by Kirk Kirkland and Claudia Finseth
Rural Bonus Density designation is removed from the PC Comprehensive Plan
by Kirk Kirkland and Claudia Finseth
The original Pierce County Comprehensive Plan carefully zoned rural areas so they would stay low density. This was both to keep rural character intact and to help consolidate county resources.
But Because Of An Addition To The Comprehensive Plan That Pierce County Instituted In 2013, called ‘Rural Bonus Density,’ that all changed.
The result was, between 2013 and 2020, Pierce County experienced the second highest rural population growth of the four Central Puget Sound counties. Over that period, ten percent of new housing in the county was built on rural and natural resource lands, according to the The County’s Buildable Lands Report.
Affects on public services:
Those rural areas, as a result of their quick growth, now have inadequate roads, sewers, schools, law enforcement, fire, and other public services. The county’s tax revenues remain relatively the same, so the result is Rural Bonus Density is stretching county resources too thin. There is not enough county money to get everything needed done, like repairing potholes and other road damage or providing adequate policing in our cities and suburbs.
Traffic increases and wildlife impacts:
The Rural Bonus Density zoning increased the number of homes in the rural areas of Pierce County to the point that, for one thing, overall vehicle miles for PC daily commuters has increased, requiring more road work in outlying areas instead of less.
At the same time, Rural Bonus Density designations have negatively impacted wildlife and water quality. An example of the impact on wildlife by Bonus Density re-zoning is the destruction of a wildlife corridor in the greater Bonney Lake area of Lower Burnett Road. Without the Rural Bonus Density exemption, the subdivision would have had 1 house on 10 aces, but Rural Bonus Density allowed the clustering of 70 houses along the creek in the bottom of the valley.
The increase of homes from 30 to 70 in this rural area added cars to rural roads and houses and fences that now block the wildlife from their usual migrations within their habitat along South Prairie Creek to find water, food and shelter.
In other words, Rural Bonus Density has harmed Pierce County.
“I have a real concern that we are going to lose what is a major cornerstone of the Comprehensive Plan,” said Pierce County Council person Robyn Denson in an e-mail. “The elimination of the Rural Bonus Density is essential. We need to end sprawl; re-direct the County towards a future where people live in urban areas where the county can take better care of them, and in doing that, we will better take care of our wildlife and have a sufficient water supply in the future.”
As part of a 2024 ten year review of the county’s growth, the Pierce County Council asked Planning and Public Works to give them a plan that was again in compliance with the Growth Management Act and Vision 2050.
Staff developed an Environmental Impact Statement with ‘Alternative 3’, proposing to remove the Rural Bonus Density and return the majority of growth to the urban growth area.
To encourage removal of the Rural Bonus Density zoning, Futurewise, a nonprofit dedicated to stewarding the Growth Management Act, in their comment letter, reminded the Council that the Rural Bonus Density is not in compliance with the Multi-county Planning Policy MPP-RGS-14, which directs all the Central Puget Sound counties, including Pierce, to “manage and reduce rural growth rates over time, consistent with the Regional Growth Strategy.” The data in the county’s Buildable Lands Report shows that Pierce County “needs to reduce rural capacity to comply with the Growth Management Act.”
“Failing to repeal the Rural Bonus Density exemption will likely lead to a court appeal,” said Tim Trohiminovich, the author of the letter from Futurewise. “As proposed, Rural Bonus Density zoning does not comply with the Regional Growth Strategy and the Growth Management Act.”
The County Council faced a packed chamber as the building industry and environmental community turned out for the final vote on the County’s update of the Comprehensive Plan.
Rural Bonus Density zoning was not discussed until after 9 pm. As always with Council meetings when they go that late, many people who came to speak during public testimony time have had to leave, so the crowd had thinned out. It was one of the last amendments on the night’s agenda, but as important as it was, it perhaps should have been discussed sooner.
Finally, when the Council vote was taken, the Democrats from urban districts held up their hands, Alternative 3 was adopted, and the Rural Bonus Density designation was stricken from the Pierce County Comprehensive Plan. This should improve quality of life for all Pierce County residents.
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