“The City of Yelm Community Development Department has issued the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Thurston Highlands Master Planned Community, and is in the process of distributing it to agencies and interested parties…

The Draft EIS contains a description of the project and how it may impact all elements of the environment, from air quality, groundwater quality and quantity, water quality and flooding along Thompson Creek, traffic, and even public services provided by the City. An EIS is meant to ensure that the decision makers, in this case the Hearing Examiner and City Council, have a full understanding of the choices they make in approving or denying a project and what conditions are appropriate to mitigate potential impacts. The EIS by itself does not approve or condition a project, it just reports the impacts and potential mitigation measures.

The Draft EIS is subject to a 45 day comment period, which ends on July 28th. During that time period, there will be two open houses at the Yelm High School commons, both from 5 PM to 8 PM to be held on Wednesday June 25th and Wednesday July 16th…

After the close of the comment period, CDD will respond to each comment received. Depending on the comments, this may even entail additional technical studies. The response to comments becomes the Final Environmental Impact Statement and after that point the actual Master Planned Community application will be modified based on the Final EIS, and heard by the Hearing Examiner and City Council,” quoting the City of Yelm (then click “Thurston Highlands Draft EIS”).

Comments on the Draft EIS should be sent to:

Grant Beck, Community Development Director
City of Yelm
P.O. Box 479
Yelm, WA 98597
or emailed to highlands@ci.yelm.wa.us

NOW IS THE TIME FOR THE PUBLIC TO COMMENT OFFICIALLY!
THIS 45 DAY PERIOD IS VERY IMPORTANT TO GET YOUR COMMENTS ON THE RECORD!