A proposal is being made to change the zoning at the Beaver Creek Dairy Farm adjacent to I-5 exit 95 from Rural Resource (RR) to Rural Resource Industrial (RRI). This rezone would allow the building of a large warehouse/distribution center.
Please consider commenting and asking the Thurston County Board of Commissioners (BoCC) to refuse the rezone application. This zoning request should not be fast-tracked ahead of other comprehensive amendments already on the docket. Comments must be received by maya.teeple@nullco.thurston.wa.us by 5 pm, March 19.
Feel free toinclude any point(s) from the discussion below, and if possible, describe how the project relates to your own life. A very short comment is fine; the number of citizens speaking out is what is most important.
The 390-acre farm is currently zoned for housing on 5-acre lots, forestry, and agricultural use. It is at 13333 Case Rd. SW, Olympia, and 5 miles south of Tumwater’s Urban Growth Boundary.
This property is valuable working farmland protected by the Growth Management Act. For information about farmland preservation aspects of this rezone visit: https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/14342?ref=360.
The Growth Management Act guidelines seek to protect rural lands. With new warehousing approved and/or in the pipeline in Thurston County, it seems unnecessary to rush this application onto the ’20-’21 docket at the expense of other deserving projects on the docket.
Environmental Considerations by Black Hills Audubon Society
- Protect Wildlife Corridor
The Beaver Creek Dairy Farm is in the heart of rural Thurston County. An “unofficial” wildlife corridor runs from Capitol Forest in west Thurston along and around Beaver Creek, under I-5 at exit 95, then over to West Rocky Prairie Preserve, and onto to JBLM in east Thurston County. This route allows animals to avoid crossing the pavement of I-5. Conservation Northwest, the non-profit organization that helped develop the Snoqualmie I-5 Wildlife Corridor, believes that the area between milepost 93 and milepost 98 of I-5 is a valuable wildlife corridor area, with the I-5 underpass at exit 95 an important crossing location.
Any large warehouse complex and its parking at the Beaver Creek Dairy site would involve extensive impervious surfaces from buildings and parking lots (perhaps millions of square feet). Lights, truck traffic, and noise would drastically interfere with the migration of land mammals, from elk to weasels, as well as birds and butterflies on aerial pathways.
2. Beaver Creek is an Aquifer Recharge Area with Coho Salmon
Beaver Creek, one of five Black River tributaries monitored under the Shoreline Management Act, flows southwest through the southeastern quarter of the Beaver Creek Dairy property. Beaver Creek and its wetlands are critical areas protected under the Growth Management Act. Creek buffers would be required with industrial development, but even if expanded beyond required widths, buffers would likely be inadequate protection from a huge industrial site.
Thousands of acres of conservation lands that protect prairie and wildlife habitat have been established along or near the Black River downstream and west of the dairy property. They include the Black River National Wildlife Refuge (wetlands and riparian areas), Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve, Glacier Heritage (a County Prairie Park), and many Capitol Land Trust sites. Millersylvania State Park is a few miles to the east.
Coho Salmon migrate through the property to spawn in the creeks of West Rocky Prairie, upstream from Beaver Creek Dairy property. Impervious surfaces will increase flooding downstream of the proposed sites. High waters can be substantially detrimental to migrating Coho salmon. Toxic spills and runoff could cause water quality degradation in Beaver Creek.
Because of these many environmental concerns, please write a short comment to the commissioners asking them to reject the re-zoning application.
