The Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) is a nonprofit affordable housing and tiny house village shelter provider in the Puget Sound region hosting the following public meeting on the proposed temporary housing community in Spanaway, Oak View Tiny House Village: What: Community Meeting for Oak View Tiny House Village When: Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, from 5:30-6:30 p.m….
Category: Planning Zoning
PLU Health Center and the Land Use Advisory Commission
The first Wednesday evening of the month is the Parkland-Spanaway-Midland Land Use Advisory Commission. This evening, Pacific Lutheran University brought a concept of their new medical facilities. This Planned Unit Development (PUD) includes a health center for teaching with real patients, an office building, and a hospital. The team brought in a packet of information…
Will there be enough water for the Uplands?
The Uplands by Tarragon is a housing development in South Hill Puyallup. Cindy Beckett-Kempf, an EPA Watershed Manager, has inquired to the County Executive, about the water availability letter provided for the project to move forward, noting it was factually incorrect. This kind of argument is often invisible to the general population of the county….
YOU’RE INVITED: PERMITTING WITH PIERCE COUNTY CLASS
Pierce County Planning and Public Works: Land Division – From Concept to Construction (A 3-part series) This October, Pierce County’s permitting classes launch a three-part series on how to successfully subdivide property. These sessions will cover how a single property can be divided into multiple home sites. For the first time, the series will go…
YOU’RE INVITED: PERMITTING WITH PIERCE COUNTY CLASS
Understanding Recent Land Use and Housing Code Updates Last month, the Pierce County Council adopted updates to the land use and housing regulations. These changes are part of the County’s work to implement its Comprehensive Plan update. They also align with regional growth strategies, including the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Vision 2050 and the state’s Growth Management Act. The…
Community Development and Environment Committee hearings on Proposal No. O2025-516
An Ordinance of the Pierce County Council Adopting Amendments to Pierce County Code Title 4A, “Impact Fees,” Chapter 17C.30, “International Residential Code,” Title 18, “Development Regulations – General Provisions,” Title 18A, “Development Regulations – Zoning,” Title 18B, “Development Regulations – Signs,” Title 18G, “Development Regulations – Conservation Programs,” Title 18J, “Development Regulations – Design Standards…
May 23 court reconsideration hearing for Spanaway Concerned Citizens
UPDATE: The Court stood by its decision, 5/23/2025, 9:34 a.m. Testifying were Atty David Bricklin for Spanaway Concerned Citizens, Atty Margaret Archer for TRM, and Dave Owen for Pierce County. The Honorable Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy has asked for responses from Tacoma Rescue Mission and Pierce County to our motion for reconsideration,…
Is There Enough Water for 48,000 More Residents Moving to Spanaway this Decade?
By Kirk Kirkland and Al Schmauder Will Pierce County be able to meet future demand for clean drinking water required by increasing population and development in the Chambers-Clover watershed? Two years ago, Pierce County altered zoning along Pacific Avenue, 112th Street, Meridian, and 176th Street to allow up to 5 story buildings within one quarter…
Pierce County pilots translation devices to expand language access at the Development Center
PIERCE COUNTY — In an effort to make services more accessible to all community members, Pierce County Planning & Public Works is piloting the use of handheld translation devices in the Development Center Lobby. The new devices support in-person communication in more than 200 languages and dialects, helping reduce language barriers during permitting and development-related…
Thurston County Judge finds for TRM
On Friday, March 28, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy decided in favor of Tacoma Rescue Mission and Pierce County in the court appeal of the Good Neighbor Village permit by the Pierce County Hearings Examiner from the nearly two-week long hearing in May 2024. After testimony from the attorney for the Spanaway Concerned…
Public comment period on SEPA filings on housing rulemaking – Dept. of Commerce
Public comment period opens, SEPA filings on housing rulemaking The Department of Commerce is seeking public input on housing rulemaking documents required by the State Environmental Policy Act. This step is part of the ongoing process to update housing-related sections of the Washington Administrative Code, specifically WAC 365-196 and WAC 365-199. Documents are available for public comment until 5…
Why is the cost of environmental justice so high?
by Kirk Kirkland and Claudia Finseth Two neighborhood groups in unincorporated Pierce County have recently paid very high prices to attempt to protect their communities because the county is not doing it. Both were to try to stop two different kinds of large projects from dramatically changing their valued open space. Both proposed projects were…
Is the “Good Neighbor Village” being a good neighbor?
By Spanaway Concerned Citizens As concerned citizens, we rely on our elected officials to make decisions regarding topics that significantly impact the well-being of our communities — addressing critical issues such as providing housing for our chemically dependent, chronically homeless individuals is undoubtedly important. However, does this effort justify compromising regional environmental integrity and public…
Restoring the people’s faith in Pierce County government: What I would like our new government to know.
by Claudia Riiff Finseth Pierce County will have a new government this month. What will the next four years be like? Will they be more of the same as the last eight years? I have great hope that they will be different. Different, first and foremost, in restoring a healthy county democracy. This can be done…
Pierce County’s Non-Significance
One of the hallmarks of the past eight years under County Executive Bruce Dammeier was the prolific use of the DNS, Determination of Non-Significance. It is a term used in land development after an environmental review form is filled out and a plan for development is submitted. In the past eight years, I cannot recall…
Changes to application resubmittal upload process begin Dec. 13
PIERCE COUNTY PPW– As part of our commitment to improving the permitting process, Pierce County will implement changes to the online resubmittal procedure starting Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. What’s changing? Currently, applicants can resubmit or upload documents at any time in the review process via the orange “I Want To” dropdown menu in the online permits…
When the faucet is dry…
By Marianne Lincoln Where did the water go? That is a question a lot of us have been asking for years. It is the end of November. Clover Creek is still dry in From Brookdale Golf Course to Midland and Spanaway Loop Road. The Chambers Clover Creek Watershed is based on a Sole Source Aquifer….
BRT, Cross Base, and other fictitious creatures
EDITORIAL OPINION Around 1995, folks living on 174th Street wanted some traffic control measures added to their street due to high traffic and safety issues. The County Council promised to put $2 million into the issues. That $2 million was reallocated to a project in Gig Harbor a couple weeks later. Spanaway and Frederickson had…
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…