Building_development + Wildlife_habitat

2:21:31 We support alternative one. And then the main reason why I'm here is to address battlegrounds request for 450 acres. That is pretty much our vibe to be light industrial. We wanna thank Councilor Young for taking a good part of his Saturday to go out and actually look at what that land is. It is a lot of trees in the center. There is white oak along Mill Creek, which runs through it, which is protected. There is, as Wendy said, it is ag quality land, over 200 acres. A big part of this is that battleground already has existing light industrial that is not ag capacity. And then the fourth issue that needs to be considered

2:22:28 is water and within battleground chapter six environment, October 2025, their draft comprehensive plan under conditions and trends, critical areas. It says the city contains critical areas, including fish and wildlife and frequently flooded areas. That is the 450 acres. Mill Creek, the fish, frequently flooded areas. It goes on to say that frequently flooded canary, frequently flooded areas that are designated in that, and that includes Mill Creek. As you look at approving that, we ask you to stay with alternative one. Do not approve alternative two that 450 acres

2:23:25 should remain 450 acres as it currently is. Thank you. - Thank you. - Malada Allen.

2:23:46 - I'm Malada Allen, and I have been crossing out just about everything that people had said. So my dissertation is a little bit, can you hear me now? - Can you please spell your last name for the record? - A-L-L-E-N. - Thank you. - The English spelling. - I am very, very impressed with some of the testimony for the alternative number one, because I had a whole dissertation on that, but I had to cross most of it out, because I do not want to repeat what the others had said. I am for the alternative number one, for many, many reasons, including that,

2:24:44 although there was a quote unquote alternative proposed for TDRs in the islands, I know from experience, they do not live forever. It only depends on the next person or two that will decide it's tragic end. And of course, the GMA law is quite specific about the resource designated lands. If you adopt any other alternative other than number one, you will end up in lawsuits, very expensive ones, that will cost the county and the residents a lot of money.

2:25:39 To develop into this conglomerate quote unquote expansion, it will require new infrastructure. Again, that will result in a lot of expense to all of us.

2:26:04 But unfortunately, the farms are going away very quickly in our area. And those are necessary resources in case of any unexpected disaster and or national security problems. That is part of our survival, and that does happen, because we cannot eat concrete. We cannot eat those expensive houses that we cannot afford, that all of us will suffer. - Thank you very much. - Thank you. - Terri Allen.

2:27:02 - Good evening, council. Terri Allen, A-L-L-E-N. I'm here to support Malata Allen's comments regarding the comprehensive plan. She has a doctorate in land use planning and management, 20 years of professional land use planning and project management at the county level. In addition, she served for seven years as a Clark County planning commissioner. Thank you for your time, and thank you for your consideration of her comment. - Thank you. - Lise Sanatoi, Sanatoi, sorry. Okay, so that seems to be everybody that signed. - I didn't get called, I was on there. - Your name? - Gary Goodwin. - Yep, I called you a while ago, but you might have been out of the room. I might have been in the bathroom. - That's quite all right. - Okay.

2:28:01 - Can you find him and mark him? - Sorry about that. - No worries. Just make sure to spell your last name for the record, please. - Okay, I need to spell my first name, too. My first name is with two R's, and my last name is Goodwin, G-O-O-D-W-I-N. You can't be all bad with a last name like Goodwin. Somebody had to do something here. I mean, this is getting pretty intense. I wanna first off say that I was actually on the Growth Management Board in 1992 and 1993, and this is a picture of me saying that, were they gonna get the sewer for all the apartments next to the college? And I knew the sewer line 'cause I actually helped build the sewer line, and it started at 36 inches and went to 42 inches, and it's gotta be pretty full right now. But anyway, I was told when I was on the board that my property would come into growth

2:29:01 within five to 10 years maximum, and that was in about 1994 by the county representative, and that services would be there. And I don't know what math you're using, but we're 32 years later, okay? And so I don't know if it's gonna come to growth now. If they would've told me that not in my lifetime was I gonna develop my property that is my only IRA, it's my only retirement fund, and one of these days I'm gonna have to leave there, and I'd like to utilize the amount of money that I'm gonna get from it the best I can. So can I ask to be brought into growth here now? - If you submitted a request earlier-- - I have not. - Yeah, I think it will have to wait 'til after this comp plan process is completed. - And again then, how do I enforce the fact that the county told me these lies,

2:30:01 and now here we are? I mean, if they would've told me not in your lifetime, Mr. Goodwin, my dad lived to be 66, I'm gonna be 73 in August. I don't know if I'm gonna live to another 20 years to be able to do something with my land. I look at this as this is like they down-zoned my property from two and a half acres to urban reserve tens, and now it's rural residential fives. So is this taking my property rights through zoning? I believe that it really is. Anyway, I wanna call this what it really is. This is the Anti-Growth Management Act. It's not a growth management act. It's kinda like the Affordable Care Act and the Anti-Inflation Act. If you put the right name, it just sounds better, when it really, really isn't. So I was also, I called your office, Sue, twice this year to make an appointment to sit down and go over all this stuff,

2:31:00 'cause I've saved all this stuff from the '90s. I have all these articles and all these that I would like to share with you if I possibly could, but I was told by someone in your office that about the promise, they says, "Well, we knew people come and go, "so we really don't have to honor your promise." And so I don't think that's really right neither. So I could go on, but I guess I'm just about out of time here anyway. What about affordability? The affordability went away as you limit more land to be able to be available, then the costs go up. And so, anyway, if you'd like to meet with me, I'd be happy to meet with you. - Shoot me an email, we'll set something up. - Okay, thank you. - Thank you. - Is there anybody else in the room that didn't get a chance to sign up that would like to speak, excuse me, please come to the podium.

2:31:57 State your first and spell your last name for the record. - Push the button. - Oh, you just turned it off, Isla. - There you go, there you go. - It's gone. - It's good. - Very well, Isla Westergaard, W-E-S-T-E-R-G-A-R-D. I will be brief, it's a long night. I'm not much for change, for fixing what's not broke. And to me, some planning is a bit like a joke. But growth means to prepare, cut here, add there. Just please remember to keep the best, toss the rest. So after all the work that staff has done,

2:32:55 I'm supporting alternative one. Thank you. - Thank you very much. Okay, last call for in the room. Okay, we do have a few folks online. - Do we know how many? - Five. - Five, okay. Caller, you've been sent a request to unmute. Please state your name for the record, spelling your last name, and go ahead with your comment. - My name's Patty with an I, Reynolds, R-E-Y-N-O-L-D-S. And I'm a resident of unincorporated Clark County, adding my voice to those who are pleading on behalf of the wetlands and the amazingly rich agricultural lands spread throughout our county. I've seen humans look at their surroundings as just a financial objective, purchased to get rezoned to sell to those who want to plant homes, warehouses, or other commercial businesses. I've seen humans move into a new development,

2:33:53 bulldozed into postage stamp size lots, holding 4,000 square foot homes next to a longstanding working dairy farm, and then filing junctions to stop the smell of cows from permeating their neighborhood. These same humans complain about the noise and droppings of Canadian geese as they fly overhead, looking for that marsh and feeding ground that now seems to be asphalt and cement. Can any of you really state that we have no need for locally produced food? Do you really believe that we can just put a fence around some land and call it rural, while all around it the land is being dug up, animal habitats are being uprooted or moved elsewhere, roads are being destroyed? Are you balancing out the water needs of those relying on the groundwater as you approve new rural-esque neighborhoods? Or is the plan to demand that those with 30 to 50-year-old wells foot the bill to have miles of cement tubes connect our homes to city water? Drive around a bit and you'll see empty buildings

2:34:52 and strip malls filled with vacancies. Yet we're to believe that there's a need to convert agricultural wetland and residentially zoned lands to light industrial and commercial to satisfy the pocketbooks of those now demanding the removal of these wetlands and the rezoning of land for greater personal profit. Some of the cities are pushing for development and changes that might well create a problem for an adjacent area. Many recent and current road changes have not been well received by existing residents in anticipation of those new folks each city hopes to entice into their tax base. The infrastructure of unincorporated Clark County looks about the same as it did more than 30 years ago. These are the same narrow roads with minimal post-development improvement that have been assaulted by construction vehicles causing unrepaired surface damage and large new neighborhoods with hundreds of additional cars. The planning commission has voted to exclude

2:35:51 the only GMA map that will not traumatize the natural resources of our county. The other maps include the outlandish juggling of our wild, wet, agricultural and rural lands thinking you can, yes, I'm gonna quote it, "Pave our paradise and put up your parking lots." They've decided that either of these questionably palliative options will satisfy our vision of our beautiful county, and I don't think they're right.