Editorial

Greetings,

I attended the Pierce County Council Meeting on Tuesday where I read most of the statement below.  Ran out of time but will be reading the rest this coming Tuesday.

There were 3 private tax paying citizens, a bunch of county employees pushing a new regulation on how high vegetation can be on your property based on International Code (Which was passed unopposed).  There were several lawyers and one reporter, Steve Maynard from the TNT.

There is no way to put this gently.  In order to save your home you have got to start being involved.  It was easy to see that the County Council has developed relationships with “staff” (all county employees) rather than the people that are going to be damaged by the SMP.

The Committee that created this new 122 page set of regulations linked to more regulations had 5 years to make it and they are only giving you a few weeks?  Isn’t this what they call a high pressure situation?  When is a high pressure tactic used?  When they don’t want you to notice that there is something really bad going on.

My position on the SMP (Shoreline Master Program) is that it must be rejected.  The SMP is not based on real science, the SMP is based on pseudoscience – a claim, practice or belief that is presented as scientific.      Think about that, a claim, practice or belief presented as scientific……. When it isn’t scientific…..  Hmmmmm …..    Isn’t there a word for that?

Zenna

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February 25, 2014

Subject; Destruction by Regulation of Cherished Homes and Private Property – Shoreline Master Program

Greetings Council Members,

Back in the 80’s I worked in a very unique engineering group.  We had a man who had defected from Communist Czechoslovakia, two more defected from Communist China, and another was a young man when Mussolini’s controlled Fascist Italy.  There were two immigrants from England, one from Japan and one from India.

Besides not being born in the United States all of these people had a significant thing in common.  One of the first things they did when they got here was save money to “Buy a Home”.  Some of these people came from Governments that would NOT ALLOW the average citizen, to own a home.  Some of these people came from Government controlled economies that made home ownership impossible.

Owning a home is one of the most precious opportunities that we have here in the United States and it needs to be guarded jealously.  Owning a home is major defining point of a free people.  A home, like your body, is private property.  If you are not allowed to own private property by your Government, you become the private property of your Government.   People are often referred to these days as “Human Capital”.  I am sure you have heard this term recently.

Over the past several years Government Regulation has become a burden to the existing and potential home owner.  Permissions with fees and fines are required to do something as simple as replacing your roof.  Neighbor is encouraged to destroy neighbor through anonymous gossip. In Thurston County they are spying on their citizens with ground penetrating satellite photography.  Regulations are regulating regulations which are regulated by Washington Administrative Code that requires other regulations to be followed.  Regulation is, by plan, destroying citizen owned private property.

Coming up soon YOU the County Council Members are going to be voting on more “Regulation”, the Shoreline Master Program for Pierce County.  The private property owners of Pierce County that are going to be damaged by this program are only going to be given a few weeks to review a program that has been worked on for five years, since 2008.

Redefining private property into “Buffer Zone”, land to be returned to its natural state, is extremely serious especially when the “Buffer Zone” extends into the middle of their house.   Please consider if this was you;

1.  Have all the property owners affected been notified of this proposed redefinition of their property?

2.  Can you guarantee that all have been given full understanding on what it is going to happen when they have to negotiate with Planning and Land Services on “No Net Loss”?

You, County Council Members, have been elected to protect us.  The short time frame YOU are being given to make a decision on the SMP is a red flag that there is something wrong.  Also ZERO property owners have been given formal notification of this significant change which is also a red flag.

I am asking you to look deep into your hearts and hear our cry for protection of our homes.  We have only had an old copy of the SMP to study.  It is a 122 page document that has regulations attached to regulations.  PALS is trying to tell us that the redefinition will not affect us.  Really?  Then I guess we have no need to adopt the SMP and redefinition.  Right?

Zenna Dunning

Pierce County Citizen’s Alliance for Property Rights