Pierce County Council will hear public testimony on the so-called “Orton Junction amendment” to the Pierce County Comprehensive Plan today during their regularly scheduled meeting. The meeting will take place at 3 p.m. and is located at 930 Tacoma Ave. S., Room 1045 in the city of Tacoma.

Two ordinances concerned with amending the Comprehensive Plan are up for final consideration, though neither lists Orton Junction or the city of Sumner in their Title. It is possible either ordinance could be amended to include the Orton Junction amendment before the issue goes to a vote.

The city, Cascade Land Conservancy and Orton Farms LLC ratified an agreement Oct. 17 laying out the responsibilities of each party in the event that development moves forward. The resulting document is called the Seven Principles Agreement for the Orton Junction UGA Amendment, and it includes such concessions as 4 acres of conservation eased land to replace every acre of Agricultural Resource Land used in the development. A conservation easement is a legally binding land use agreement between a private property owner and the government restricting real estate development on one or more parcels; the parcels remain the private property of the owner. The property owner typically sells or donates the conservation easement to the government.

GH Properties LLC, Van Ogles Ford and Knutson are owners of 279.57 acres of land identified as being useable to satisfy the conservation easement requirement of 501.84 acres.