County move delays cargo center

Commissioners ban development at Maytown site for 6 months

By Keri Brenner and Jim Szymanski | The Olympian • Published April 16, 2008

In a surprise move, Thurston County imposed an emergency six-month ban on development at the site of a proposed Port of Tacoma cargo facility in Maytown.

County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday for a moratorium at the 745-acre property, effective at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"This gives everybody some breathing room," Commissioner Diane Oberquell said. She said the move was necessary to freeze development activity because a pending request to rezone the land was so complex that county staff members might not have been able to process it in a timely fashion.

"We were concerned that we wanted to preserve everyone's rights," Oberquell said.

A public hearing on the ban will be set within 60 days.

The action temporarily blocks action on the fate of the Tacoma port's property on Maytown Road about 21/2 miles east of Interstate 5. Activists, led by a group called Friends of Rocky Prairie, oppose the Tacoma port's plans to develop the site as a trucking and rail cargo center because it is surrounded by a wildlife preserve and near Millersylvania State Park.

"It's a very wise, prudent step from them to prevent any ill use of the property," said Sharron Coontz, a Friends of Rocky Prairie spokeswoman.

Coontz said the ban would "buy us some time to get all the agencies together to try to figure out a way to get this land back and put it under the auspices of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife."

Ed Galligan, the Port of Olympia's executive director, said the county's move gives all parties interested in the Maytown property more time for discussion as to how the land might be used.

"I don't think a six-month moratorium has any adverse affect on anybody," Galligan said.

The Olympia port has an agreement to study developing the site with the Port of Tacoma, which owns the property. The ports' joint agreement expires in June, after which it could end or be extended.

Port of Olympia Commissioner Paul Telford said he was unsure whether the moratorium would affect any decision about extending an agreement to study developing the Maytown property into a cargo center.

A Port of Tacoma spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Background

On March 26, more than 80 people attended a county public meeting to support rezoning the industrial land to long-term agriculture or low-density rural residential development.

Coontz said more than 2,000 people have signed a petition protesting the Tacoma port's plans and supporting the rezoning request.

The Port of Tacoma bought the Maytown site in 2006 for $22 million for use as a possible location for a South Sound Logistics Center. In addition to the Maytown site, the Port of Tacoma has identified two more possible locations in Thurston County and one in Lewis County, but the port does not own any of the alternative sites.

Keri Brenner covers Thurston County for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5435 or kbrenner@theolympian.com.

Jim Szymanski is the business editor for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-357-0748 or jszymanski@theolympian.com.