Rezone request was spurred by enforcement action. Here’s how Lacey commissioners reacted

Lacey Planning Commissioners were briefed Wednesday about a rezone request in the city’s urban growth area that stems from a land-use violation.

That prompted questions and concerns about the request. Although the commission was prepared to make a recommendation on Wednesday — a recommendation that will ultimately be shared with Thurston County officials — that isn’t expected to happen now until next month, Lacey Planning Manager Ryan Andrews said.

At issue is an 8-acre parcel of land on the south side of Martin Way East that is west of Marvin Road and near the supermarket WinCo Foods. The property is occupied by a trailer dealership, but the land falls in two different zoning designations: mixed-use high density corridor and low-density residential.

It also is in unincorporated Thurston County, but will eventually become part of the city, since it is in the city’s urban growth area.

An enforcement action has prompted the rezone request, Andrews said. “They took down all the trees on the southern part (of the parcel), moved all of the trailers without any kind of land-use approval, and then also, by the way, it was zoned low-density residential,” he said.

Commissioners asked how any of that happened in the first place. Andrews reminded them that their only role is to make a recommendation to the county’s planning commission.

“We don’t control the land-use approvals,” he said. “We don’t control the code enforcement issues that are along there. Those are all the responsibilities of Thurston County.”

The Olympian reached out to the Trailer Boss business and heard from owner Steve Fine on Thursday. He referred The Olympian to well-known county resident Jon Petit, who he has hired to help him with the rezone request, he said.

Petit, perhaps best known for frequently addressing county commissioners during the public comment portions of their meetings, confirmed his role and added that he is often contacted by property owners who are having “difficulty with the county.”

The 8-acre parcel has two different zoned areas because of an historical boundary line adjustment that happened long before there were clear growth management rules, according to county information shared with The Olympian.

Petit said Fine removed trees from the site and that triggered a complaint to the county. Petit argued that those trees were in danger of falling down anyway, but rather than fight the county over the right to clear the property, his client is now seeking to rezone the property so that the entire parcel would be zoned mixed-use high density corridor, which is common along the Martin Way corridor.

The north end of the parcel — the part that is closest to Martin Way — is zoned mixed-use high density corridor. The south end of the parcel is zoned low-density residential.

Planning Manager Andrews said he recently talked to county staff who said the trailers have been moved off the southern portion of the site, but the trees are gone.

Planning commissioners wrestled with the situation.

Commissioner Spencer Zeman pointed out the property already abuts a residential area.

Commissioner Jeff Gadman, a former Lacey council member and the current Thurston County Treasurer, said it would be one thing if the property owner was pitching a rezone request for a specific development or to sell the property, but this is, “I want you to get me out of my violations.”

Gadman also raised concerns about a rezone that would eliminate the low-density housing zoning on the site.

“One of the big concerns that we have as a jurisdiction is a lack of housing, and especially for the elderly, right? So removing this from the high potential for housing, I think, is a mistake,” he said.

Andrews added the low-density zoning, which would accommodate up to six units per acre, could produce 49 units of housing.

“That’s something to keep in mind,” he told the commission.

For more about the rezone request, visit the county website .