Tacoma City Council Study Session: South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Moratorium Extension Debrief - February 27, 2024
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Tacoma City Council Study Session: South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Moratorium Extension Debrief - February 27, 2024
On February 27, 2024, the Tacoma City Council held a study session to debrief the public hearing on the proposed extension of the moratorium within the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District. The moratorium, initially adopted in March 2023, temporarily prohibits new or expanded underground storage tanks, metal recycling, and auto-wrecking facilities, and is set to expire on March 20, 2024. Staff from Planning and Development Services presented an overview of public comments received, clarified the scope of the moratorium versus the broader work plan, and responded to council questions.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Twelve commenters spoke at the public hearing on February 20, 2024, and six written comments were received. The majority supported extending the moratorium; one comment opposed.
- Key concerns raised by the community included: tree canopy equity in South Tacoma, a request for a moratorium on new impervious surfaces, preserving open space and habitat, excluding existing metal recycling facilities from the moratorium, and expanding the moratorium citywide or to all uses within the district.
Discussion Items
- Staff explained that the moratorium only applies to new or expanded underground storage tanks, metal recycling, and auto-wrecking. It does not affect existing uses, normal maintenance, or already-approved projects (e.g., Bridge Industrial warehouse, Cyber Metals recycling).
- In response to community comments, staff detailed how the work plan has been expanded: additional resources are being used for consultant expertise on impervious surface standards, a health impact assessment in partnership with Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, and updates to the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for the aquifer recharge area (over 180 square miles).
- A land use map was presented showing designations in South Tacoma, including low-scale/mid-scale residential, parks/open space, industrial districts, and the Tacoma Mall Regional Growth Center. Staff noted that Home in Tacoma zoning updates (coming to council soon) will impact tree canopy standards in residential areas, while industrial zones are a focus for landscaping code updates.
- Councilmembers asked about the scope of impervious surface studies (limited to the groundwater district but informed by the IRP), the timeline for completing the work plan (draft code by end of 2024, adoption early 2025), and whether the moratorium could be ended early if code updates are ready (yes, by council action). Staff confirmed they anticipate needing a further six-month extension beyond this one.
- Councilmember Bushnell emphasized the need to consider the entire aquifer recharge area, not just city limits, and the importance of balancing impervious surfaces with stormwater management and contamination concerns.
- Councilmember Rumba requested a map showing impervious surfaces rather than just land use designations, for better public communication.
Key Outcomes
- No vote was taken during the study session; the first reading of the ordinance to extend the moratorium for six months was scheduled for the regular council meeting later that evening (February 27, 2024), with final reading on March 5, 2024.
- Staff committed to providing additional materials, such as an impervious surface map, for future public meetings (e.g., the March 21 Spotlight South Tacoma event).
- The council appeared supportive of the extension, with questions focused on process and communication rather than opposition.
Meeting Transcript
I'd like to call the order of the city council study session of February 27th, 2024. Clerk, will you please call the roll? Councilmember Bushnell. Present. Councilmember Daniels. Absent. Councilmember Diaz. Here. Deputy Mayor Hines. Here. Councilmember Rumba. Here. Councilmember Scott. Here. Councilmember Ashka. Here. Councilmember Walker. Here. Mayor Woodards. Absent. Deputy Mayor and Council Members, the study session material sent to you at 11. All right. So with that, our first agenda item is the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Moratorium Extension Public Hearing Debrief. I'd like to call on Planning and Development Services Principal Planner Marianne Moinian to begin the presentation. And I see that Steve Atkinson is also here with us in the chambers. Mary Ann. Thank you. Good afternoon, Deputy Mayor Heinz, members of City Council. My name is Miriam Muinion. I am a senior planner with City of Tacoma Planning and Development Services. And I will be providing a presentation on consideration of a moratorium extension within South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District, along with Steve Atkinson, our principal planner. As I mentioned before, the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Code Update is a multi-department multi-agency effort. And today we have Dana DeLeon with Environmental Services, Glenn George and Scott Hallenberg with Tacoma Water, as well as Esther Boumier and Kelsey Lane with Tacoma Pierce County Health Department available online in case there is any questions for them. Next slide, please. You've heard during the public hearing last week, as well as those you have received in writing. We also wanted to provide some additional information responding to the comments you have received. First, we start with the summary of the comments, then we will provide additional information to clarify what is included and the moratorium as well as updated South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District W plan. Then we will present some information regarding the land use regulations within the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District. And finally, I will end the presentation with summary of the potential next steps for the City Council. We did an extensive public notification for the public hearing. We sent out next slide, please. Sorry. We sent out over uh 36,000 notices to the taxpayers and uh residents of South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District as well as the neighborhoods surrounding the district. Um we also sent out emails to the interested parties and community organizations. Um in addition, we had social media postings as well as publications into local newspapers. We had two uh 12 commenters that came to the city council public hearing last week, and uh six comments, written comments were received uh ahead of uh the public hearing. Uh majority of the comments we've received were in support of the extension of the moratorium. Uh we also had one comment opposing the extension uh of the moratorium. Uh next slide, please. Um, here I want to briefly um talk about uh the moratorium and the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Code update.
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