Our Voice: Governor passionate on school siting issue

Two bills that would allow new schools to be built outside urban growth boundaries have emerged since Gov. Jay Inslee’s April veto sent a widely popular version back for a re-do.

Only one of them — House Bill 2216 — has a chance of surviving, because it came from the governor’s office.

The other — Senate bill 5945 — does not stand a chance of getting Inslee’s signature, as originally written.

Lawmakers ought to give the governor what he wants.

Inslee is not going to bend, and school district administrators need the issue resolved this legislative session.

If it isn’t, we will continue to see playgrounds and ball fields dotted with an ever-increasing number of portable classrooms.

The problem is that school officials across the state — and especially in the Tri-Cities — are finding it extremely difficult to find suitable land for new school construction within designated urban growth areas.

High schools, for example, require 50 to 60 acres, and the land can’t be too hilly, too expensive or too far away from homes.

School administrators want more flexibility so they can build outside those restrictive lines and hook up to city water and sewer services.

In many cases, they want to build just across the street from the boundary.

The governor says he understands the dilemma and wants to help.

However, he also said that protecting the agricultural landscape in Eastern Washington, as well as preventing urban sprawl statewide, is an issue that is dear to his heart.

Inslee discussed his stance recently with the Tri-City Herald Editorial Board, and it is clear he is set against any proposal that possibly could give private developers a way around the Growth Management Act.

He is immovable on that point.

Inslee said that is why he vetoed much of House Bill 1017 a couple of months ago. Although it was approved 31-17 in the Senate and 81-15 in the House, he said an amendment tagged to it was a camouflaged effort to allow private development around new schools.

Senate Republicans disagree, but they will have to work with the governor if they want to get his signature on a compromise.

The governor’s bill would allow schools to build outside the legal boundaries, but it limits the size and scale of city utilities so they can be used only by the new school. The bill also requires that the surrounding land must maintain its rural character.

The Senate’s revised bill does not include the restrictions Inslee seeks. Instead, it limits school construction to just two miles beyond the urban growth area.

That’s not good enough for the governor.

He wants to make sure that schools are the only construction allowed beyond the growth lines, and a bill that doesn’t make that clear won’t get his signature.

Inlsee’s proposal also requires school officials to conduct a cost analysis to prove there is no other land available to them within the designated urban growth boundaries.

We think this adds another layer of bureaucracy to the process, and we believe school officials wouldn’t look outside the lines if they had a suitable choice inside them.

And we also think under Inslee’s bill there is a chance pipes will end up being laid a second time if a county extends its growth management area later.

But those considerations won’t sway the governor. His mind is set for now, and he won’t approve a bill that he thinks could lead to urban sprawl.

For the sake of our kids, lawmakers should do what they can to give the governor a school siting bill he can sign.

This story was originally published June 14, 2017 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Our Voice: Governor passionate on school siting issue."