Here's a short excerpt from the beginning of an article by Peter Callaghan of the Tacoma News Tribune. The topic of the article is the battle over Isthmus building heights in downtown Olympia. Thoughtful and articulate, it's well worth reading in entirety. Thanks to Peter Callaghan.

Capitol Campus, its water view belong to all

PETER CALLAGHAN THE NEWS TRIBUNE

Why exactly is the Washington state Legislature second-guessing a land use decision made by the Olympia City Council?

I mean other than the fact that it was a bad decision. Because if that were sufficient cause, the Legislature would do nothing but overrule local land use decisions. In fact there’s one in Tacoma regarding view-destroying height limits on the Foss Waterway I’d like them to take a look at.

No, the Legislature has gotten involved with a decision to increase height limits on the Olympia waterfront for a good reason. It fears allowing taller buildings on the strip of land between Budd Inlet and Capitol Lake will disrupt views between Puget Sound and the Capitol Campus.

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