Metropolitan King County Council Chair Larry Phillips, issued this statement on the defeat of Initiative 933, the measure that would have required governments to compensate private property owners who could show that the use or value of their property has been affected by land use regulations adopted since 1996:

“This is a great outcome for King County communities. The defeat of I-933 shows that people in this region think individual property rights are important but that we shouldn’t throw away the regulations that protect our neighborhoods, farms, forests, the air we breathe, and water we drink, nor should we have to pay citizens to follow laws that protect the common good. The recent flooding near our rivers highlights the importance of some of the regulations I-933 would have eroded, such as regulation of construction within flood zones and laws to preserve the forest cover and vegetation that helps stop erosion and storm water runoff. Without those laws in place, we would have seen even greater threats to people’s safety and damage to property.”