Jolt
Afternoon Jolt: Erica Loses!
Today's loser: Erica C. Barnett
Even though Barnett is a Zipcar user—a carsharing program aimed at reducing congestion and greenhouse gases—she'll still have to pay the new 520 toll.
WSDOT just started selling tolling transponders for its new Good to Go electronic tolling program. One-way tolls will range from nothing to $3.50. (If you buy a Good to Go pass before April 15, you'll get a $10 credit.)
According to Zipcar Seattle general manager Carla Archambault, Zipcar will install the transponders in all of its cars, then bill its drivers as part of the normal billing process. The company has similar policies in other cities with electronic tolling, including San Francisco and New York, Archambault says.
Erica says Josh is also a loser today: The state is talking about banning cookies and pizza from the state Capitol.
Today's Winner: The McNaughton Group, a Snohomish County developer
The house local government committee approved a bill today that will allow McNaughton to build more densely than is currently allowed in rural land (1,600 residential units per 750 contiguous acres within three miles of a state highway, as opposed to the current limit of 625 units.)
The bill was pitched as being pro-environment because the developer got the bonus by giving up the right to develop on local farmland.
However, environmentalists think the trade is a Sophie's Choice. (Two of Olympia's greenest members—Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon and Dave Upthegrove—voted no.) They say just shifting the development rights to previously lower-density exurbs is equally damaging to the environment because it leads to sprawl.
Fitzgibbon tells PubliCola that he didn't like creating a loophole in the growth managment act for one specific development saying it set a "bad precedent" by stretching the rules to make a major housing development over a half hour away from the nearest job center. "There's supposed to be a jobs and housing balance," he said.
Even though Barnett is a Zipcar user—a carsharing program aimed at reducing congestion and greenhouse gases—she'll still have to pay the new 520 toll.
WSDOT just started selling tolling transponders for its new Good to Go electronic tolling program. One-way tolls will range from nothing to $3.50. (If you buy a Good to Go pass before April 15, you'll get a $10 credit.)
According to Zipcar Seattle general manager Carla Archambault, Zipcar will install the transponders in all of its cars, then bill its drivers as part of the normal billing process. The company has similar policies in other cities with electronic tolling, including San Francisco and New York, Archambault says.
Erica says Josh is also a loser today: The state is talking about banning cookies and pizza from the state Capitol.
Today's Winner: The McNaughton Group, a Snohomish County developer
The house local government committee approved a bill today that will allow McNaughton to build more densely than is currently allowed in rural land (1,600 residential units per 750 contiguous acres within three miles of a state highway, as opposed to the current limit of 625 units.)
The bill was pitched as being pro-environment because the developer got the bonus by giving up the right to develop on local farmland.
However, environmentalists think the trade is a Sophie's Choice. (Two of Olympia's greenest members—Reps. Joe Fitzgibbon and Dave Upthegrove—voted no.) They say just shifting the development rights to previously lower-density exurbs is equally damaging to the environment because it leads to sprawl.
Fitzgibbon tells PubliCola that he didn't like creating a loophole in the growth managment act for one specific development saying it set a "bad precedent" by stretching the rules to make a major housing development over a half hour away from the nearest job center. "There's supposed to be a jobs and housing balance," he said.
