New ‘mega-city’ in Pierce County? Budget provides money for study
The revised operating budget that the Legislature approved on Thursday includes $200,000 to study the incorporation of Spanaway and seven other communities into one city.
State Rep. Melanie Morgan, D-Parkland, added the provision to the 569-page bill, which makes changes to the 2019-2021 budget.
The state Department of Commerce will hire a consultant to study incorporating Fredrickson, Midland, North Clover Creek, Collins, Parkland, Spanaway, Summit-Waller, and Summit View into a single city.
If that happened, the new city would become the second largest one in Pierce County -- behind Tacoma.
The study must include the impacts of incorporation on the local tax base, crime, homelessness, infrastructure, public services, and behavioral health services. The commerce department is required to submit the study to legislative committees by June 1, 2021.
Morgan said the study is needed because Pierce County has not provided the services or the infrastructure in the nine unincorporated area to keep pace with growth over the past several years. She said the County Council doesn’t seem to understand the residents’ requests for resources to respond to homelessness, substance abuse, and behavioral health issues.
“So I thought we could get some data and take it to the voters to see if this is what you are looking for,” said Morgan, a first-term House member who said she favors creation of the new city. “It’s always in the voters’ hands what they want to do with their own area.”
Morgan said the area needs a stability site for those without homes -- similar to the one in Tacoma’s Dome District -- and a homeless shelter.
It’s been 18 years since Spanaway activists tried and failed to form a city.
Marianne Lincoln, president of the political action committee which is trying to put the incorporation of Spanaway on the ballot, said she’s “absolutely against” what she referred to as a “mega-city.”
“Spanaway, as a community, we go back as far as Steilacoom. Although we haven’t been incorporated as a city, the history of the community is significant,” said Lincoln, a local historian. “To combine us all together into a massive urban area isn’t popular actually...Can we start smaller?”
Pierce County Council member Marty Campbell, who represents District 5 which includes Spanaway and Parkland, said Morgan spoke with him about the study.
“If she wants to go out and ask the question and see how people feel about it and if that’s what people determine is right for them, then I could be supportive. But it’s not something I would want to force on the people without them having a vote on it themselves,” he said.
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
