NE Lacey residents frustrated by growth, council committee learns
Northeast Lacey residents are frustrated by growth.
The frustrations were aired at a Nov. 15 open house about neighborhood commercial districts held at Salish Middle School, not far from a well-known flash point known as Meridian Market & Gas, a convenience store and gas station planned for an area zoned neighborhood commercial.
The open house feedback was recapped this week for the Land Use and Environment Committee, which includes council members Carolyn Cox and Robin Vazquez.
Cox asked staff to characterize the mood of the people who attended the event.
“Frustrated,” said Planning Commission Manager Ryan Andrews, who was at the event to answer questions.
Andrews said people have moved into the area with certain expectations that haven’t matched reality.
“Essentially we have a new population that lives out there,” Andrews said. Many northeast Lacey residents moved from areas that had traffic congestion, a lot of development, or warehouses with truck uses.
He said they pictured this area as an enclave, but they also didn’t do their research.
“They became increasingly frustrated as the land uses that had been planned for the better part of 30-40 years came to fruition,” he said.
And now they are asking: What can we do about it? Andrews said.
“They feel like they haven’t had a voice because they weren’t part of the community when those decisions were made,” he said.
Residents also expressed concern that the city is allowing unplanned growth to occur willy-nilly and they are frustrated by council decisions.
Council member Vazquez asked how much of the frustration was about zoning or the quasi-judicial process that prohibits city council members from talking to the public about impending projects.
Community and Economic Development Director Rick Walk acknowledged that the quasi-judicial process was part of the discussion.
“The biggest frustration (for residents) is not being able to talk to their elected officials,” he said.
In certain land-use cases that involve a hearings examiner, the city council is the decision-making body, which means they are not allowed to communicate with residents to maintain the appearance of fairness.
The open house was held Nov. 15. Two days later the council voted 4-3 to make no changes to the quasi-judicial process, despite a staff recommendation to change it. Staff recommended giving the hearings examiner the final decision and taking the council out of the process so they can talk to their constituents.
