The long, protracted fight over the future of Olympia’s isthmus continues.



As you may recall (and those living and breathing in Olympia are surely all too familiar with), the Olympia City Council voted late last year to allow buildings of 65 and 90 feet on the area of land between Budd Inlet and Capitol Lake. The land in question is owned by Triway Enterprises, which, at least originally, had designs of constructing condos on the strip of earth.



The council’s decision left many in Olympia fuming. The Olympia Isthmus Park Association, for example, has been fighting to prevent high rises on the isthmus, and instead hope to one day see a park on the land. They say the view and the land are simply too valuable to Olympia to kowtow to developers. They’ve filed lawsuits and rallied supporters with such rhetoric.



While the Olympia City Council has made its stance known — in support of raising building heights on the isthmus to spur economic development and increase population density — it seems a number of folks in the State Legislature don’t share that opinion.



Thurston County State Sen. Karen Fraser and State Rep. Sam Hunt of Olympia both recently proposed legislation that would limit building heights on the isthmus to 35 feet, and place the small piece of land on the state’s list of shorelines of “state significance” — a move that would make development there next to impossible.



According to Hunt’s proposed legislation, which has obviously won the support of folks like the Isthmus Park Association:



“The vista is of national significance because it includes routes of early exploring and mapping that contributed to this area becoming incorporated into the United States of America rather than another country.’’'



"We're very pleased they've introduced these bills," says Jerry Reilly, chairman of the Olympia Isthmus Park Association. "(The bills) are stating that there is a clear state interest."



"The state can intervene and assert its authority. Once in a while there is a situation of unique importance that calls for that," continues Reilly. "These are two simple bills. There are two threshold questions. Does the state have authority — yes. Is it wise to assert that authority in this situation — yes. Once you've answered those questions, it's pretty simple."



"It's always difficult to pass legislation. These bills have a much better chance than most."



Naturally, state representatives butting into decisions that many feel should be Olympia’s to make has also angered a number of people.



“Unfortunately opponents of the rezone have chosen to sidestep the normal appeal process and have taken this local decision to the State Legislature,” wrote Oly 2012, a policy analysis group that has endorsed the isthmus rezone. “We all know the arguments — but in this case it is also changing the rules in the middle of the game and end-running the power of our local city government!”



What will happen next? Stay tuned. The only certainty seems to be this fight isn’t even close to over.