essence killed babies, she said.

Planned Parenthood officials have said no abortions will be performed at the Pasco location.

Still, the clinic will dispense contraceptives, which Murphy said are basically chemical abortions.

Jim Wilson of Eltopia said he felt the council should not have approved a Planned Parenthood clinic at a site so close to an elementary school.

Such a clinic sends a clear message that casual sex is permitted, without consequences, he said.

There are decisions that should be made on more than just the law, Wilson said.

However, Karl Eastlund, chief operating officer for Planned Parenthood of Central Washington, said the council did the right thing by siding with the staff recommendation to approve Planned Parenthood's permit request.

"Pasco needs this clinic," he said.

The nonprofit has cited Franklin County's high rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases to illustrate the need for such a clinic.

Despite the council's vote, work on the clinic won't start today, Eastlund said. The organization must wait until after the permit is received.

Also, renovations are needed to transform the former real estate office into a medical clinic, Eastlund said.

The council will consider granting the permit at its Dec. 7 regular board meeting.

Planned Parenthood hopes to open the clinic by April 1.

Also Monday, the council passed an ordinance to maintain the 2009 base property tax levy in Pasco for 2010. The levy, passed 5-2, will bring in an estimated $5.87 million. The levy rate will be $2.01 per $1,000 of assessed property value, or $201 a year for a $100,000 home.

Hoffmann and Larsen dissented. Both said they preferred a property tax option that would have reduced the base levy amount to $1.99 per $1,000, and brought in $5.82 million.

-- Kristi Pihl: 509-582-1512; kpihl@tricityherald.com