Hirst Decision Concerning for WSFB

The Washington State Farm Bureau is expressing grave concerns over a Washington State Supreme Court decision that could add thousands of dollars in costs to building a home in rural counties.

Assistant Director of Government Relations Evan Sheffels called it a significant case and that the Court made a political decision noting that anyone wanting to build in a rural area will have a significant expense in requesting a hydrogeological survey to verify they’re not hurting senior water rights.

“That will have huge impacts on property values in rural areas. It will prevent retirees from being able to build their dream homes. It will prevent farmers and ranchers from being able to bring employees to the farm.”

The counties will likely not be able to offer building permits until the water survey is done, and one of the dissenting opinions quoted the cost of that to be around $300,000 for the state.

Sheffels said there is already some challenge in farm transitions, and the inability to trust that a house can be built at a reasonable price will make that problem worse.

“The Department of Ecology is probably looking for a solution here, so we’ll hope that they come forth with some ideas as to how we can get a more balanced outcome than this. This is not a very balanced outcome at all.”

Sheffels said that WSFB will also work with Senator Doug Erickson who is proposing legislation to close the loophole, and they will work anyone who wants to help.

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