Small Town News

Clear for takeoff?

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Cool your jets.

That has been the ongoing message out of the Port of Shelton for years now regarding the development of 160 acres of land for new homes near Sanderson Field.

City commissioners, though, finally seem poised to approve a rezone of the land that will hold up to port challenges before the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board.

It's about time.

It's about time for a brand new neighborhood in Shelton. It's about time for local, new-construction jobs in Shelton. It's about time for the improved infrastructure and revenue that will come with all those new homes and families.

But, it's also about a lot more than just a new neighborhood. The developer behind the project is also poised to clean up Goose Lake and create park space. The developer is poised to install new roads, intersections and utilities to support sprawling new commercial and retail space along Highway 101.

A successful rezone to allow residential use on those 160 acres will open the door to millions and millions and millions of dollars of development nearby.

It's in some ways ironic that the Port of Shelton has spearheaded efforts to stop this development.

On the one hand, it's understandable that port officials want to protect the airport. On the other hand, ports, in essence, are designed to promote the kind of economic development that this whole project will provide. That is the core mission of each and every one of the 75 ports in this state and they all rely on our local tax dollars to achieve that mission.

The proposed development is, indeed, fairly close to the airport. So are Shelton High School, Oakland Bay Junior High School and Olympic Middle School. Those, of course, are the very places that we and all the new residents in the new neighborhood will send our kids to learn and grow and dream and, pardon the pun, soar.

The port may have won the first battle before the hearings board, but they are doomed to lose the broader war.

It's too bad that so many years, amidst this terrible economy, have already slipped by.

Clear the flight deck, already.



Copyright 2011 Shelton-Mason County Journal, Shelton, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 Shelton-Mason County Journal Shelton, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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