Sumner UGA Appeal

Sumner Land Plan not a done deal  - your support is needed!

Last month, the Pierce County Council set a dangerous precedent that will destroy Puyallup and Orting Valley farmland.  The Council’s action permits a developer to use 144 acres of protected farmland south of Highway 410 for retail and housing development.  This action defied the advice of the county’s planning staff, the planning commission, and countless concerned citizens who rightfully argued that paving over this farmland was neither necessary nor allowed by state law.

Luckily, we do not have to sit by and watch this farmland be paved over - we can hold Pierce County accountable.  By doing so, we can start a new legacy for Pierce County – one that stops piecemeal actions like these that are jeopardizing our working farms.

Help us reverse this precedent by supporting an appeal to the Growth Management Hearings Board. 

Over the last ten years, Pierce County has lost more acres of its farmland than any other county in Western Washington.  It’s precisely because of piecemeal actions like this Sumner amendment.  The farmland in the Valley is some of the best soils in the country; we cannot afford to lose more.

That’s why we spent the past several months educating the County on why they needed to continue to protect this farmland.  Unfortunately, powerful moneyed interests were able to sway the Council in the other direction. A successful legal appeal is now essential if our growth policies protecting prime farmland are to be enforced locally.

Farmland is precious. Once we lose farmland, it is gone forever.  Help us reverse this trend. 

Our chances of success are very strong.  Will you join us?

A successful appeal would reverse the precedent the County Council has created by preventing the future conversion of the remaining valley farmlands.  It would hold the County accountable to its own laws.  And this appeal would ensure that our community’s shared vision for continuing farming in the Orting Valley will take precedence over more poorly planned commercial and residential development.