By Marianne Lincoln

Spanaway Concerned Citizens is raising money to fight a Pierce County Executive’s project to build a village of tiny homes to house homeless individuals with drug, alcohol and mental health problems. These are the hardest people to bring into a stable housing situation. There is a plan. (You can see it at this link, and an update.) Tacoma Rescue Mission was asked to be the non-profit organization who will run the program. The controversy is not so much the project need, it is the watershed where it is to be located.

The neighbors who live near this site have a website and a plan too. It involves raising money for any attorney to represent their side of the issue. Here is their website, please help them if you are so moved. It is not easy to go against the deep pockets the government has for this.

There is a hearing on this project with the Pierce County Hearings Examiner beginning April 29, 2024. at Sprinker Recreation Center, Rainier Room (upstairs) beginning at 9 a.m. and continuing through the week.

I went on the walk the citizen group planned for the three Saturdays in April. I have taken this walk many times and am very familiar with the area and its history. I mostly wanted to make sure the tour guide knew some of that history as well. Because of my connection to the Descendants of Fort Nisqually Employees Association, I have many files of information on local pre-American settler history. I have posted my historical comments in another article.

This is a collection of photos from April 20, 2024 at the site of the proposed Pierce County Village. Under the Cross Base Highway sign – another broken promise.