Articles

We meant what we said : Washington Supreme Court tells administrative agency that it lacks authority to make law … again … and again

December 17, 2009 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brian T. Hodges In a representative democracy, government agencies should be required to operate within strictly defined constitutional and statutory limits. For over a decade, however, the growth management hearings boards (administrative agencies established to review challenges to local comprehensive plan updates) have ignored this funda ...

Articles

PLF scores an assist for property rights in Washington

March 23, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brian T. Hodges Washington’s Growth Management Act is a mess. The Act directs local government to continually adopt new land use regulations designed to accomplish a whole host of inconsistent goals. Most notably, the GMA requires that local governments periodically update their critical area regulations – regardless of whether an u ...

Articles

If at first you don’t succeed, change the rules!

April 28, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brian T. Hodges Earlier today, Washington’s Supreme Court granted review of a petition asking whether the Legislature can enact a bill that would operate retroactively to wipe out several years of final judicial decisions. Last year, Pacific Legal Foundation successfully argued that Kitsap County, Wash. failed to comply with the ...

Articles

Like deja-vu all over again : PLF to re-argue Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners

October 05, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brian T. Hodges This Thursday, October 7, 2010, at 10:00 a.m., Division II of Washington’s Court of Appeals will hear remand arguments in Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners v. Central Puget Sound Growth Management Board.  This case started over 5 years ago, when Kitsap County declared all shoreline properties “critical are ...

Articles

The cost of truth

March 22, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brian T. Hodges If truth is held to be a virtue, then why did Washington’s environmental agencies work so hard to stifle a bill that would require them to demonstrate that science used to develop environmental regulations passes the peer-review “sniff test?” The answer (drum-role please): money.  Washington’s D ...

Articles

If a tree pollutes in the woods…

June 07, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brian T. Hodges For years, Washington’s Department of Ecology has been trying to determine the source of pollutants entering Puget Sound.  The presumption, of course, has been that those dastardly humans who have the gall to live in a home and drive to work – god forbid that they take a trip to one … ...

Articles

Washington Supreme Court sets conference date for PLF’s big buffer case

June 14, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brian T. Hodges Big buffers may be the easiest way for government to protect environmentally sensitive areas, but that does not mean they are necessary – let alone lawful.  Arguing that big buffers are necessary to assure that land use activities do not harm the environment is like arguing that government can decrease the … ...

Articles

Washington Supreme Court denies request to review the constitutionality of big buffers

July 12, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brian T. Hodges Earlier today, Washington’s Supreme Court denied PLF’s petition raising a facial challenge to the constitutionality of big, mandatory buffers in the case, Kitsap Alliance for Property Owners v. Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board.  This case arises from Kitsap County’s adoption of a c ...

Articles

Victories and unanswered questions in buffer appeal

July 27, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brian T. Hodges Earlier today, the Kitsap Sun published an op-ed that I co-authored with Jackie Rossworn, executive director of Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners.  The op-ed highlights several property rights victories and important issues that remain unresolved after Washington’s Supreme Court declined to review the Kitsap Cou ...