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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=2
color="#990000" face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;
color:#990000;font-weight:bold'>This message is one of a series about the
Property Fairness Initiative to address concerns raised<br>
by the initiative's opponents. We hope that you find this information useful.<br>
<br>
If you find this helps you understand I-933 better, please feel free to share it
with your friends and neighbors. <br>
<br>
</span></font></b><b><font size=2 color="#000066" face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:#000066;font-weight:bold'>Please
visit <a href="http://www.supporting933.org/">www.supporting933.org</a> for
previous essays, property owner stories, and more!</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
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Washingtonians who live in rural areas are often more attuned to the effects of
land use regulations on private property than those who live in more urban
areas. This can lead to the perception that property rights issues are
primarily a rural concern. If you dig a bit, though, you'll find that
perception and reality are not joined at the hip where urban property ownership
is concerned.<br>
<br>
This is underlined by a study from the <a
href="http://www.economics.harvard.edu/hier/">Harvard Institute of Economic
Research</a>, titled <i><span style='font-style:italic'><a
href="http://www.economics.harvard.edu/hier/2005papers/HIER2061.pdf">Why Have
Housing Prices Gone Up?</a> </span></i>Authored by Edward L.
Glaeser, Joseph Gyourko, and Raven E. Saks, published in February
2005, the discussion paper notes that as of 2000, there were 27 cities in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>
where a home's structure (the house itself) could account for no more than 60%
of the total value of the home's selling price. <br>
<br>
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City> was,
and remains, one of those cities.<br>
<br>
Most of the rest of the price of a home in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City> represents the dollar cost of land
use regulations and fees paid to agencies for one purpose or another. As
the authors put it, ". . . evidence points toward a man-made scarcity of
housing in the sense that the housing supply has been constrained by government
regulation . . ."<br>
<br>
In <st1:City w:st="on">Seattle</st1:City>, and in other <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State> cities, a substantial portion of
the price you pay when purchasing a home is directly attributable to the kinds
of regulations that Initiative 933 seeks to bring under more direct citizen
control. Because our local, county, and state government agencies and
elected officials have been unwilling to bring substantial reform to the
regulation of private property, the <a href="http://www.wsfb.com/">Washington
Farm Bureau</a> accepted the challenge of being the lead organization in
providing the opportunity to put that reform into motion. It's up to us
to not only vote YES for the Property Fairness Initiative, but to also help our
friends and neighbors to understand why I-933 is so important to our future.<br>
<br>
In September 2005, a <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">King</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType> property rights advocate, working from the
calculations included in another paper by Glaeser and Gyourko, <a
href="http://www.economics.harvard.edu/hier/2002papers/HIER1948.pdf"><i><span
style='font-style:italic'>The Impact of Zoning on Housing Affordability</span></i></a>,
worked out the cost of regulation on land inside <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City>'s city limits. Taken aback by
the result, he confirmed his calculations with the authors. <br>
<br>
The regulatory burden imposed on one-quarter acre of land in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City>? More than $200,000 . . . and
that's using data originally generated in 1999. The numbers have not gone
down since then, because they go up as regulation increases . . . and we have
certainly not seen a downward trend in the amount of regulation recently!<br>
<br>
All over the state, governments are concerned about the lack of affordable
housing for families who are just starting out, or who have experienced
financial challenges in their lives. The Property Fairness Initiative has
a role to play in helping to increase the supply of affordable housing
state-wide.<br>
<br>
As we've just learned, one of the reasons there's a shortage of affordable
housing is that our government agencies' own regulations are constraining the
supply, and that the shortage actually results from that over-regulation.
We've also learned that, in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City>
at least, the regulatory burden per quarter-acre is more than $200,000.
This means that what affordable housing there is tends to be located well
outside our urban core, which is where many of the better-paying jobs are
located. The further away from those jobs people have to live, the longer
their commute to work, and the more commuting-related emissions and traffic our
urban regions have to endure.<br>
<br>
Over time, an enacted I-933 provides the opportunity for municipal governments
to reduce the regulatory burden on their land bases. The more the
agencies are able to work with the public to reduce property-use restrictions
and permitting fees, the greater the opportunity to develop affordable housing
within the urban growth boundaries. Seen this way, the Property Fairness
Initiative offers urban areas new opportunities for meeting the requirements of
the Growth Management Act.<br>
<br>
There's a whole lot more to I-933 than just saving farms and leading to less
oppressive property use regulation of other rural landowners.<br>
<br>
Please help us pass Initiative 933 so that we can all roll up our sleeves
together and work with our government agencies to protect our property rights
and provide the best active stewardship for our ecosystems, too!<br>
<br>
</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=4
color="#990000" face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Helvetica;
color:#990000'>Please join us in voting <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>YES</span></b>
for I-933</span></font><br>
<br>
<font size=2 face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Helvetica'>If
you wish to be added to or removed from this email list, please send your
request to <a href="mailto:messenger@supporting933.org">messenger@supporting933.org</a>.</span></font><br>
<br>
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