Island County commissioners say Initiative 933 is poorly worded, legally flawed and could cost the county a bundle.

Even so, all three county commissioners say they support I-933, the “Property Fairness Initiative” which would require state and local governments to compensate property owners when regulations damage the use or value of private property.

Commissioners are supporting the initiative as individuals, and have not passed a resolution to support the controversial ballot measure.

And while the initiative could have been better worded, county commissioners say I-933 is still needed to bring the state’s land-use laws back into balance.

“The initiative is not drafted the way that I would have drafted it. And I think that obviously people differ in their opinions of the far-reaching effects of the initiative,” said commissioner Mike Shelton.

Paying property owners for a decrease in their property value “could be a significant sum of money — that we don’t have — to pay out,” Shelton said. “So it puts local government in the position of either paying or violating state law. And that’s a very uncomfortable position.”

Opponents of I-933 have said the law will undercut zoning restrictions and will turn farms and forests into subdivisions and strip malls, and prevent governments from banning junkyards and strip joints in residential neighborhoods. Because governments must waive regulations or compensate property owners, critics of I-933 say most governments will waive land-use rules because taxpayers won’t have the money to pay property owners’ claims.

A recent study by the University of Washington said claims filed after I-933 could total $7.8 billion, and cost each Washington resident $1,000.

Shelton, however, said he supports I-933 because taxpayers should be willing to pay when government regulations hurt property owners.

“I support it simply because I believe that when the public good is involved, then the public should be willing to pay for the public good and not achieve the public good through the intense regulation of individual property owners,” Shelton said.

“Clearly, the Constitution of the United States, Supreme Court rulings, the state Constitution, really talk about government’s ability to decrease the value of property, and what’s appropriate and what isn’t appropriate. So that’s where I’m coming from,” he said.

Shelton and Commissioner Bill Byrd both recalled how Gov. Christine Gregoire had vowed to make changes to the state’s growth management laws, and a critical revision for Island County that centered on agriculture, but never followed through.

Last month, Gregoire joined former Republican and Democrat governors to campaign against the initiative. They said the initiative will undercut basic rules that protect farmland, communities, and fish and wildlife. They also said the initiative will drain money from necessary public services if it passes.

Shelton said Gregoire has since promised yet again to fix the state’s growth management laws.

“When she came out in opposition to I-933, she said she was willing to work with the Legislature to make needed changes. Well, she had some of the needed changes on her agenda the previous year,” Shelton said.

“I think it’s unfortunate that we have to go through the initiative process when clearly the governor and the Legislature could have fixed things,” he said.

Byrd agreed.

“In 2005, the governor promised that she was going to take action to try to fix some of the issues that we were all complaining about, not just Island County, but all counties across the state,” Byrd said.

“And she came up with a list of six issues that she was trying to get passed through the Legislature. Well, out of all of those six, only two items actually got done, and those were sort of nothing-type issues,” he said.

Something needs to be done legislatively to protect private property rights, Byrd said.

“I think somehow along the way you’ve got to say, we either believe in property rights or we don’t. And if we’re not going to believe in property rights, well I think that’s a step toward socialism, or something different than what we have, anyway,” Byrd said.

Keith Dearborn — a land-use lawyer who helped write Island County’s critical area regulations — authored the legal analysis of the impacts of I-933 in the UW study. Because the state’s main land-use laws do not include ways to waive the requirements, governments will be forced to pay claims under the “pay or waive” I-933 initiative.

Claims from property owners with lands containing “critical areas” would level the biggest hit, according to the UW study. Critical areas are environmentally sensitive features such as streams, wetlands and ponds.

In Island County, damage claims would total almost $30 million from property owners with lands that have “critical areas.”

Land where development pressures are the greatest would likely have the most claims, however. At the top of the list is King County, the UW study says. Even so, the fewest claims would probably come from eastern Washington, but farmland claims there alone could still top $1 billion.

The UW study on potential impacts from I-933 mirrored an earlier study by the state. That independent state report said I-933 would cost governments at the city, county and state levels between $7.3 billion and $9 billion.

Byrd discounted the fiscal impact detailed in the studies.

“I’m not sure I believe those figures,” he said.

“If that is the case, that sort of shows what the people who have land and property have been cheated out of already,” Byrd said.

Regardless, costs from I-933 may not reach the amount cited in the studies because counties will retain the ability to negotiate with property owners to find solutions, he said.

Commissioner Mac McDowell said I-933 is flawed, but will send a critical message to Olympia.

“There are lots of things wrong with it, as far as the way it is written.” said commissioner Mac McDowell. “I’m not even sure it will withstand the constitutional challenge if it’s passed.”

He compared I-933 to I-695, the ballot measure that cut fees for license plate tabs.

“There was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction for a couple of years before that happened. One, our tab fees were really high, compared to a lot of other states. And two, the money that was collected for your car wasn’t being used for transportation,” McDowell said

“People passed the initiative. And the comments during that period of time, ‘Oh, the sky is going to fall if it passes,’ ‘How will the state ever survive?’” McDowell recalled.

Budgets were tight after I-695 passed, but governments eventually recovered.

“Well, the reality is, it took about two years, and were back to where we were. Simple as that,” he said.

“I think there is a growing dissatisfaction with the state’s concept of what property rights means,” McDowell said. “But even if this passes, there will be a burble for two or three years until it shakes out. But then we’ll move along and adjust to it, in my opinion, and probably be perfectly OK. There will be adjustments, just like there was with 695.”

“Yes, it will shake up government a little bit. But government survives, it adjusts, and it will be the same as these others,” he said.

The initiative will “swing the pendulum back” toward individual property rights, McDowell said.

“Hopefully, the Legislature — whether it passes or not — will realize there is some dissatisfaction out here,” he said.

Brian Kelly can be reached at 221-5300 or bkelly@southwhidbeyrecord.com.