In response to the City of Bonney Lake’s opposition to Orton Junction at Pierce County Regional Council, Sumner’s Mayor Dave Enslow has sent a letter to Councilman Mark Hamilton telling him their towns are big enough for the both of them.

More specifically, their towns are big enough to support competing retail businesses, Enslow said.

The disagreement relates to Sumner’s so-called “Orton Junction application,” a Comprehensive Urban Growth Area amendment that would re-designate 182 acres of agricultural and designated resource lands to an urban land use designation. The new designation would allow 122 acres of the land to be developed for commercial use, additionally allowing for multi-family dwellings, and a long-coveted YMCA.

Sumner is currently awaiting a vote by the Pierce County Council that will determine whether the re-designation can take place.

Hamilton, a Bonney Lake councilman and member of the Pierce County Regional Council, approached his city council July 19 to seek an opinion on Sumner’s project. He said he thought Orton Junction would be an economic threat to Bonney Lake.

Hamilton cited the project’s two-mile proximity to Bonney Lake’s downtown commercial lands, and the fact that those lands weren’t acknowledged in Sumner’s appliction, as reasons of concern.

The council agreed with Hamilton’s assessment and gave their approval for him to oppose the UGA amendment at the July 21 Regional Council meeting.

Pierce County Regional Council voted to recommend the approval of Sumner’s proposed amendment.

Enslow responded to Hamilton’s concerns by writing that Orton Junction would leave plenty of commercial space for both cities.

“Partially to ensure that there was capacity for both cities, we commissioned an in-depth economic analysis before submitting our [UGA] proposal to Pierce County,” he wrote, going on to describe a primary purpose of the study as determining impact on nearby commercial lands. “The study revealed a very large reservoir of unmet retail need in east Pierce County – far more than could ever be located at Orton Junction… Specifically, the study calculated that over 2.3 million square feet of new retail could be supported in the east Pierce County area between now and 2030. Since the Orton Junction proposal anticipates only about 350,000 square feet of new retail, this research demonstrates that Bonney lake can look forwardt o competing for nearly 2 million square feet of retail over the next twenty years.”

Sumner officials hoped to compare the study against Bonney Lake’s plans for Downtown and Eastown, Enslow wrote, but the requests were not fulfilled, requiring educated guesses to be made.

Enslow also wrote that the study found east Pierce residents driving to King County for their retail needs, and that he looked forward to working with Bonney Lake to building a full-service east Pierce County.

Following the Regional Council vote to recommend approval of the UGA amendment, the Pierce County Planning Commission voted July 26 to recommend denying the amendment. County staff has recommended denying the amendment.

The amendment will most likely go to Pierce County Council for a vote in mid-August, according to a source in the county planning department.