Souring on sprawl in East Pierce County

East Pierce County activists led the 1986 defeat of what would have been the county’s first serious land-use plan. Their notion of property rights – doing pretty much whatever you want with your land – was close to absolute. Folks in Tacoma, Lakewood, University Place and Gig Harbor, in contrast, tended to be far more open to the need for intelligent regulation of real estate development in their communities.

But times seem to be changing in East Pierce County.

Perhaps the strongest evidence of this are the results of the recent primaries in Orting and Bonney Lake. In both cities, voters emphatically rejected incumbent mayors who were squarely in the pro-developer camp. There were other issues in both races, but sizeable blocs of citizens appeared fed up with poorly planned growth that has snarled their roads and changed the character of their communities.

In another corner of East Pierce County, the Puyallup School District has been besieged by the pace of home construction on South Hill. With houses sprouting like toadstools – and families with children moving into those houses – the district has been forced to begin holding elementary school classes in portables at Emerald Ridge High School.

Another sign of dissatisfaction: The South Hill Community Council and some Puyallup School District parents are calling for a moratorium on development in the area.

To the extent that all this reflects a change of heart about growth management, it’s welcome. Much of the battle to save what’s left of the county’s natural heritage focuses on East Pierce County’s cities, farmlands and open spaces. In a historically bulldozer-friendly county, it helps when the locals are willing to take up arms in defense of their own communities.

Managing growth in East Pierce County will be a never-ending struggle, because that’s where most of the county’s remaining buildable land is. Some landowners and developers are always eager to plunk new subdivisions on top of the area’s greenery. They pocket the profits and leave behind a need for more roads, classrooms, sewer mains and other infrastructure – the cost of which is often largely shifted to the taxpayers. Development and additional housing are necessary; the trick is planning for them wisely.

One impending battle will be over the traffic impact fees – a tax on new developments to help pay for the roads they need – proposed by Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg. Elected officials tempted to fight this reasonable concept might be smart to take another look at the outcome of the primaries in Orting and Bonney Lake.