City officials have given two serious looks at annexing Camp Murray and what is now Joint Base Lewis-McChord since the late 1990s, but they went nowhere.
Now the head of the Washington State Military Department has expressed a willingness to talk about bringing the home of the state’s Air and Army national guards into the borders of Pierce County’s second-largest city. He made no commitments beyond that.
“Clearly, annexation is a complex issue that will require considerable discussion and staff time on the part of the City of Lakewood, the Military Department, Pierce County and the State of Washington,” Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg wrote in a July 20 letter to City Manager Andrew Neiditz obtained by The News Tribune.
“All parties would have to participate in a free and transparent exchange of information in order to complete the required cost-benefit analysis of any such proposal,” the letter goes on.
Camp Murray is a 240-acre state property adjacent to Lakewood’s Tillicum neighborhood that also holds the state’s emergency operations center. It’s currently located in unincorporated Pierce County.
David Bugher, Lakewood’s assistant city manager for development, said there’s been discussion about the two agencies holding a meeting in October.
Lowenberg’s letter comes during a period of collaboration between the two agencies related to the military department’s controversial proposal to move the main Camp Murray gate away from Interstate 5 and into a Tillicum residential neighborhood.
Bugher noted that if Camp Murray were annexed, the city would have more control of the gate project.
Rick Patterson, a military department spokesman, said its interest in annexation boils down to potential savings from utility taxes, building and other development permits and franchise fees if it fell under the city’s jurisdiction rather than the county’s.
“It’s a pretty limited discussion at this point as to, what are the numbers?” he said.
Lakewood Mayor Doug Richardson has been pushing for annexation of military installations since the city incorporated in 1996.
He said annexation would give the city more control over activities and planning at Camp Murray. He pointed out that the military site is also within the area the city has designated for future annexation.
“I think it makes sense for them to be in the city and be part of the neighborhood,” said Richardson, a retired brigadier general in the Army Reserve.
Lakewood also stands to gain significant revenue in taxes and fees. A consultant’s analysis done in January 2007 estimated the city would collect $4.1 million in revenue a year if it were to annex Camp Murray, Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base. (Camp Murray would account for a small fraction of the total.)
Relations between the city and military department grew strained last year when Lakewood declined to issue a permit to move the gate project forward. Since then, however, they have reached a preliminary agreement to move the gate, a project strongly opposed by the Tillicum neighborhood due to the increase in traffic on local roads.
The military department has completed the project’s environmental review and has applied for a permit to connect the new gate to public streets. In a letter sent Thursday, Bugher said the city has ruled the permit application incomplete and requested updated and additional information.
David Anderson, president of the Tillicum-Woodbrook Neighborhood Association, learned of the Lowenberg’s letter from a public disclosure request. He said the city and state agency should be more forthcoming about discussion on annexation.
Anderson said it’s too early to pass judgment on the idea, but he questions what benefits Camp Murray would receive from becoming part of the city.
Lowenberg also broached in his letter the possiblility that the city take over the lease for the public boat launch serving American Lake on the Camp Murray property. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife holds that lease now, but it’s set to expire next month.
Lakewood owns a boat launch on the north end of American Lake.
Christian Hill: 253-274-7390
christian.hill@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/street
