Environment and Land Use

A strong supporter of protecting our quality of life, Dave believes that a healthy environment is a key part of economic development. He strongly supports the Growth Management Act as the best way to plan for and manage growth.

Some of the specific land use and environmental initiatives Dave supports include:

• Preserving agricultural lands through transfer and purchase of development rights.
• Protecting water quality through adequately planning for surface water run-off.
• Protecting endangered salmon through habitat and stream enhancement projects.
• Use of mixed-use development to reduce traffic impacts.
• Simple design standards that promote quality neighborhoods.
• Building the infrastructure that is necessary for quality development.
• Working regionally through the Water Resource Inventory Area process to design and adopt plans to protect salmon habitat.

Dave is a strong supporter of parks and open space. As more people move to this county the preservation of open, green spaces becomes increasingly important. He has worked with numerous neighborhood groups to develop or purchase parks in their areas.

Dave strongly believes that the county must work very closely with the cities in land use planning and development.