Well, it's time to sit down at the kitchen table and fill out the election ballot.

Let's see, we've got Initiative 933 that mandates that government must pay landowners who don't want to follow many land-use regulations adopted since 1996 that restrict what they can do with their property.

Well, I'm for property rights.

But wait a minute. This isn't a measure that ensures the government pays you fair market value for your place if they condemn it for public use. That law is already on the books.

And it doesn't even get into whether the government can take your property and turn it over to a public/private partnership with a newer, snazzier, more tax-revenue producing development.

A closer look reveals this initiative harms neighborhoods, allows irresponsible development and is just too expensive.

Suppose you live in a residential area and your neighbor decides to build a large apartment complex or a warehouse on his property.

State Sen. Karen Keiser suggests he might be able to open up a massage parlor.

His property value will go up, but yours will go down.

If the city forbids him from doing it because your area was zoned after 1996 as single family residential, the city has to pay him the difference between what his land is worth and what it might be worth with his intended use. Possible, the city could just waive the regulation.

Those Normandy Park residents who fought so hard to protect their backyard streams from polluted third runway storm runoff could be in for a shock if this initiative goes through.

At the risk of being branded a collectivist, I believe we have a shared right to clean water and air that flows through many properties.

Business areas could also return to an era of irresponsible development if the initiative is passed.

Look what is happening in Burien now.

A Main Street renovation spruced up Southwest152nd Street, contributing to the establishment of a mini restaurant row.

First Avenue South is being remodeled to make Auto Row more attractive. That's important because the car dealers are the city's tax revenue cash cow.

Ground was recently broken for the Town Square project, which hopefully will revitalize the downtown.

These aren't really beautification projects. They are more like rebeautification programs.

Under the benign neglect of King County, then-unincorporated Burien was basically paved over to put up a parking lot, as the old song says. Short-term profits trumped thoughtful long-term economic development.

Just what the proposed law says or its affects are fiercely debated. But it clearly states every property owner's claim against government entities must be settled separately.

Some refer to I- 933 as the "Lawyers Full Employment Act."

Some say just let the politicians and their big bad government pay.

But exactly who is the government? In Highline, our planning commissioners and city council members are likely to be the merchant in whose store you shop or the retired airline pilot who lives next door.

And, of course, when government foots the bill, it is really we taxpayers who are paying.

The Association of Washington Cities estimates that the impacts of I-933 on the city of SeaTac annually would be $476,000 to $608,000.

After a similar law passed in Oregon, local government agencies have received 2,636 claims totaling more than $6 billion.

So, when you are deciding how to vote, think beyond the emotional buzzwords and consider each measure and candidate carefully.

Eric Mathison can be reached at hteditor@robinsonnews.com or 206-388-1855.