Sims vetoes rural limits, lifts growth moratorium

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It's like nothing ever happened.

After nearly 1½ years of debate, negotiations and maneuvering, the Metropolitan King County Council is back to square one on proposed limits for churches and schools in rural areas — an issue that deeply divides the council.

County Executive Ron Sims yesterday vetoed a package of environmental regulations compiled by Councilwoman Maggi Fimia, D-Shoreline, and six Republicans, who worked with churches and schools to propose a compromise.

Sims signed the council's ordinance lifting the moratorium on building churches and schools in rural areas, which had been in place since February as the council worked toward a compromise.

Sims believes the environmental restrictions weren't tight enough: "The language in the ordinance was a precursor to sprawl — that's why I vetoed it," he said.

But Sims' opponents on the ordinance say the veto is a step backward.

"We're left back with the original environmental restrictions that Sims made such a fuss about," said Councilman Rob McKenna. "It's more important for (Sims) to have a political win than to have environmental restrictions that will work. His goal is to shut down growth in the rural areas."

Sims and those who support the veto say lifting the moratorium will relieve the pressure on the council and give it time to work out a compromise.

"The moratorium put lots of pressure on the council because of the anxiety created by having a time frame," Sims said. "We're trying to get back to the table and see what we can achieve. I believe we will have a less-heated discussion if we can recapture the spirit of negotiation that we had lost."

Lifting the moratorium does not necessarily give a green light to build big churches in rural areas. All the queries for building permits on the table are for buildings of less than 10,000 square feet, Sims said.

Fimia's compromise would have set a threshold for restrictions beginning at 25,000 square feet.

The environmental restrictions would have included sewer regulations, traffic and parking-lot limits and land-use measures intended to keep the rural areas rural. Sixty-five percent of a new church site would have had to be native vegetation. Impervious surfaces — the building, parking lot and sidewalks — could have occupied only 10 percent of the land.

The County Council narrowly passed the legislation repealing the moratorium and imposing the environmental restrictions on building churches. Fimia and her alliance are not expected to get the nine votes needed on the 13-member council to override the veto.

Churches had hailed the compromise, saying it restored the free exercise of religion and applied the latest in ecological science.

Environmental advocates and council members who oppose the measure said the legislation laid the groundwork for opening up rural areas to urban sprawl, violated the state Growth Management Act and improperly offered government assistance to private and religious institutions.

In March 2000, Sims proposed a size limit on churches and private schools outside the county's urban-growth boundary, a move that pleased environmentalists but angered many church leaders.

Last month, Sims said he would consider dropping that proposal in exchange for tough environmental restrictions on new schools and churches — but Fimia's proposal was weak in that area, Sims said.

McKenna disagrees, saying Sims' plan will have the unintended effect of killing off small churches. The two sides had originally differed in the size threshold by 5,000 square feet — 25,000 vs. 20,000 — but now Sims wants any church greater than 12,000 square feet to have the environmental restrictions.

"Sims' approach will land us in court," McKenna said. "The churches and schools will be forced to sue us under the federal statute protecting religious land uses. And they'll win."

Reid Forgrave can be contacted at 464-2785 or rforgrave@seattletimes.com.