Warnick's Hirst Bill
I'm Bob Larson. We told you last week about a state Senator worried about a ruling that's made building a home on Washington farm lands much more difficult, and expensive.
So now, Senator Judy Warnick has come up with a bill to protect rural landowners ...
JUDY WARNCK ... "The problem is a decision that was made recently by the State Supreme Court, and it's called the Hirst Decision, which restricts counties that are operating under the GMA, Growth Management Act, from allowing exempt wells at this point. And those are wells that people use when they're going to build a house or have a small, very small farming operation with a few animals. So, it's impacting the rural areas the most because most urban areas have water sources from other areas. But the exempt well, you get a permit for a well, you drill the well, and then you can get a permit to build your home. This stops that."
Warnick says she's not the only one concerned about the Hirst decision...
JUDY WARNICK ... "We have my bill and then we also have one other bill that will be heard and so we're gonna take all solutions under consideration at this point. Senator McCoy has a bill also."
The Moses Lake Republican has SB 5239 scheduled for a public hearing today before the Senate Ag, Water, Trade and Economic Development Committee.
We'll have more on how Hirst impacts property owners and Warnick's proposal, tomorrow.
