Orange fencing along Pierce County trail raises closure concerns. What’s up?
People who hike the Sequalitchew Creek Trail in DuPont took to Facebook recently, wondering why there was orange plastic fence along part of the popular trail the last few weeks.
As previously reported by The News Tribune, in 2024 the city’s hearing examiner gave the green light to developer Avenue 55 to build a 256,800-square-foot office/warehouse building near an entrance of the trail near 1700 Center Drive. The verdict came as many residents and the Nisqually Indian Tribe Historic Preservation Office spoke out against the “DuPont West” project, citing concern about the removal of more than 350 healthy trees and other quality-of-life impacts.
DuPont Mayor Ron Frederick told The News Tribune via email Tuesday that despite the orange fencing, the Sequalitchew Creek Trail is open and will remain open throughout construction.
On April 24 the city sent an update in its weekly newsletter, noting that the fencing “is to provide a barrier and a visual indicator of where the trail edge ends and construction site begins.”
In February, the developers were approved for a fill-and-grade permit, and as of April the city is “still working with the developer to make sure all conditions” outlined in the hearing examiner’s decision are met, per the newsletter. Frederick said no permits have been requested or granted for buildings. The final hearing about the issue was in 2024.
Longtime DuPont resident Judy Norris told The News Tribune on Tuesday that she first noticed the plastic orange fencing about two weeks ago when she was riding her bicycle down the trail. Norris said some residents were hearing rumors about what’s happening at the site. She’s been posting updates on the “Save Our City- DuPont, WA” Facebook page to set the record straight.
To be clear: this warehouse project is unaffiliated with the Pioneer Aggregates South Parcel Project, which is a proposed expansion of CalPortland’s existing sand and gravel mining operations also near the Sequalitchew Creek Trail.
