The Pierce County Council unanimously passed the amendments to its Comprehensive Plan and along with it amendment U3a, the Orton Junction amendment to the city of Sumner’s Urban Growth Area. The Seven Principles agreement between the City of Sumner, Cascade Land Conservancy and Orton Farms LLC was also voted in.
The final vote came after more than two hours and two rounds of public testimony: one preceding the vote to add Amendment U3a and the Seven Principles agreement to the Comprehensive Plan ordinance, and one preceding the vote on the ordinance itself. Advocates for both sides of the issue gave strong arguments from a myriad of angles.
“Not only are these 126 acres prime agricultural land, but all of this land in Pierce County is prime agricultural land,” Tim Trehemovitch of FutureWise said. “It’s some of the best farmland in the world. And it will be paved over.”
But the argument for environmental preservation was no longer the sole domain of Orton Junction’s critics. A stipulation of the Seven Principles agreement is that every acre of Agricultural Resource Lands used for the Orton Junction project must be replaced by four acres of land with a conservation easement.
“Our local agricultural land is incredibly important to use in Pierce County,” Ryan Mello of Cascade Land Conservancy said. “The environmental benefits are many. That’s why I’m here to advocate for the seven principles agreement. For every one acre of agricultural land, four acres will be preserved.”
Advocates for the YMCA argued that Orton Junction would allow a YMCA facility to be built and fill a market need.
“I have overseen the building of 20 successful YMCAs,” said YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties CEO Bob Ecklund. “And I’ve spoken to individuals in support of a YMCA in Sumner. Never have I heard as much support for a YMCA as I have there.”
Ecklund claimed a market study had shown an approximate 20,000 people who would purchase a YMCA membership if a facility were built in Sumner.
Brent Mounts, the general manager of Prime Fitness in Bonney Lake, argued that wasn’t necessarily a good thing for existing fitness businesses.
“It (the 5-mile radius surrounding the Orton site) is not an area that is going to support 20,000 YMCA members, and (even if it does) it will kill jobs in the fintess industry that have been in the area five or 10 years,” Mounts said.
County Councilman Dan Roach noted his own personal conflict with supporting a development that could create serious competition for his own business, Roach Gymnastics.
“My three biggest competitors are YMCA, YMCA, and YMCA,” Roach said. “So I could have very selfishly said there is no way I can support a (competitor).
“At the end of the day, what I do is for the people who elect me and what I think will benefit the county overall.”
Even County Councilman Timothy Farrell, a legislator with a history of support for environmental preservation, came out in support of the amendment—though in a roundabout way:
“Some folks and my colleagues may be looking at this issue out of concern for (YMCA),” he said. “I look at this from a different perspective: I want to put Sumner in a box and I want to lock it up.”
Farrell explained that although he did not want to sacrifice Orton Farms’ ARL parcels, the “four to one” replacement of those lands with conservation eased properties to the south would create what he called a “green barrier” to the South to keep Sumner from expanding further in that direction.
With the amendment voted in, the ball is now in the city’s, Cascade’s and Orton Farms’ court to continue forward with the development.
Council Chair Roger Bush noted that a judicial challenge to the project was possible, but that he believed it represented a good compromise.
Check back for more on this subject as it develops.
