Some restrictions eased, others under protest

OLYMPIA — Under pressure from multiple counties and law enforcement statewide, Gov. Jay Inslee allowed low-risk residential construction to resume Friday, April 24.

Counties around the region had penned letters to the governor calling him to allow residential home and other local construction.

In an April 6 letter to the governor, Adams County Commissioners Roger L. Hartwig, Terrance J. Thompson and John N. Marshall called for the governor to reconsider his quarantine ban on home construction.

"The Adams County Board of Commissioners implores you to reconsider your recent moratorium on the construction of single-family residences," they wrote. "The initial proclamations issued categorized construction development as an essential business. It is the position of the Adams County Board of Commissioners that construction of single-family homes should remain an essential function."

Commissioners said there is a "significant need" for affordable housing here and that the ban on single-family home construction would create a bigger divide between those who could afford home ownership and those who cannot.

"There is no doubt these are unprecedented times for our state and nation. The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak is forecasted to have a significant impact on our local, national, and global economy," they wrote.

Several counties, especially in rural areas, had already let Inslee know they would not enforce the quarantine order.

Douglas County approved a resolution allowing already permitted projects to be built early in April, followed by Chelan County.

Grant County, too, worte a letter to the governor.

Franklin County's Sheriff Jim D. Raymond took it further, saying he would not enforce a quarantine order stopping people from working or going to church. His county commissioners backed him, before General Counsel Kathryn Leathers from the Governor's Office ordered them to comply.

In Benton County, Sheriff Jerry Hatcher said the decision on whether something should be open or closed should be made at the local level.