Saturday, June 14, 2008
Looking Industriously to the Future
Monday night, the Lakewood City Council will consider a contract with a company that would help plan development in American Lake Gardens. That we are being methodical about filling out this area is no surprise; the council decided in our retreat we want to do current projects well and not swing out in new directions.
What's intriguing is a staff report that says the $90,000 cost of the contract with Huitt-Zollars might be shared with the Port of Tacoma. It's exciting to know the Port of Tacoma, a major employer and potent international business force, is interested in American Lake Gardens. But that interest is also just common sense. Think how rare it is to find large acreage of industrially-zoned land right next to Interstate 5. The potential is obvious. Here's hoping any partnership will lead to a better American Lake Gardens, and a lot more jobs for our young folk and everyone else in the city.
The contract sounds to me at first blush like a good idea. We don't want the area to become just a bunch of empty warehouses with very few jobs; so master industrial planning will be important. We don't want the area to develop piecemeal although the forces in Lakewood that always shout "Hey, let's do things the cheapest, shlockiest way" may surface to oppose this contract. And there may be good reasons to be critical of it; more information is needed.
Among the topics that would be covered in the study and planning:
- Study of the relationship and potential conflicts, if any, with McChord Air Force Base
- The character of industrial land supply and demand right now with an eye for who might want to locate here.
- Identifying the cost-benefits of investing in various infrastructure for the area
- A plan for what happens if people who live in the area now are displaced when propertown owners sell land
- Transportation issues (can you say 'cross-base highway?' among other such issues)
- And studies of what the best zoning and businesses might be for the property.
It's a mouthful of issues.
I look forward to learning more at the Monday. And for those of you who have been following our little blogging tempest in a teapot, don't panic, I will report back to you after the meeting :)
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What's intriguing is a staff report that says the $90,000 cost of the contract with Huitt-Zollars might be shared with the Port of Tacoma. It's exciting to know the Port of Tacoma, a major employer and potent international business force, is interested in American Lake Gardens. But that interest is also just common sense. Think how rare it is to find large acreage of industrially-zoned land right next to Interstate 5. The potential is obvious. Here's hoping any partnership will lead to a better American Lake Gardens, and a lot more jobs for our young folk and everyone else in the city.
The contract sounds to me at first blush like a good idea. We don't want the area to become just a bunch of empty warehouses with very few jobs; so master industrial planning will be important. We don't want the area to develop piecemeal although the forces in Lakewood that always shout "Hey, let's do things the cheapest, shlockiest way" may surface to oppose this contract. And there may be good reasons to be critical of it; more information is needed.
Among the topics that would be covered in the study and planning:
- Study of the relationship and potential conflicts, if any, with McChord Air Force Base
- The character of industrial land supply and demand right now with an eye for who might want to locate here.
- Identifying the cost-benefits of investing in various infrastructure for the area
- A plan for what happens if people who live in the area now are displaced when propertown owners sell land
- Transportation issues (can you say 'cross-base highway?' among other such issues)
- And studies of what the best zoning and businesses might be for the property.
It's a mouthful of issues.
I look forward to learning more at the Monday. And for those of you who have been following our little blogging tempest in a teapot, don't panic, I will report back to you after the meeting :)
