On November 4, the Pierce County Council’s committee on Community Development & Environment reviewed 14 amendments that would have created a fundamental shift in the protection of rural areas by allowing a Bonus Density for new housing construction.
Twenty-eight people attended on Zoom or in the room. The speakers debated the bonus density on whether or not prosperity owners in rural areas had a right to build more than one home on their land. These rural landowners wanted to add additional cottages or add Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) for their family or as a rental.
The bonus density was also used for a subdivision proposal called Burnett Highlands. County staff applied the bonus density to allow 70-some homes in an open space zone and a wildlife corridor. Without the bonus, the zoning would only allow 30 homes.
This development permitted 70 homes, which would have traffic impacts of over 140 trips per day on the two-lane state highway to Buckley and Bonney Lake. This would also add crowding on SR 410 as well as traffic jams in the Bonney Lake shopping corridor.
Here are times and dates where you can testify or send comments about this and other amendments and others:
November 18th at 1:30 PM Community Development and Environment Meeting– The committee will be considering MAP amendments for the Comp Plan. This will include UGA amendments. The goal will be to pass the Comp plan out of committee that day.
December 3rd at 3:00 PM The Comprehensive Plan is scheduled to come before the full council. However, is likely to be continued on to our December 10th. Check County Council agenda for any updates at: https://www.piercecountywa.gov/4516/Council-Meetings.
Other county services: The award of the bonus density does not take into consideration the increase in costs to the fire department or sheriff to drive from their stations inside the urban areas of Bonney Lake or Buckley. 70 homes will impact local schools by increasing the number of students by 30 or more.
The example of the Burnett Highlands development is not unusual example in rural areas of Pierce County. Each rural development puts greater stress on the cities of Eatonville, Ashford, Buckley, and Roy to provide increased services for homes inside their boundaries.
More Development in Rural Gig Harbor
In Purdy area and Burley Lagoon, developers asked to have the Gig Harbor city boundaries extended to allow more housing in the rural area. City officials couldn’t afford to extend services and asked the County Council to not allow more subdivisions on rural roads.
Anyone crossing the Narrows Bridge after 5 PM can see that the roadways have reached their carrying capacity. In Purdy, the single stoplight near the Burley Lagoon bridge causes commuters to take an hour or more just to reach the bridge from the freeway.
Like the Bonus Density, using Rural zones for increased development increases the impact on schools, Fire Departments, Sheriff and most of them are on septic.
The endgame with this semi-annual update our Comp Plan, is to manage how a population of 921,000 people in the 2020 Census will increase to over 1.2 million people in the next decade. We have a situation where it’s easier to build new homes than it is to increase investments in roads, schools, services and jobs to support this growth.
Bottom line: These amendments will increase our current population from the 2020 Census in the rural areas from 169,000 people to a projected population of 177,000 people — with an increase of just 8,000 people in the rural area.
In a county that will soon be home to 1.2 million people, increasing housing in the urban areas is the most affordable way to provide essential services and preserve rural areas and open space for everyone: ranchers, farmers, fishermen, hunters, bicyclists and wildlife.