Thurston County Democrats

You may have heard of the building moratorium declared by the city in response to questions about construction in the Chambers Creek area of Southeast Olympia. In a nutshell, the city was growing, but it is not clear that it was managing.

For the August [27th TCD Central Committee] meeting, a member of the Chambers Creek neighborhood association will come to discuss one neighborhood’s experience coping with the explosive growth confronting Thurston County.

While the county has committed to the ideal of infill within city limits in order to limit growth in rural areas, city residents have encountered practical problems with that approach. 

Many of the city’s undeveloped areas are undeveloped for good reasons, often having to do with drainage. Chambers Creek is a classic example. Years ago, part of Chambers Lake was drained to create farmland. On the map, farmland looks like good land for building. But where is the water going to go?  When a large development went in without adequate permitting, the answer became clear enough last winter: over the road.

The Chambers Creek group learned that it is not always easy to get city officials to pay attention, and the complex mosaic of land management does not always bear a common-sense resemblance to how ecosystems or neighborhoods function on the ground.

Government of Chambers Creek is parted out, in various configurations, to Olympia, Lacey, Thurston County, the ditch commission, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Ecology. How do citizens work through that maze? Yet how could anyone in government possibly see the whole without their help?

Chambers Creek residents also learned how intimately developers and cities are connected.  The term “impact fee” is abstract. What is not so abstract is the expected  quid pro quo: allow construction to get your sidewalk, for example. Besides the question of whether this is a good way to grow a city, there is also the question of whether it actually works.

Does all this sound familiar? Do you have a story to share? The August meeting will be a good time talk about it – for Chambers Creek and beyond.