• Editor’s note: While I am elated at the vote of approval for this well-researched Downtown Transportation Strategy Plan, funded by a $10,000 Small Cities grant from the Port of Olympia, I hope this plan does not end up as another “ornament” on the Yelm website and mere perfunctory words for inclusion in the Comprehensive Plan, as has been the case with the 1995 Yelm Vision Plan. That $30,000 plan, partially funded by a grant from the Yelm Chamber of Commerce, was intended to have regular updates (none have been added) and be a working document that would be the major Yelm planning guide for decades to come. Outside of a few items like the sign standards for local businesses, the Yelm Vision Plan (which had an Implementation Plan included) has collected dust on the city’s website for almost 25 years, and most of the public are unaware this fine document exists. I hope the city’s Downtown Corridor Plan has a strategic plan for implementation added soon and does not end up collecting dust as a website ornament.
  Click here for the Yelm Vision Plan.
• As Council member Joe DePinto aptly stated on his councilor Facebook page, “I was the sole no vote for the latter due to the cost, at around 13 million as well as being a voice for the downtown business owners who did not want to lose parking in front of their business.” His concerns have merit!

“City of Yelm: Transportation Strategy Aims to Improve Traffic Flow and Downtown Vitality”

From the City of Yelm in Thurston Talk.