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ACTION ALERT Public Info Meeting on New Rail Construction this Thursday 6/13
There are a lot of opportunities coming up in the next month to help protect Tacoma and the Salish Sea.
SeaPort Sound (formerly Targa Sound Terminal) is an oil storage and distribution facility in the Tacoma Tideflats. They recently proposed constructing four new rail spurs at their Taylor Way location. Rail spurs allow train cars to move off the main track so more trains can move through at one time.
While the stated purpose of this proposal is for better traffic safety, we want to ensure it doesn’t mean more fossil fuels are moving through our Tideflats!
The City of Tacoma Planning Department will hold a public information meeting on this proposal on Thursday June 13th at 5:30pm in City Council Chambers of the Tacoma Municipal Building. The public is invited to ask questions and talk with Planning staff - this is not an official public comment hearing.
Join us at this informational meeting so we can learn more about this proposal, and what it means for the Tideflats.
*Written comments will be accepted through June 20th. Comments can be emailed to Shirley Schultz at shirley.schultz@cityoftacoma.org
Thanks for all you do,
Erin
Erin Dilworth <edilworth@healthybay.org>
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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June 6, 2019 |
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Planning Commission to consider proposed updates to four community plans |
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The Pierce County Planning Commission will consider proposed updates to the Frederickson, Mid-County, Parkland-Spanaway-Midland and South Hill community plans at public meetings over the next few months.
Community plans provide direction on how growth and development will occur. The plans address topics such as zoning, transportation, the look and feel of the community, and access to services and amenities.
Community planning is especially important as the housing market heats up in the area and about 60,000 more people are projected to move to Pierce County’s unincorporated communities between 2010 and 2030.
Using community feedback gathered over the last few years, Pierce County and the Land Use Advisory Commissions for the four areas have drafted updates to the plans and development regulations.
Planning Commission meetings
There will be an informational open house prior to each meeting from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. where attendees can view displays and talk to Pierce County staff. An online version of the open house is available at www.piercecountywa.gov/cpupdate.
Public comment accepted
“Community members should continue to provide feedback as the update process continues through 2019,” said Dennis Hanberg, Pierce County Planning and Public Works director. “This feedback is crucial to ensure the final plans reflect the character, vision and goals of each community.”
After considering public testimony and amendments proposed by Planning Commission members, the Planning Commission will submit its final recommendation on each plan to the Pierce County Council.
The council will then set and hold hearings, determine whether to adopt the proposed changes for each plan, and set an effective date for the final plans.
Land Use Advisory Commission meetings continue
After considering public testimony and amendments proposed by commission members, each commission will submit a final recommendation to the Pierce County Planning Commission prior to the Planning Commission’s meetings on the plan and the Pierce County Council.
Pierce County staff will update the staff reports and draft plans to show the Land Use Advisory Commissions’ amendments prior to the first Planning Commission meeting for each area. These documents are available at www.piercecountywa.gov/cpupdate.
Check the meeting calendar and sign up for meeting updates atwww.piercecountywa.gov/cpupdate.
To learn more about the proposed updates, community members can call the Community Plans Hotline at 253-798-2799, email CommunityPlans@piercecountywa.gov, or send a letter to Pierce County Planning and Public Works, Attn: Long Range Planning, 2401 S. 35th St., Suite 2, Tacoma, WA 98409.
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MEDIA CONTACTS: Sheryl Rhinehart, Planning and Public Works public information specialist |
WDFW WATER ACCESS SITE prepped for 2nd Annual Lake Kapowsin Day Sat June 8th 10 – 2 PM
Invite all your friends for
· Kids Activities! Western Bass Club Fishing Demonstration
· Lake History & Geology
· Walk the new trail
· Learn about lake bugs, fish & wildlife
· Boat, fish and more!
Exhibits include:
· WDFW - Washington fish & Wildlife
· Patrick Pringle - Professor Emeritus of Earth Science
· Kapowsin Town History
· PCD - Pierce Conservation District
· DNR - Depart of Natural Resources
· Native Plant Society
· Western Bass
· Puyallup Tribe
· Puyallup Historical Society
· Washington Rock
· PWI - Puyallup Watershed Initiative
ADDITIONAL PARKING (w/ Shuttle):
14625 288th St. East, Kapowsin, WA 98344
The eastside of the intersection of OK Hwy & 288th Street East
Friends of Lake Kapowsin (Facebook Group)
Local Tacoma restaurants are participating in “For the Love of Food: Tacoma’s Food Saver Challenge,” June 1-21.
Tacoma sends about 28,000 tons of food to the landfill every year, making it the number one item thrown away both residentially and commercially. Tacoma’s Food Saver Challenge is intended to highlight actionable strategies all Tacoma residents can take to reduce food waste. Participating restaurants will take action to prevent wasted food, including measuring and tracking waste, donating to local food banks or participating in the City’s FoodCycling program.
During the Challenge, the Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability will host two free film screenings of the documentary Wasted. Each free screening will be followed by a panel discussion with restaurant, waste management, and food recovery experts. Refreshments will be provided.
Wednesday, June 12 at 6:30 p.m.
The Grand Cinema (606 Fawcett Ave)
Tuesday, June 25 at 6:30 p.m.
Eastside Community Center (1721 E 56th St)
To find out which restaurants are participating visit TacomaFoodSaver.org.
If you know a restaurant that might be interested in taking the Challenge, call (253) 594-7869.
Contact:
Leah Michaelsen | sustainability@cityoftacoma.org
Events, Communication, and Outreach Specialist
Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability
City of Tacoma | Office: 253.591.5172
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News Release |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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May 1, 2019 |
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Land Use Advisory Commissions to consider proposed updates to four community plans |
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The Land Use Advisory Commissions for Frederickson, Mid-County, Parkland-Spanaway-Midland and South Hill will consider proposed updates to each area’s community plan at public meetings in May and June.
Community plans provide direction on how growth and development will occur. The plans address topics such as zoning, transportation, the look and feel of the community, and access to services and amenities.
Using community feedback gathered over the last few years, Pierce County and the commissions for the four community plan areas have drafted updates to the plans and development regulations.
Each commission will hold two public meetings about the proposed updates in its plan area. There will be an open house prior to each meeting where attendees can view displays and talk to Pierce County staff. An online version of the open house is available atwww.piercecountywa.gov/cpupdate.
“Involvement from community members is crucial to ensure the final plans reflect the character, vision and goals of each community,” said Dennis Hanberg, Pierce County Planning and Public Works director. “We encourage the communities to provide feedback during the update process, which will continue throughout 2019.”
Verbal and written comment will be accepted at the first meeting of each commission. Written comment will be accepted at www.piercecountywa.gov/cpupdate.
After considering public testimony and amendments proposed by commission members, each commission will submit a final recommendation to the Pierce County Planning Commission and Pierce County Council.
Next steps
Check the meeting calendar and sign up for meeting updates atwww.piercecountywa.gov/cpupdate.
To learn more about the proposed updates, community members can call the Community Plans Hotline at 253-798-2799, email CommunityPlans@piercecountywa.gov, or send a letter to Pierce County Planning and Public Works, Attn: Long Range Planning, 2401 S 35th St., Suite 2, Tacoma, WA 98409.
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MEDIA CONTACTS: Sheryl Rhinehart, Planning and Public Works public information specialist |
Webinar: “Enhancing Community Involvement
in the Regulatory Process”
May 15, 2019 (2:00 - 3:30 PM EDT)
Register early! Our first webinar was sold out.
This webinar will focus on how to enhance community involvement in the regulatory process. It will focus on three things: (1) how to plan and support effective community involvement processes; (2) an advocate’s perspective on key things state agencies can do to ensure meaningful community involvement in the regulatory process; and (3) how to effectively integrate community involvement into the state agency culture and decision-making processes.
Speakers:
· Laura McKelvey, Group Leader-Community and Tribal Programs Group, Office of Air Quality Policy and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
· Kelly Haragan, Clinical Professor and Director, Environmental Clinic, University of Texas School of Law
· Lawra Boyce, Community Engagement Coordinator, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a training webinar series to build the capacity of environmental justice practitioners working at the state level. The second webinar “Enhancing Community Involvement in the Regulatory Process” is now open for registration. Please note that registration is required. When you sign up, you will receive details on how to access the webinar. Please share this information widely to your colleagues and networks.
Registration is now open at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/enhancing-community-involvement-in-the-regulatory-process-tickets-60400656991
The first webinar in this series focused on “Identifying and Prioritizing Environmentally Impacted and Vulnerable Communities” (April 16, 2019). Future webinar topics in the 2019 series include:
· Using Comprehensive Area-Wide Planning Approaches to Promote Equitable Development;
· Application of Environmental Justice to State Environmental Impact Assessments; and
· Environmental Justice Considerations for Rural Water Infrastructure.
For more information, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice
For questions about the series, please contact: Charles Lee at lee.charles@epa.gov
From our friends at Citizens for a Healthy Bay:
WE CAN ENSURE A FOSSIL FUEL FREE FUTURE FOR TACOMA (#FossilFuelFree253)
The City of Tacoma, with its partners the Puyallup Tribe and the Port of Tacoma, are working on a Subarea Plan for Tacoma’s Tideflats, which will establish rules for economic development and environmental review (and hopefully permanently bans fossil fuels) in the Port of Tacoma. In November of 2017, Tacoma City Council passed interim regulations pausing new fossil fuel development during the Tideflats Subarea Planning Process.
These interim regulations must be renewed by city council every six months. If you believe Tacoma's future must be fossil fuel free so we can reduce our city's carbon footprint in this era of rapid climate change, we need you to speak at these three city council meetings. We need all our voices.
FOSSIL FUEL FREE 253 SCHEDULE, SPRING 2019
April 23, 5:00 pm
Public Hearing: Tideflats Interim Regulation Extension
May 14, 5:00 pm
First Reading of Ordinance: Tideflats Interim Regulation Extension
May 21, 5:00 pm
Final Reading of Ordinance: Tideflats Interim Regulation Extension
If you have any questions or would like to join us at the next city council meeting and give public comment, please contact me (kcoble@healthybay.org).
Kenny Coble
Environmental Justice Program Manager
Citizens for a Healthy Bay
535 Dock Street, Suite 213
Tacoma, WA 98402
T 253-383-2429 | W healthybay.org
Citizens for a Healthy Bay is where people engage in the many ways to protect Commencement Bay and our surrounding waters. Click here to support our valuable work.
Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas Guidance Document (click here to open or download the pdf)
from: Washington State Department of Ecology
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Friends of Pierce County 2019 Annual Meeting Summary
Friends of Pierce County welcomed Erin Dilworth from Citizens for Healthy Bay. Erin briefed attendees on the latest issues with the Tacoma Tide Flats. The City of Tacoma is working on a Tideflats Subarea Plan. The City is putting together a stakeholder team to address a vision, environment, land use, economy, public services and transportation in the plan.
The most contaminated site in Commencement Bay (from Hylebos to Marine View Drive – and deeper than the height of the Tacoma Dome) is slated for cleanup. A plan is currently being developed for what portions of this area will be cleaned up. For more on Occidental Chemical Cleanup: https://www.healthybay.org/work/contaminated-site-cleanups/occidental-chemical-cleanup-site/
Erin Dilworth, Citizens for Healthy Bay, at Friends of Pierce County Annual meeting. March 19, 2019.
CVA Newsletter #42, December 2018
In its 14th year, the Donkey Creek Chum Festival attracted 850 visitors to the Harbor History Museum and CVA was there!
Key Peninsula/Peninsula/Islands Watershed Council Nets
$10,000 from Cider Swig Proceeds For Lu Winsor Grants
Barbara Ann Smolko of Surface Water Management accepts a check from the Greater Gig Harbor Foundation Board President Jud Morris.
With matching County funds and Peninsula Light donations, KGI will award around $25,000 in 2019 to individuals and groups who aim to enhance the natural environment through education or restoration projects in our area.
The next application round will be announced in March.
Watch for it on the KGI Watershed Council Facebook Page.
A Community Plan Amendment on native plant canopy is working its way through county hearings, next up is the Planning Commission, TBA in January.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT, Gig Harbor Community Plan, pg. E104
Goal GH ENV-14 The goal for tree canopy coverage shall be 75% within the Urban Sensitive Resource Overlay and the Rural Sensitive Resource zone to implement the Peninsula Open Space Corridors map.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Our Crescent Valley Rural Sensitive Reserve area, farms and all, currently measures at 80% canopy coverage. Yay! (See CVA’s website to find the description on page 43 of the Stewardship Plan.) Besides enhancing our own properties, native plant canopy provides our neighbors these Public Benefits:Staff supports the proposal. Staff supports the proposal based on the following:
The proposal is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and Community Plan goals andpolicies for the maintenance and restoral of native vegetation in the Rural Sensitive
Resource and the Urban Sensitive Resource Zones.
The Gig Harbor Community Plan’s direction to preserve native vegetation is supportedby supplemental plans such as the adopted Crescent Valley Biodiversity Management
Area (BMA) Stewardship Plan, which covers a large portion of the area that the policy
would apply to.
1. Free storm water management services. (i.e., slowing the rate of runoff, sending potential pollutants deep into the soil.)
2. Free aquifer recharge. (i.e., percolating rainwater deep through soil layers.)
3. Free anti-erosion services. (i.e., stabilizing slopes with root systems better and cheaper than bulkheading.)
4. Free cooling and warming services to our northwest soils and streams, as well as to our homes. (i.e., buffering the effects of strong winds, hard frosts, and droughts.)
5. Wildlife habitat. Our human developments punch holes in the web of life that grows timber and sustains salmon. Homes for birds, insects, and wild mammals are essential to preserve what our Community Plan calls “the nature of our community.” Neither the land, nor the nearshore, nor Puget Sound can remain healthy without preservation of substantial tree canopy.
6. Wildlife corridors. Wildlife must move from one type of habitat to another as the seasons change. Connected streams of tree canopy across our peninsula must be maintained because isolated patches of trees do not provide ecosystem services for wildlife or for us humans.
7. Human health and well-being. Trees scrub the air we breathe of pollutants while exchanging CO2 for oxygen. They cool and calm the human spirit.
8. Aesthetically pleasing surrounds. As much as the waters of the Salish Sea, trees are our view and our land value.
9. Carbon dioxide sequestration. Trees are an ally in reducing the percentage of the planet-heating CO2 in the mix of air we breathe.
Gosh, I hope I covered it all. (And did you know that some parcels larger than 2 acres can qualify for a tax rate reduction for providing these public benefits?) If you have questions or are interested in seeing the entire PDF for this amendment proposal, email Lucinda, WingardJL@hotmail.com
Draft of the New Buildable Lands document:
Looking for all Pierce County wetlands
In Washington, the existing statewide wetland maps (National Wetlands Inventory [NWI] maps) are out of date and inaccurate in many locations. They are based on imagery and data from the 1980s and do not reflect current wetland location and extent.
Additionally, wetlands are missing from the NWI maps. These errors of omission have been recorded to be as high as 50% in some areas, and may be as high as 90% in some forested areas. Inaccuracies and errors of omission are due in part to the difficulty of photo-interpreting certain land cover types. Also, many wetlands on agricultural lands were not mapped.
The NWI classified wetlands to identify wetland habitat types. It lacks abiotic information such as landscape position, landform, and water flow path, which can be used to predict functions and, in combination with land uses, wetland condition. To complete this project, the University of Washington will use remote sensing data sources, such as LiDAR, high-resolution aerial imagery, Landsat imagery, digital elevation data, hydrography, and updated soil maps provide an opportunity to address these known shortcomings. Moreover, recent developments in automated remote sensing technologies allow for more efficient coverage of large areas.
An improved, statewide map of wetland location and type is critical to the ability of local governments to protect wetlands. Under the Growth Management and Shoreline Management Acts, local governments play a critical role in wetland protection and management. They do this through comprehensive planning, zoning, and permit review. Planners and permit reviewers rely on existing NWI maps for these processes. A few local jurisdictions have conducted their own wetland inventories and improved their maps, but these are limited due to lack of resources, and none have predicted functions and conditions of wetlands. This leaves many local governments with inadequate maps and information on local wetlands, and the state with uneven coverage.
This project will improve the ability to more efficiently and accurately identify the location, size, and type of wetland resource. available as a publicly accessible, web-based map. Information about the maps, and any analyses using the data, will be disseminated through articles and presentations to state and federal agencies, and local governments and planners.
Source: https://portal.nifa.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/1013138-washington-wetland-mapping.html
From Pierce County:
The Regulation Roadmap for Agriculture is now posted on the Pierce County Farming website: https://www.co.pierce.wa.us/3422/Getting-Started. The Regulation Roadmap was developed to assist producers to identify possible permits and licenses needed to produce and sell farm products. It also identifies the primary regulatory agencies dealing with farm products.
The Regulation Roadmap for Agriculture project is a partnership with the Agriculture Community of Interest, Pierce County Agriculture Program and Tacoma Pierce Health Department.
Diane Marcus-Jones | Senior Planner | Pierce County Planning and Public Works| (253)798-2616 |
2401 South 35th Street, Room 175, Tacoma, WA, 98409-7490 | dmarcus@co.pierce.wa.us | www.co.pierce.wa.us/pals I www.piercecountywa.org/farming
| Friends of Pierce County is a 501(c) non-profit organization. 8205 90th Street Ct. NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98332 |
