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Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 2014 | 75 cents
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Traffic light to help Watson intersection
What’s Inside Obituaries.........................Page 3 Police Blotter...................Page 4 Views...................................Page 6 Sports.................................Page 8 Classified...........................Page 20
Department of Transportation plans to flip light switch a few days before Christmas
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By Kevin Hanson Senior Writer
Garbage pick-up City of Enumclaw offices will be closed for Christmas on Dec. 25. If your normal garbage collection is on Thursday, have your garbage and recycling out for pick-up by 6 a.m. Dec. 24. Friday’s garbage schedule will not be affected by the holiday.
Weather The forecast for today, Wednesday, calls for mostly cloudy skies and showers with a high to 45 and overnight lows to 36. Rain is expected Thursday with a high to 49 and low to 39. Friday and Saturday looks like showers with a high to 45. Sunday expect cloudy skies and rain with a high to 49.
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Santa Claus Rides on the Fire Truck
Santa Claus traveled the streets of Enumclaw from Dec. 10 to Saturday riding on top of the Fire District 28 fire truck during the annual Santa Run. Fire District 28 career firefighters and the Enumclaw Volunteer Firefighter Association sponsored the event and Fugate Ford donated the use of a Ford F-150 to help collect toys and food donations. The group with Santa are Logan Harrison, Shyanne Good, Samantha Good, Jazmyn Daily and Teiah Good. Photo by Dennis Box
Pierce County gives thumbs down to cities’ growth area requests Buckley, Carbonado and Bonney Lake ask Pierce County to expand Urban Growth Areas By Kevin Hanson Senior Writer
Cities looking to expand their influence were met with unanimous rejection last week. Buckley, Carbonado and Bonney Lake had asked the Pierce County Planning Commission to expand their Urban Growth Areas – in some cases adding small parcels and minimal acreage, in other cases taking in large and valuable chunks of real estate.
While Buckley and Carbonado had filed just one request each with Pierce County, Bonney Lake was much more ambitious, putting eight requests into the hopper. While county planners had recommended that nine of the 10 be denied, the Planning Commission went one step further and turned thumbs down on all. Each of the 10 requests had been debated during a Dec. 9 public hearing in Tacoma. Members of the Planning Commission deliberated during evening sessions Dec. 10 and 11 before rendering their decisions. The UGA process is now three-quarters complete. Cities made their proposal, county staff offered recommendations and the Planning Commission has issued its verdict. All that remains is a vote by the Pierce County Council,
A new traffic light is hovering over the intersection of state Route 410 and Watson Street, but it will not be put into operation until next week. The traffic light, which will control a busy intersection dominated by Safeway on one side and McDonald’s on the other, has been installed as part of a months-long project undertaken by the state Department of Transportation. It was included in the repaving of Griffin Avenue from High Point Street to Watson, a project that carried a total
SEE LIGHT, PAGE 5 which is not bound to follow recommendations by staff or the commission. Action by the council isn’t expected to until mid-February, at least. Cities ask for their Urban Growth Areas to be expanded for a variety of reasons, but a common element is that such requests involve rural land being changed to something allowing higher density. And, while expanding a UGA does not mean annexation, it’s a start. Land cannot be annexed into a city unless it’s first in a UGA. Here are the following requests considered last week by the Pierce County Planning Commission. Carbonado: the small town’s proposal would have seen land designations change from Forest Lands and Rural 20 to Moderate Density SingleFamily. The proposal includes 22 parcels totaling approximately 686 acres. County staff said the city lacks the necessary infrastructure to handle growth and, further, that an expanded UGA would not help protect the city’s watershed.
SEE GROWTH, PAGE 5