Bloglander

Thanks to a little-known provision in state law, developers across Washington are able to disregard the state's Growth Management Act, allowing many developments to proceed even after they've been deemed to contribute to urban sprawl, according to InvestigateWest.

"In 2005 in Spokane County," the report reads, "the practice [of vesting, or avoiding newer, more restrictive rules] authorized more than 1,500 homes to be built where 22 or fewer would otherwise have been allowed in the Five Mile Prairie neighborhood, and up to 480 homes where eight would otherwise be permitted near the Spokane airport."

The article, which looks at developments all over the state, points to major flaws with the state's laws, which were created in 1990 to prevent the very things that are happening to this day.