The Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board has upheld the Low Impact Development (LID) regulations adopted in March by the Bothell City Council, dismissing an appeal claiming that it violated Washington’s Growth Management Act and State Environmental Policy Act.

The board’s decision specifically rejected the appeal’s claim that the new regulations allowed for less protection of environmentally critical areas and wildlife corridors and would foster greater density than should be permitted. In doing so, the board took special care to praise what it described as “the City of Bothell’s commitment” to environmental preservation, compact urban development and protection of property rights in adopting “the first detailed Low Impact Development regulations in Central Puget Sound.“

“City of Bothell has taken a leadership role in enacting the most

advanced Low Impact Development regulations in the state of Washington,” said City of Bothell Mayor Mark Lamb. “These laws protect and honor both our natural environment and property rights for our citizens. I am heartened that the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board unanimously upheld every part of this new law in its decision. It is unfortunate that significant resources needed to be expended to uphold important environmental laws, which protect both North Creek and our citizens who live near it.”