By Marianne Lincoln Good Neighbor Village, the village of tiny homes that the Tacoma Rescue Mission and the Pierce County Executive’s office are trying to build in Spanaway, had a groundbreaking today, November 21, 2024. The event was an invitation only event at the farm site near the intersection of 176th and Spanaway Loop Road….
Category: Pierce County
Cooperative purchases mobile home park, preserving affordable housing in Parkland
[Editors note: It is always very sad to hear a mobile park is selling off to developers. So many people are displaced and find it extremely difficult to find affordable housing elsewhere. They may also be elderly or disabled and the process of moving is absolutely daunting. This is a pleasant change to that sad…
Clover Creek, groundwater, urbanization, beaver dams, watershed issues discussion Nov 20
Clover Creek is dry most of the year. Water companies are extending water lines across the county to other water company areas to provide water for new construction. Surface water runoff from Military Road is pouring straight into Spanaway Creek. Beavers are trying to build a dam between Spanaway Lake and the little Spanaway Lake…
Watershed Issues Forum Nov. 20
The Chambers Clover Creek Watershed Council will be presenting their annual Issues Forum on November 20 at Sprinker Recreation Center. The event will begin with an optional field trip at 1:15 p.m. and followed by the presentations in the Rainier Room upstairs starting at 2:30 p.m. Registration is required, link provided below. Theme: UrbanizationSchedule1:15pm Optional…
CDEC to Hold Public Hearing on Comprehensive Plan Update Proposal
The Council’s Community Development and Environment Committee (CDEC) will hold its first public hearing on the proposed 2024 Comprehensive Plan update on Monday, Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m. in the Pierce County Council Chambers. The CDEC will likely continue its deliberations on the Comprehensive Plan update to its Monday, Nov. 18 meeting to allow time…
Pierce Cty Elections media tours and interviews available Nov. 4-5
PIERCE COUNTY — Pierce County Auditor Linda Farmer and Elections Manager Kyle Haugh will conduct media tours and interviews on Monday, Nov. 4, and Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Pierce County Elections Center, 2501 S. 35th St. Suite C, Tacoma. These Election Center tours will show and…
Nov 4 Council Committee Comp Plan Hearing
TACOMA – The Council’s Community Development and Environment Committee (CDEC) will hold its first public hearing on the 2024 proposed Comprehensive Plan update on Monday, Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m. in the Pierce County Council Chambers. What: Public Hearing on the Proposed Comprehensive Plan UpdateWhen: Monday, Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m.Where: Pierce County Council Chambers, 930 Tacoma…
Mid-County Leadership met Wednesday
By Marianne Lincoln The Parkland-Spanaway-Midland Community Plan Area is an unincorporated part of Pierce County, but it is growing by leaps and bounds due to the housing shortage. The worst of it all, is that the three are older communities and lack the infrastructure to deal with the new growth. Sidewalks streetlights, traffic signals, doctors,…
Oct 14 – Loop Road Closure
PIERCE COUNTY – October 4 update With the sewer construction work progressing on 116th Street South, we anticipate Spanaway Loop Road South will close between 116th Street South and Garfield Street South starting Monday, October 14. The closure is expected to continue into early 2025. Local access will remain available for emergency vehicles and residents…
Good Neighbor Village? hmmm…
Yes, that is the newest name of the tiny home village the Tacoma Rescue Mission and the Pierce County Executive’s office is trying to build in Spanaway., “Good Neighbor Village.” Well, wouldn’t good neighbors follow the county code when they build their operation? Apparently, like when the Mosier home was torn down, they are starting…
Historic Preservation Grants Open to Sept 30
The list is not as long as it should be. History needs to be better preserved in Pierce County and the Pierce County Landmarks and Historic Preservation Commission is seeking those who want to help catalog and preserve it. Their historic preservation grants help rebuild places that are intrinsically historic and unique to our past….
Sept 7 protest and bake sale, Zoning changes
Spanaway Concerned Citizens will be having a protest sign waving and fundraising bake sale at 176th Street and Spanaway Loop Road on Saturday, September 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is not yet a decision on the appealed items from the Hearings Examiner’s office. That decision is expected very soon. A group of…
Alert! County changing zoning in sub plan areas
Sliding in a bit under the radar for the average land use change is a state mandated Comprehensive Plan Review. The reason is, state law changes and Comp. Plans need to stay current. This review and resulting changes don’t come with public notice or yellow signs posted on a neighbor’s property. No, this is only…
August 17 – Come see the Sprinker Refresh!
Exciting times ahead at Sprinker Recreation Center! We have a day packed with exploring our new outdoor amenities and fun activities. Rock climbing and sports clinics on our new synthetic turf and refurbished courts await you! 11 a.m. to 11:35 a.m. there will be a reopening ceremony. Plus, enjoy the new spray park, fitness court,…
Pierce County Fair in Graham Aug 8-11
Ya Gotta Go to Graham! is their mantra. What they are talking about is the Pierce County Fair at Frontier Park in Graham, Washington. That’s at 217th Street and Meridian (SR161). If you are a 4-H veteran, you know this is a step in the process of getting to the Washington State fair in Puyallup….
Get healthy, live longer, join us!
The following events are taking place in August with the Blue Zones Project Parkland-Spanaway. Blue Zones are places in the world that the National Geographic identified as places that people commonly live to be 100. Parkland Spanaway is not one of them, in fact, we have the lowest life expectancy on an average than the…
County Proposal No. O2024-539 to facilitate a more streamlined review process for all project applications, PPW, hearing July 15, Aug. 20
July 15 is a committee hearing in Community Development and Environment Committee, August 20 is the proposed final Council approval date. Use this link to see the “packet” which summarizes what they are amending in the development codes. “In 2023, Planning and Public works established the Workflow Improvement Project(WIP) to identify opportunities and implementation strategies…
Biennial Comprehensive Plan Amendments will not be initiated in 2024
[Editor note: in case this is confusing, this means no changes are being made to the comprehensive plan through this process in this cycle. The next cycle for review is in 2 years. Citizens rarely submit comp plan amendments, it is usually developers. Citizens just have to spend time watching, commenting and trying not to…
Transform traffic boxes into community art
The Pierce County Arts Commission (PCAC) invites artists residing within Pierce County to participate in a unique opportunity to beautify their communities once more. Applications are now being accepted online to submit artwork that can be applied to traffic signal boxes throughout unincorporated Pierce County. “We are thrilled to continue this successful program with a renewed call…
Stop building cul-de-sacs in unincorporated county
EDITORIAL OPINION Years ago, when the Spanaway Community Association was starting and the Growth Management Act was in its infancy, Pierce County explained to us that the housing developments with cul-de-sacs were useful to slow crime. The county was allowing, mostly even, asking developers to build all these little pocket communities on large parcels. Each…