This is the second in a five-part series on Orton Junction. The full, original story appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of Sumner Magazine, released Nov. 30. To read Part I, click here.
The Passion of the Mello
“Some folks, such as my colleagues, may be looking at [Orton Junction] out of the concern of a [YMCA],” Pierce County Councilman Timothy Farrell (no relation to Investco’s Farrell) said in public comment before the Oct. 25 vote. “I look at this from a different perspective: I want to put Sumner in a box, and I want to lock it up.”
Farrell recounted his dismay at the loss of the Puyallup Valley’s open greenery to the warehouses of Sumner’s Manufacturing and Industrial Center, as well as to land annexations by the city of Fife.
Farrell voted to approve the amendment that would allow Orton Junction, but he was explicit in stating that his support came from the 4-to-1 replacement of agricultural lands with conservation-eased properties.
“At this point, when I’m looking at a chance that Sumner has been offered… to cease its annexations, we are looking at a green barrier to stop Sumner from going any further south,” he said.
A conservation land easement is a land restriction sold to the owner of a property a governing agency wishes to see environmentally preserved. The deed holder can choose whether or not to make the sale (except in cases where a government exercises eminent domain; however, that has not been discussed as an option where Orton Junction is concerned), and retains possession of the land, but must abide by the revised deed’s written development restrictions as long as the county enforces them.
Farrell called the land protection swap—as well as the other six of the Seven Principles Agreement—the “Passion of the Mello,” referring to Ryan Mello, the Pierce County Conservation Director for Forterra. Despite one’s individual stance on Orton Junction and the Seven Principles, Mello worked diligently to make a mitigation deal work, Farrell said.
Mello’s work didn’t end with the Seven Principles agreement. His work has since shifted to identifying 501.72 acres of land suitable for a conservation easement.
“(We’re) in the lead to identify land owners to make sure that land fits the bill for a conservation easement,” Mello said. “We’ll be looking at several factors, including the size of the property, contiguity—we don’t want islands of properties, we want them to be connected—, environmental standards like the quality of soil, the willingness of the owner to sell, and the proximity to Orton Junction.”
Unlike the Agricultural Resource evaluation process—which examines broad strokes of land—Forterra must meet with the owners of identified properties on a case-by-case basis to discuss the requirements of a conservation land easement and the fair market value the property would fetch. Orton Farms will pick up the tab on the conservation land easements, but the easement itself will be under the county’s domain.
