This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Orton Junction Plan Stuck in Limbo

The Pierce County Planning Commission once again put off a decision whether to allow Sumner's use of designated farmland to accommodate the proposed housing and commercial development.

Nearly four hours of public comments and debate on Wednesday ended with the Pierce County Planning Commission deferring action on Sumner’s proposed Orton Junction Urban Growth Amendment.

Planning Commission Chairman Malcolm Russell called for continuation of the agenda item so the commission can study various policy issues and seek legal advice.

“It’ll just give us time to digest additional information given to us tonight by the public and in the staff report,” he said.

Find out what's happening in Bonney Lake-Sumnerwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Commissioners either will send Sumner’s land-use proposal to the Pierce County Council with a recommendation for approval, or simply let it die. The commission is expected to decide July 26 at 8:30 a.m. in the Pierce County Annex, 2401 S. 35th St., Tacoma. 

City officials have asked for 182 acres of farmland to be taken out of protected status and redesignated to mixed use/commercial so the proposed Orton Junction housing and commercial development can move forward.

Find out what's happening in Bonney Lake-Sumnerwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Besides the housing project, construction of Sumner’s long-sought YMCA facility also hinges on a favorable Planning Commission outcome. Land already has been donated within the project for the new youth facility.

Things did not appear to look good for the city by the end of Wednesday’s session, however. Concerns expressed by four of the seven appointed commissioners suggested they were opposed to the plan on environmental, economic and/or procedural grounds.

Continued from the June 22 meeting, the topic drew numerous supporters and opponents. Speakers were split into two camps—those favoring redesignation of the farmland and development versus those want to retain the area’s rural, agricultural status quo.

City officials, attorneys, private land-use planners, environmentalists and average citizens queued to speak to the latest arguments city officials submitted right before the deadline for receiving written comments last month.

County planning staff originally objected to Sumner’s proposal on multiple policy grounds last month, but Wednesday’s debate essentially boiled down to whether Sumner really needs to annex additional protected farmland to make way for jobs—as it claims it does.

While backing away from several of his original objections, Pierce County Senior Planner Dan Cardwell held to his initial recommendation to deny the proposal because the county already has adequate employment capacity.

City Attorney Brett Vinson saw things differently.

“What the county is saying is, `City, you didn’t show there’s a need, because we believe there are enough jobs county-wide already,’” he said. “With unemployment running between 8 and 9 percent in Washington state, how can there be enough jobs?”

Cardwell countered that employment capacity refers to future jobs based on the county’s 20-year projection.

Proposed for development at the bottom of the hill off state Route 410, Orton Junction is a planned mix of commercial and residential uses encompassing 397 dwellings, shopping and recreational opportunities.

The development is earmarked for the area generally south of SR 410 and is bordered on the east by Elhi Hill, the west by Orting Highway and 75th Street and Riverside Drive to the south.

The proposal contemplates a donation of land for Sumner’s long-sought YMCA facility. However, some East Hill residents said the YMCA is being dangled as a carrot to win approval for paving over more farmland.

Cardwell said local governments should not use Urban Growth Area amendments as a means to make commercial retail projects more feasible.

In his staff report, he noted that keeping Urban Growth Areas intact forces developers to work with underutilized or redevelopable properties, known as “brown fields.” While such development is more costly, he said, advantages include preservation of rural/resource land.

Mayor Dave Enslow said Sumner’s economic future is at stake and urged the commission to support the UGA proposal so the Orton Junction proposal can go forward.

Sumner Planning Manager Ryan Windish said the proposal strikes a good balance between development and open space.

Replacing East Hill with Orton Junction in the Urban Growth Area better serves the area, according to city officials, by clustering areas of commercial, residential and recreational use so that other areas can remain rural for farming, forestry and open space.

However, Cardwell said the proposal significantly affects the rate of growth, development and conversion of land as envisioned in the Pierce County Comprehensive Plan.

City officials argue that Orton Junction, with its proximity to the freeway interchange, is a growing business area in the Sumner and Bonney Lake region. East Hill, meanwhile, has remained more rural in character with large-lot residential development and no commercial improvement.

Cardwell said city officials have assumed Orton Junction is the only area capable of supporting the proposed development.

“It does not appear the city explored any areas within its existing municipal boundaries for the application of regional retail and shopping opportunities,” he said in his staff report.

Cardwell also took issue with Sumner’s contention that the immediate area is “leaking” $46 million a year in revenue to King County.

“The only … basis for this assumption (is) because of the location of the major shopping choices within the targeted market area,” he said. “No other information was cited to support this assumption.”

Assuming the figure is remotely accurate, Cardwell said the revenue outflow could be due to things other than a dearth of retail business in Sumner. The store preferences of consumers, their knowledge of various purchase options, and the price of goods and services are among other possible explanations, he said.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Bonney Lake-Sumner