This writer has noticed certain city institutions seem to be of the mindset that Thurston Highlands’ 5,000 home application is a “slam dunk” for approval. Or at the very least, their actions speak louder than their words.
This writer has observed the following in the last week:
A. The city of Yelm formally sent out a Public Notice for a Thurston Highlands open house with city officials on April 21, just 4 days prior to the April 25 session. Not much advance notice for people to hear about and plan to be there.
B. The Thurston Highlands public session is scheduled for 5pm, prior to the time most can be there as they work in Olympia, Lacey, or Tacoma until 5pm, must drive to Yelm, have dinner and then get there.
C. The city of Yelm has placed the Thurston Highlands link on the right side its own webpage with the Thurston Highlands logo. This is in addition to a hotlink to the Thurston Highlands story on their homepage. Two links all for a private developer; my, how generous and unbiased of the city!
D. The Nisqually Valley News has also placed Thurston Highlands as the ONLY non-NVN business link under Local Business on their homepage, yelmonline.com. This is a direct link to the Thurston Highlands homepage, NOT to the city of Yelm’s application and information on this developer. WHY use the developer’s own marketing link instead of the city’s? How nice of the NVN to market and promote this developer! If the NVN wanted to give their readers information as a “public service”, they should link to the city’s application information on the city site.
E. The April 21st Nisqually Valley News Talk Back question asked the public, “With nothing off the table for Thurston Highlands in Yelm, what would you like to see included in this new 5,000-home development?” This question certainly has the tone and context that the NVN sees this being approved. If not, they would have asked,
something like “What do you think of tripling the growth in Yelm traffic, water consumption, sewage and paving over of green spaces with the Thurston Highlands application for 5,000 homes.”
Bottom line, we need to press city of Yelm officials, Thurston County Regional Planning and Growth Management with the issue of inadequate Comprehensive Planning for the development being entertained. Your voice can be heard at this Open House on Tuesday, April 25th beginning at 5pm at the Yelm Middle School.
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Thank you, Steve, for bringing this information together and providing a place for commentary and observation about the Yelm Community. Did you notice on the Thurston Highlands website that the tab labelled About Thurston Highlands Associates, LLC is nothing more than the City of Yelm’s Telephone Directory?
Steve, I just left a message for Ron Harding on his City Hall number, 458-8401. I told him that I thought the link for Thurston Highlands on the city’s website can only be construed as an ad, not a PSA.
I reminded him that there is a process to be upheld, one that I know well from the Yelm Commerce Group.
I also reminded him of the lecture given by a guest speaker, a lawyer, one night during a Yelm City Council meeting on the appearance of fairness.
The link should be removed immediately.
Thank you Steve. Here is my post: The Yelm City Open House Re Housing Development 5000 Homes: Thurston Highlands is the land that had once been earmarked for a NASCAR
racetrack. Prior to that, the developer was turned down for a housing development due to lack of water available on the land.
Although I did not attend the April 25 open house, I received an eyewitness
report from one who did go. According to this report it was one of viewing the projected development PLANS for 5000 homes near 93rd Ave. Yelm. The following is from a report of what one attendee experienced. My reporter told me that the Developer directed this person to speak with his Faith-Based Expert. When pressed to explain what was meant by Faith-Based, this expert said it was to be a
Christian community with private Christian schools, park, churches.
My reporter then spoke with the Environmental Specialist and the Road
Specialist and was told that they had not begun their studies for this project yet. Projected start of construction was said to be 2008 – (but since this was kept so quiet, it could be sooner.)
My informant reported a sense that this was a passive Christian movement
to counteract the influence of RSE. Last night I contemplated this. Supposedly the housing will be built in increments with the first to be completed in 2008 and the overall plan would take 20 years. The more I contemplated this, what came to
me is not to protest that it will be a Christian faith-based community.
In my contemplation, it came to me to envision students purchasing the homes with
their fabulous weath and to eventually have the RSE University on that land. All things are possible in the quantum world. Another thought came to me about the ‘walls of Jericho came tumbling down’ in the Old Testament. Joshua and his
army were attempting to conquer the city of Jericho. With shouts from his army and trumpets blowing, the walls came tumbling down.
As I contemplated this even more, I realized the shouts and trumpets were frequencies.
His army raised their frequencies with their focus and the trumpets were instruments
of frequencies. This morning I googled the Walls of Jericho and a very timely article
came up dated today – April 26.
Again, the walls come tumbling down – Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/
news/opinion/commentary/
la-oe-laguardia17mar17,0,7412808.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
In a Martin Luther King speech, 3/25/65, King in his famous Civil Rights speech quoted a famous Negro spiritual song
titled: Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho. From the lyrics he quoted:
“Go blow them ramhorns” Joshua cried…
“Cause the battle am in my hand.”
Martin Luther King Speech 3/25/65
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/prestapes/mlk_speech.html
During the public discussions concerning Wal-Mart, Grant Beck was quoted in the NVN as saying that he didn’t want Yelm to become a bedroom community because residential property taxes don’t provide enough revenue for city infrastructure. Ergo, the need for lots of retailers to generate that revenue. Apparently Grant doesn’t see that adding 6000+ homes will add to the bedroom community aspect of Yelm.
Did we elect him?
Steve, I so admire you for drawing attention to the erosion of so many of the features that made Yelm the only place in the world to live.
It was the observation of this trend that prompted me to leave a community I loved so deeply – before it had escalated to the present alarming level.
Whatever the qualities that have been voted for in City officials, foresight & the appreciation of a gentle environment, clearly (sadly), have not been numbered amongst them.
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