appointment, Sims announced his resignation and intent to return to Seattle, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. Sims' announcement followed the release of official travel records to Americans for Limited Government that showed Sims had spent 45 of 128 travel days during his tenure on trips to Seattle, a statistic that the group said raised "questions about the legitimacy of these trips." A HUD spokesperson responded that the trips were legal and appropriate, noting that "every trip taken by Deputy Secretary Ron Sims was in response to a formal speech or forum participation request." King County issues Brightwater sewage treatment plant The Brightwater sewage treatment plant built by King County across the county line in neighboring Snohomish County caused a number of issues, including a lawsuit between the counties over impact mitigation; cost overruns; and concerns over earthquake fault lines running through the site. Tent City 4 On April 29, 2004, Sims announced his intention to temporarily locate a tent city on county-owned land near Bothell, Washington and gave the King County Council 90 days to determine a more permanent location within the county for the tent city to be located. Opponents of the plan filed a lawsuit that resulted in the move being cancelled. In May 2005, the council voted to have a one-year moratorium prohibiting the siting of homeless encampments on public land pending a review of the availability, suitability, and appropriateness of using county-owned land. Sims never conducted this review, and the moratorium remains in place, but the homeless encampment is currently moving from church property to church property throughout east King County. Critical Area Ordinance On October 26, 2004, the King County Council passed the controversial Critical Area Ordinance (CAO) to protect environmentally sensitive areas (such as wetlands and streams) and restrict development in hazardous areas (such as floodplains and landslide prone steep slopes). The plan drew the ire of many property rights groups, rural landowners, and developers as the ordinance prevented land owners from developing areas of their property that met the critical area definition. This included a requirement that landowners in rural areas that haven't already cleared their land must keep 50% to 65% of their property in its "natural state". Three referendums to repeal the ordinance gathered over 17,000 signatures each, far more than the 6,900 required to qualify to be on the ballot. However, a lawsuit filed by