Times/News

The Growth Management Act and "secret" city council meetings occupied the attention of Normandy Park candidates at a forum Oct. 20.

A regional Growth Management Act board is "conspiring to take our city and devalue it," said Councilman John Rankin, who is seeking reelection to council Position 4.

Developed in 1990, the GMA requires cities to create 20-year plans for urban growth areas and their projected development to protect natural resources and to avoid urban sprawl.

Normandy Park is currently appealing a recent decision by the GMA board that says lots can be no larger than 10,000 square feet.

Clarke Brant, a candidate for council Position 2, said the GMA would require that there be four houses to an acre.

"Zoning is a prerogative of the city," said Brant.

"This is what we're facing," Rankin said. "Now it's your turn to help keep it [Normandy Park] that way it is, not chop pieces of Normandy Park with tiny lots and big houses."

While some candidates focused on residential re-zoning, others focused on re-zoning along the First Avenue South corridor.

David Hohimer, a write-in candidate for council Position 4, wants to look at new zoning and reach a compromise for the corridor.

He wants to designate certain areas along First Avenue for zoning to avoid any more legal battles, but not move this zoning beyond the heavily traveled street.

Jonathan Hardy, candidate for council Position 2, said developing along First Avenue is a reasonable compromise with King County.

Bringing in condos and keeping Normandy Park a residential neighborhood is the goal of John Wiltse, the incumbent for council Position 6.

"Enjoy it for the residential quality it is," said Wiltse.

Brant also supported the idea of bringing in condo units and steering away from apartments.

Most of the law enforcement in the city occurs in apartment communities, said Brant.

The apartments in Des Moines result in the most police calls and murders happen there because of it, said Brant.

A real estate agent in attendance said that a lot of condos in Des Moines are rented out as apartments and that could happen as well.

Sonja Lindquist, candidate for City Council Position 6, was not at the forum but sent a response stating that had the current council not ignored the Growth Management Act, legal action could have been avoided.

Candidates also focused on claims that the current city council was conducting closed door meetings and making decisions without the public's knowledge.

The City Council "should be transparent on why they're making decisions for the masses," said Hohimer.

The council has been treating people callously and with a cavalier attitude, Hardy said.

"The City Council should be transparent and have no agenda," he said. Hardy.

Wiltse explained that closed-door meetings take place when executive sessions are called to discuss potential litigation, acquiring property and personnel actions.

"No decisions are made in executive session," said Wiltse. "No decisions are made in the dark or behind closed doors."