The Thurston County Courthouse
In April, the Board of Thurston County Commissioners are expected to vote on adding comprehensive plan amendments to an official docket for future consideration.
If they are added to the docket, then those items will undergo further review and study before the commission decides whether to approve them. But some amendments won't be added, and will be left for consideration down the road or not at all.
Sounds like a long but straightforward process, right? Not so fast.
One of the items, a rezoning proposal for a controversial parcel near Millersylvania State Park and Maytown referred to as Rocky Prairie, is under so much scrutiny that thousands have already submitted comments in opposition to it -- even before the county announced a 20-day comment period that ends March 4, said senior planner Maya Teeple.
These are the most comments she has seen on a single issue in her four years working for the county, she said. More than 700 comments have been received in opposition to the rezone proposal, including a petition with 6,000 signatures, Teeple said.
Even the Olympia City Council passed a resolution on Feb. 4 opposing "any change to the current rural residential zoning of the Rocky Prairie/Maytown site in the Thurston County comprehensive plan."
And how many comments have been received in favor of the proposal? Six, a records request shows.
The proposal
A year ago, a Kansas City-based company called NorthPoint Development submitted an application to the county to rezone about 750 acres of property in the 13000 block of Tilley Road South at Maytown Road Southwest to rural resource industrial from rural one home per 20 acres, a zoning designation that has been in place since 2010.
The commission was briefed on the application last year, but directed that the proposal be held for consideration for this year's docketing process. NorthPoint has offered to buy the land from the longtime owner, the Port of Tacoma, subject to certain conditions.
What kind of work does NorthPoint do? One element of their business is developing large warehouses, one of which can be found in northeast Lacey. There, at Hawks Prairie Road Northeast and Marvin Road Northeast, NorthPoint is building a 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse, which will be used as a distribution center for The Home Depot, said Rick Walk, Lacey's community and economic development director.
When NorthPoint submitted its rezone application to the county, it didn't identify a project at the time, but details of what might happen on that land have emerged via a records request.
In the fall, a representative of NorthPoint sent a letter to the county commission, dated Oct. 16, which shows a development of 472 acres, with "plus or minus eight buildings," representing total square footage of between 4 million square feet and 6.5 million square feet.
The representative goes on to tout the economic benefits of that kind of investment, including what could be 3,700 jobs, depending on the size of the development.
"This is an attempt to give the commissioners real stats and outcomes based on our experience as an industry leader in industrial real estate development across the United States," the letter reads.
It also shows that NorthPoint wanted to begin work on the site in this spring, but that will not happen, senior planner Teeple said.
If the rezone request is added to the official docket in April, it then becomes part of the work plan for the county community development department. The NorthPoint proposal still needs research, review, public hearings with the planning commission and county commission, and review under the state Environmental Policy Act before any action regarding the rezone is taken, she said.
And if NorthPoint is added to the docket, she couldn't say when it might come before the commission again. Neither could Thurston County Manager Ramiro Chavez.
"The public process will define the timing," he said.
What will the commission do?
Will the Thurston County Commission vote to put the rezone proposal on the official docket or not? Commissioner Tye Menser could not be reached, and Commissioners John Hutchings and Gary Edwards were very careful with their comments.
Hutchings acknowledged only that it was a huge issue for the county. "I have to be fair and let the process play out," he said.
Edwards, too, was guarded in his comments, citing the history of that site.
The Port of Tacoma bought the property after it struck an interlocal agreement with the Port of Olympia in 2006. The plans then were to pursue a South Sound Logistics Center. That effort was stymied by local opposition, so the Port of Tacoma sold the land to a company called Maytown Sand & Gravel, which later alleged that a "politically motivated" county commission delayed its efforts to mine the site, The Olympian reported in 2018.
The Port of Tacoma and Maytown later sued the county and won a $12 million judgment, which was later upheld by the Washington state Supreme Court. The property was ultimately returned to the Port of Tacoma, The News Tribune reported in July.
"Because of that," said Edwards in reference to the lawsuit, "I want to make sure that whatever we do, we do right.
"The main thing is to get it right," he added.
The opposition
The group responsible for submitting the petition with 6,000 signatures is called the Friends of Rocky Prairie, which has long been opposed to any kind of industrial development on that Maytown site. Its leader? Sharron Coontz, who has family ties to the area.
She and those who are part of the group -- which has a mailing list of 8,000 people -- are opposed to the rezone proposal.
"It is not wanted by this county," she said, adding that development of the site threatens endangered species and water quality and brings increased traffic and noise.
She hopes the county commission decides not to add the proposal to the official docket, but if so, they are prepared to reach out to the governor and others to block the rezoning.
Josh Stottlemyer said he and his family moved into their "dream home on dream property" about a mile from the potential development in July 2018. He learned about the rezone proposal months later and got involved.
He has big concerns about the impact of a potential development on a beautiful, rural area, and concerns about "the extreme amount of traffic these types of facilities can create."
"I believe in our commissioners, and I believe they have the best interests of the county at heart," he said.
Adding the rezone proposal to the docket, and further studying it, would just be a waste of taxpayer money, he added.
Mike Mittge of Chehalis was one of the few to voice support for the proposal over the summer. He wrote, "While it would be great if we could all just leap through the flowers chasing butterflies all the time, the plain truth is that we must have industrial development to provide folks with a way to make a living."
But even Mittge had a change of heart this week.
It's one thing if the potential development operates in a specific area and not beyond it, he said. It's quite another if it attracts other businesses and requires more rezoning and increases traffic.
"I guess I would have some reservations," he said.
Do you want to comment?
Send written comments to Shannon Shula by e-mail at Shannon.Shula@co.thurston.wa.us or hand deliver or mail them by 5 p.m. March 4 to: Thurston County Community Planning & Economic Development Department, C/O Shannon Shula, Associate Planner, 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW, Olympia, WA 98502.
