In what Lakewood calls the first appeal of a right of way permit in the city’s 15-year history, a Tillicum neighborhood group is contesting the city’s granting of a permit to allow Camp Murray to move its main gate.
The Tillicum Action Committee filed a six-page appeal Thursday saying the city’s environmental review was insufficient.
It asks the city’s hearing examiner to reverse the decision allowing construction of a gate at Portland Avenue and Boundary Street. It also asks the examiner to order the city to hold a public hearing and complete a review that fully addresses the impacts of moving the gate.
Officials at the Washington Military Department, which is leading the project, have said the gate’s current site near Berkeley Street and Union Avenue is unsafe because it’s too close to the busy intersection, an antiquated Interstate 5 interchange and a rail line.
The state has secured millions of dollars for a new gate at Camp Murray, the 240-acre headquarters of the state Army and Air Force national guards. The permit granted by the city Oct. 10 allows the military department to connect the proposed gate to Lakewood streets.
The appeal says the city failed to hold a public hearing and formally adopt the environmental study used by the military department to justify the gate move.
The appellants say the new location would drive more vehicles onto quiet neighborhood streets and block access to the Eagle Point gated neighborhood during emergencies or periods of increased security.
The environmental study failed to address those safety impacts, according to the appeal.
Mixing civilian and military traffic “poses some significant risks to the community and its residents,” said Pat O’Brien, a committee member.
David Bugher, Lakewood’s community development director and one of two department directors who issued the permit, declined to comment Friday because he and the city attorney’s office haven’t formally reviewed the appeal.
Bugher expected a decision would be reached by the hearing examiner by the end of the year. A hearing date hasn’t been set. The military department could intervene in the appeal, Bugher said.
City Manager Andrew Neiditz said the city respects the rights of all parties through the appeal process.
The city’s spokesman has said the permit was lawfully granted, and it requires the military department to pay for improvements to deter Camp Murray gate users from using neighborhood streets.
Projects include installing raised crosswalks on Portland Avenue, putting in signs to identify a travel route for Camp Murray drivers, and paying the city $100,000 for unspecified future “traffic-calming” projects, if needed.
The Tillicum Action Committee, which advises the Tillicum-Woodbrook Neighborhood Association on transportation issues, hired a Seattle-based law firm, Gendler & Mann LLP, to represent it in the appeals process. It has vowed to exhaust its appeals to try to stop the gate relocation.
No other appeals had been filed, Bugher said. The deadline is 5 p.m. Monday.
Christian Hill: 253-274-7390
christian.hill@thenewstribune.com
Twitter: @TNTchill
