05/10/07 Governor signs time-out bill on ag land regulation

Washington Ag May 10, 2007 Governor Chris Gregoire this week signed substitute Senate Bill 5248 into law, a measure that imposes an immediate three-year moratorium on counties adopting new rules for what are called critical area ordinances on lands designated for agriculture and rural use. State Senator Mark Shoesler was a co-sponsor of the original Senate bill which would have permanently exempted agriculture from new regulation under the Growth Management Act and he calls the version of the bill the governor signed the biggest disappointment for ag in the recent legislative session. Schoesler: "They are going to go to the Ruckelhaus Center and study it. I guess I have mixed feelings that while they are studying it some people may be calling the realtors trying to figure out how to sub-divide before they give away even more of their property rights." Senate Bill 5248 had been introduced to deal with the issues raised by the Farm Bureau's Initiative 933 which failed in last November's election. Governor Gregoire has also signed a bill creating the Office of Farmland Preservation. She did veto part of that legislation which was welcome news to supporters of the lower Columbia River Channel deepening project. That project was authorized with the requirement that mitigation lands be acquired and the portions of the bill the governor vetoed would have prevented such acquisition through eminent domain. I'm Bob Hoff.