Photos
David Mann, representing a group of concerned residents, asked hearing examiner James O’Connor to revoke the permit that city officials issued in October authorizing the Washington Military Department to connect the gate at Portland Avenue and Boundary Street to public streets.
The appellants say the new location would jeopardize safety with more vehicles driving down the quiet neighborhood streets. Eagle Point residents fear drivers waiting to get onto Camp Murray during periods of high security would block access to and from their gated neighborhood.
Mann said during the hearing, attended by about 40 people, that Camp Murray was seeking to dump its traffic problems on nearby residents.
“Adding that number of cars through a residential neighborhood with plenty of foot traffic is just not right; it doesn’t work,” he said.
Officials at the military department previously said the gate’s current location near Berkeley Street and Union Avenue is just as unsafe for their employees and visitors. The current gate is too close to the busy intersection, an antiquated Interstate 5 interchange and a rail line, they said.
Much of the testimony hinged on how much Camp Murray traffic would use Portland Avenue, which connects to the gate that is now under construction and runs through a residential area.
The military department’s consultant estimated an increase of 900 more vehicles a day down a stretch of Portland, while the traffic consultant hired by the appellants projected more than twice that.
“The relocation of the gate to the western end of Portland makes the use of Portland to get to Thorne Lane and the I-5 interchange inevitable,” said Ross Tilghman, the appellants’ Seattle-based traffic consultant. “It’s a straight shot from the gate to the interchange, and from the interchange to the gate. Leaving the gate, one wouldn’t think about turning. It’s a natural movement.”
But Jon Pascal, a consultant who prepared the traffic study for the military department, said his estimate was conservative and didn’t include measures the city is requiring to deter those drivers.
Community-development director David Bugher, the official who granted the permit, acknowledged traffic on local streets will increase, but officials attached more than 30 conditions to dissuade vehicles from driving on North Thorne Lane and Portland to reach Camp Murray.
Those conditions include directing Camp Murray traffic to use streets away from the neighborhood, installing four raised crosswalks on Portland, and requiring the military department to set aside $100,000 for future improvements.
Bugher said moving the gate is a workable solution because it would steer drivers away from congested intersections in Tillicum and improve traffic flow in the area.
“In my heart of hearts, I think moving the gate to this new location is a benefit to the neighborhood,” he said.
Robin Banko, who lives off Thorne Lane, disagreed.
“It’s already a busy place, and adding 900 more (vehicles) would be quite a stress on area,” she said.
Mann said the fact that Bugher granted the permit last year without the conditions he said were necessary in 2010, when the city opposed the gate move, is evidence the city’s decision was arbitrary and should be reversed.
But City Attorney Heidi Ann Wachter said Bugher changed his mind after receiving new information and conducting further study, evidence of his careful deliberation on the issue.
The appellants also questioned the effectiveness of the conditions in deterring drivers.
Assistant Attorney General Brian Faller said that claim was baseless. He argued on behalf of the military department, which intervened in the appeal.
“There’s vigorous, robust mitigation in the permit and to somehow suggest this isn’t real defies the actual document,” he said.
O’Connor, who is akin to a judge on contested land-use matters, has 10 days to reach his decision unless an extension is agreed upon.
Christian Hill: 253-274-7390
christian.hill@thenewstribune.com
Twitter: @TNTchill
