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Lacey, Wash., Action Expected to Lead to Ban on Distribution Centers

Posted on: Saturday, 24 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Sep. 24--LACEY -- Construction of large distribution centers on industrial land in Hawks Prairie will no longer be allowed, the City Council declared Thursday night.

With a 5-2 vote, the council retained the temporary moratorium it imposed on the buildings May 26 and sent the issue to the Planning Commission to study and recommend a course of action.

One of the two dissenting council members and a business representative had no illusions about what the action means.

"We're referring it to the Planning Commission to say you can't ever do this," Councilman John Darby said. Councilman Tom Nelson cast the other "no" vote.

"You could say that whatever comes out of the Planning Commission will in all likelihood be much different," David Schaffert, president of the Thurston County Chamber, said after the meeting.

Council members originally imposed the moratorium to give themselves time to examine the jobs and traffic created by distribution centers.

Lacey's light-industry zone is one of the few zones allowing large warehouses.

Developers have expressed interest in building up to 5.1 million square feet of warehouse space on three properties in Hawks Prairie. The demand is driven by a record amount of cargo moving through the Port of Tacoma and the availability of large tracts of undeveloped land in Lacey that are close to Interstate 5.

But the projected volume of heavy truck traffic that scale of development could bring steeled the resolve of the majority of the council to stay the course.

The distribution centers would add 16,000 trips -- vehicles either coming to or leaving Hawks Prairie, including 3,500 trips generated by tractor-trailers, according to city estimates.

Road improvements could handle incoming traffic, but there's no solution to keep outbound traffic from clogging the roads, Public Works Director Dennis Ritter said.

Developers and their representatives reassured the council they'd work closely with the city to find a solution and pay for improvements if the moratorium were lifted.

"If we go away, this problem doesn't go away," said Sandy Mackie, an attorney representing one of the affected property owners. He suggested that the improvements are inevitable because of the area's fast growth.

The majority of the council was not swayed.

"To me, lifting the moratorium and saying, 'Yeah, we'll do something,' is a little bit of a pig in a poke on our part," Councilman Graeme Sackrison said.

Acres of warehouse space isn't the vision the city has for Hawks Prairie, Deputy Mayor Nancy Peterson said. It's vital for a community to balance economic development and livability, she said, but allowing the developments to go forward tilts the needle too far in one direction.

Evelyne Betti, a longtime Hawks Prairie resident and developer, warned that the council's course of action could have a chilling effect on the city's ability to attract the types of business it wants.

One of the property owners has filed a lawsuit to have a court order the city to lift the moratorium.

The temporary moratorium will expire in November.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

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Source: The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

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