UPDATE: The decision on the Orton Junction proposal has been delayed. Read the latest story here.
EARLIER STORY:
The Orton Junction proposal that’s prompted an outcry from Puget Sound farmland advocates heads to the Pierce County Council for a decision today.
It calls for opening 182 acres of rural and agriculture land south of Sumner to urban uses, paving the way for a mixed-use development that would include homes, retail shops and a YMCA.
City officials say the project would be a boon to the area, bringing thousands of jobs and keeping retail dollars from flowing north to King County. And they say they’ve addressed the farmland concerns through an agreement reached Monday with the Seattle-based Cascade Land Conservancy and the developer who owns a majority of the Orton Junction property. Cascade helped broker the 14-page agreement after becoming involved at the request of county officials.
Among other things, the agreement significantly increases the amount of agriculture land that would be permanently preserved to offset development.
“I think this (project) is a great next step in Sumner’s future,” said Diane Supler, Sumner’s city administrator.
Bob Ecklund, president and CEO of YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties, said the development “will be walkable, it’ll be a good destination, and it will be open for all.”
“The time is now,” he said to the Sumner City Council, which approved the agreement during a meeting Monday night.
Earlier in the day, some of Orton Junction’s opponents reiterated their concerns.
Tim Trohimovich, co-director of planning and law for Seattle-based Futurewise, which works to protect natural areas, said Sumner has other places for retail and a YMCA.
“As long as we’ve got options to paving over (prime farmland), we should take them,” he said.
Marian Berejikian, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of Pierce County environmental group, said farmland in the county already is a dwindling resource.
“They’re setting a really bad precedent in this county. We’ve lost a lot of the farmland because of these incremental, political decisions we do every few years,” she said.
A majority of the Orton Junction land is owned by Sumner developer Michael Corliss. His firm also has signed off on the agreement, which is expected to be folded into the Orton Junction proposal at today’s meeting.
It includes:
• Increasing to roughly 500 acres the amount of agriculture land that would be permanently protected through conservation easements. Additional land also would be preserved through so-called “transfer of development rights” transactions.
• Incorporating design elements aimed at achieving a “complete, compact and connected community,” such as gathering spaces and affordable housing.
• Using sustainable building standards, such as techniques to control construction waste.
• Convening a stakeholder process to identify programs or infrastructure that could be incorporated into the project to support agriculture.
The proposal has drawn extensive public comment on both sides at meetings over the past several months. The county Planning Commission turned it down in a split vote in July, but a County Council committee revived it at a meeting earlier this month.
The full County Council is slated to consider the proposal today as part of package of comprehensive plan amendments.
If you go
The Pierce County Council will meet to consider comprehensive plan amendments, including Sumner’s Orton Junction proposal.
WHEN: 3 p.m. today.
WHERE: Room 1045, County-City Building, 930 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma.
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