I support the San Juan County Conservation Land Bank (CLB) renewal effort because it is a vital part of maintaining scenic, environmental, and recreational attributes of the San Juan Islands that both residents and visitors cherish. Among many other activities, we can walk along the beaches of the Fisherman Bay Spit and soon the North Shore Preserve, enjoy the majestic vistas from Mt. Grant and Turtleback Mountain as well as the views over Beaverton Marsh and Zylstra Lake, explore the forest of Lopez Hill, and whale watch from Deadman Bay Preserve.

In a very real sense, we are all co-owners of CLB preserves. We can visit most of them anytime we wish during daylight hours, we can participate in their organization and oversight, we can volunteer to help maintain existing trails and build new ones, and for those of us who purchased property here since the CLB was created in 1990, we have contributed to the purchase of these properties through the one-time 1% Real Estate Excise Tax (REET).

The benefits of the CLB come at very little cost to county residents beyond the REET. While properties are removed from the tax rolls, many of the parcels were under current use designations, most often Designated Forest Land which reduces property taxes to pennies on the dollar. For instance, the previous owners of Turtleback Mountain paid less than $1,000 per year in property tax. Moving the CLB properties off the tax rolls increases the tax burden for the remaining privately held parcels by only $2.00 per $100,000 of valuation, $15 for a $750,000 parcel.

For those who support affordable housing, know that Washington State Statutes mandate that the 0.5% affordable housing REET requires the continuation of the CLB REET. The CLB is good for San Juan County and deserves to be renewed!

Steve Snowden

Lopez Island