Bonney Lake’s beloved 147-acre urban forest could soon be home to a mix of housing, medical offices and a YMCA.
The Bonney Lake City Council will discuss and hear from the public Tuesday on a proposed development agreement and zoning for the Washington State University experimental forest, which grows in the middle of the city.
A favorable vote would end roughly four years of talks with Quadrant Corp. regarding preservation of the forest and the open space it provides the city of 16,500 residents, long saddled with a reputation for urban sprawl.
The forest has been closed to the public for 31/2 years.
The development proposal from Quadrant, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser Co., would deed 47 acres of the woods to Bonney Lake officials for park space and a future YMCA.
The remainder of the forest would be divided into 35 acres for medical and commercial buildings and about 65 acres for residential development.
Bonney Lake Mayor Neil Johnson said Quadrant’s proposal would give more land to the city than discussed in previous dealings. An early proposal from Quadrant in 2005 offered roughly 30 acres.
“To me, this is a great opportunity to get 47 acres,” Johnson said. “We came to a point where we figured that this was the best we are going to get.”
That’s especially true given the city’s immediate need to find land for new sports fields and a YMCA, Johnson said.
YMCA officials would like to open a center in Bonney Lake in 2018, but they need land, said Bob Ecklund, president and CEO of the YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties.
“It’s an ideal site,” Ecklund said Thursday. “It’s close to where there already is development and where there will be future development.”
Multicare Good Samaritan Hospital also would like to lease medical office buildings on the commercial part of the site, said hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Aalgaard.
The proposed 65 acres of housing would probably contain about 600 homes, said John Vodopich, Bonney Lake’s community development director. The development agreement anticipates completion of the housing project in 2015.
In the past, residents and Bonney Lake officials have expressed concern about new residents tying up traffic in the East Pierce County city.
Vodopich said Quadrant is proposing to improve 36 intersections in Bonney Lake to offset traffic effects of the housing development.
The corporation also plans to build a north-south route connecting Highway 410 and South Prairie Road, which Mayor Johnson said would provide an alternate route for many existing businesses.
During a public hearing on the proposal Dec. 8, a few residents said they thought the land deal could give Bonney Lake residents more recreational opportunities, including parks and sports fields.
Others said the proposal doesn’t do enough to preserve open space and trees.
Fred Jacobsen, a member of the city park board, said Quadrant could save between 30 percent and 50 percent of the trees in the forest by using low-impact development techniques. The preserved trees could help absorb stormwater runoff, he said.
“They’d suck up the water,” Jacobsen said Thursday, “And it’s a lot better to look at.”
Pete Lymberis, a senior development manager for Quadrant, said the project will incorporate rain gardens and other low-impact development techniques. Some of those will be decided as the project moves further along, he said. Right now, the proposal is for low-impact development “where feasible.”
The public hearing will continue during the council meeting Tuesday, giving residents another chance to speak before council members vote on the development proposal on Dec. 22.
Some tweaks are being made to the proposal’s language before Tuesday, but its fundamental elements won’t change, Vodopich said.
The WSU demonstration forest occupies space near Highway 410 and South Prairie Road. WSU officials once used it for educational programs and 4H activities, and Bonney Lake residents also biked and walked its trails.
But university officials closed the forest permanently in May 2006, citing problems with drug use and homelessness in the woods.
Johnson, the Bonney Lake mayor, said the closure gave the city even more reason to take action on the development proposal. Under the agreement, WSU would let the city reopen the forest.
“We loved the WSU forest the way it was, but we can’t use it anymore,” Johnson said.
“Right now,” he said, “it becomes a junkyard.”
Melissa Santos: 253-552-7058
melissa.santos@thenewstribune.com
WHAT: Residents can still comment on a proposed development agreement for the WSU forest area in Bonney Lake.
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday
WHERE: Bonney Lake City Hall, 19306 Bonney Lake Blvd.
WHAT’S NEXT: The council is scheduled to vote Dec. 22.
