Joint Base Lewis-McChord Growth Coordination
“Communities surrounding Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) have experienced a significant rate of population growth and economic expansion due to a variety of Department of Defense initiatives. The Department of Defense, Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) is funding a year-long planning process to proactively address the effects of existing and anticipated growth on communities surrounding the base through the development of a JBLM Growth Coordination Plan. The Growth Coordination planning process, administered by the City of Lakewood, is currently underway and includes all the major jurisdictions and service area stakeholders in the study areas region. AECOM, an international consulting firm with offices in Seattle, has been retained to facilitate and lead the planning process. The AECOM team includes members with local knowledge and national expertise in military growth plans, land use planning in Washington State, housing, healthcare, education, economics, and transportation. The project team and stakeholders are identifying community “gaps” that exist or are projected to occur in the southern Puget Sound region as a result of the anticipated military growth at JBLM through 2015.”

Study Area
“The JBLM Growth Coordination Plan will generate detailed analyses and recommendations for the study area that extends from the southern portion of the City of Tacoma in Pierce County south to the cities of Lacey and Yelm in Thurston County…”. View the study area map”

“Please send us your feedback and comments on project materials by emailing nancy.bird@aecom.com. Please check back often for updated project information.”

UPDATE:
Lewis-McChord to grow by thousands of soldiers
“The Army on Friday [Sept. 10] formally announced its plans to station up to 5,680 more active-duty soldiers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, boosting the areas economy and the nations military strength while placing further demands on local roads, housing and schools.”
By Christian Hill, Military News – The News Tribune.

Lewis-McChord growth could test infrastructure
By Christian Hill in The News Tribune.