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Residents raise camera-timing, revenue and housing concerns during public comment
Summary
At the March 11 Edgewood meeting, residents questioned timing and revenue from school-zone speed cameras, voiced senior property-tax concerns, and urged aesthetic placement of homes in a new RM Homes development; city staff said camera timing follows Puyallup School District guidance and the police chief announced upcoming traffic enforcement.
Several Edgewood residents used the public-comment period at the March 11 City Council meeting to raise complaints and concerns about the city’s school-zone speed cameras, recent and upcoming development, property-tax burdens on seniors, and traffic enforcement.
Christine Veil, who identified herself as a resident and an elementary-school parent, criticized the timing of automated cameras near Northwood Elementary. “They are flashing and recording 30 minutes before school starts… It also goes 15 minutes after kids are to be in class,” Veil said, and argued the camera windows “give the obvious impression that they are trying to generate as many tickets as possible.”
Resident Mike Stansell said he had reviewed city figures and emails and told the council he believed the city collected about $500,000 in fines and paid Vera Mobility $400,000 for the camera program, leaving roughly $100,000 to the city. Stansell alleged a large share of the revenue was collected during windows when students were in class and questioned whether the program’s timing was justified. He asked: “How can you claim you’re saving children’s lives when they’re sitting at a desk almost a quarter mile away from those cameras?”
City staff responded that camera timing follows the Puyallup School District’s guidance and that the district sets the on/off schedule for school-zone cameras. The mayor asked the chief to confirm programming and the chief indicated the city follows the school-district schedule; the chief also announced two “high-visibility” traffic-enforcement dates on March 19 and March 26.
Resident Melissa Hollenbeck, who identified herself as a lifelong resident and a senior, described rising property-tax burdens and itemized monthly increases she said were affecting seniors on fixed incomes. Hollenbeck said her own property-tax and related charges amounted to about $361.23 per month before mortgage and argued rising housing costs make it difficult for younger families to buy in the neighborhood.
During audience comment, resident Henry Dorn spoke about the new Tyene development by RM Homes located near 114th Avenue East and urged that RM Homes place single-story homes along 114th Avenue East to preserve views of Mount Rainier and the neighborhood character. Dorn praised the developer’s past goodwill and encouraged continued informal dialogue between neighbors and the builder.
Speakers framed their remarks as requests for staff follow-up or changes. Staff said it would check camera programming against the school-district schedule and review the timing if needed; no policy changes were adopted at the March 11 meeting.
