This is the third of a five-part series on Orton Junction. The full original story was featured in the Winter 2011 Sumner Magazine, released Nov. 30. To read the story from the beginning, click here.
Appeals
Representatives of Futurewise and Friends of Pierce County said conservation land easements are not a suitable replacement for the resource lands.
“The standards on conservation lands are not the same as the requirements on agricultural land,” Friends of Pierce County Executive Director Marian Berejikian said. “Those lands are zoned rural, not agricultural. For example, I live on a rural zoned property and I have to truck in soil to grow anything.”
Berejikian argued further that the Seven Principles agreement was incomplete, given that suitable replacement lands hadn’t been identified before forging ahead.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t sign onto a legal document that wasn’t complete,” she said. “In my opinion, it was an illegal action.”
The board of directors for Friends of Pierce County voted to pursue an appeal against the Pierce County Council’s decision. They are joined by land use advocacy group Futurewise. Both parties will file a Petition For Review to the Growth Management Hearings Board. The city of Bonney Lake has not decided whether to join them, City Administrator Don Morrison said.
“Our two main arguments are, one, that expansion is unneeded given that there is adequate land in Sumner’s existing growth area to accommodate a YMCA and everything else they want, “Futurewise Director of Planning and Law Tim Trohimovich said. “And, two, Agricultural Resource Lands need to be preserved.
“Our main concern is that (the swap) is putting the cart before the horse. It’s something that really only comes into play when an (Urban Growth Area) expansion is needed, and it doesn’t seem needed here.”
Some independent opponents to the Seven Principles have cried foul at the revelation that Sumner Mayor Dave Enslow owns more than 70 acres of farmland that have been identified as potential sites for conservation land easements.
Enslow is sensitive to the implication he has a profit motive for the success of Orton Junction, he said.
“My property was only identified: I had no say in that,” he said. “It’s like if I was planning to buy a car, and I identify your car as one I’d like to buy. You still need to agree to sell it. I haven’t decided if I want to sell an easement on my property.”
Enslow said Orton Junction would be a legacy he and other council and city administrators would be proud to have left.
“My argument is, and has always been, that we need jobs in Sumner,” he said. “Orton Junction can make that happen.”
