Tumwater reviews draft conservation element; council raises wetland, tree-protection and implementation questions

City planners presented a draft conservation element for Tumwater’s 2025 comprehensive plan at the June 11 General Government Committee, prompting detailed discussion about wetlands, urban forestry, mineral resource lands and how the draft will be implemented through the development code.

“We really focus on the fact that this is, you know, GMA wants us to develop in our urban spaces,” said Dana Bowers, associate planner at the City of Tumwater, describing the element’s structure and purpose. Bowers told the committee the conservation element is being drafted in two parts: Part 1 will be an accessible document that lists goals, policies and implementation actions; Part 2 will contain the technical ‘‘best available science’’ information that supports the policies.

Bowers said the draft aims to protect the functions and values of natural spaces while recognizing Growth Management Act (GMA) requirements to accommodate urban development within the urban growth area. She said the Artisan Group (sic) updates are separate; the conservation element will point to implementing documents such as the urban forest management plan, hazard mitigation plan and the development code.

Committee members questioned how the element’s protections align with recent on-the-ground changes. One council member cited clearing of a continuous wetland area along Curstup Road (per committee remarks) and asked how that could occur if protections are in the plan. Dana and staff explained that the city’s critical areas ordinance was updated in 2019 and some development approvals or permits were issued under prior regulations; expiration dates and timing of permits mean on-the-ground conditions may lag current code.

Staff also provided statistics used in the draft: roughly 7 percent of Tumwater’s city and urban growth area soils qualify as prime farmland under the mapping shown to the committee, while approximately 70 percent could be prime if drained or irrigated, a distinction staff said has implications for water availability and competing land uses. For commercial forest lands staff noted about 371 acres are designated as long-term commercial forest lands, roughly 0.05 percent of the city’s land area, and contrasted that with urban forest protections covered under several local codes (street-tree and landscaping ordinances).

Erica Smith Erickson, a staff member who worked on the conservation element, said an internal implementation idea is to fund or assign an on‑staff biologist to help the city review wetland reports, monitor mitigation and verify that mitigation provides ‘‘no net loss of function.’’ “While we’re talking about balancing development with protection and ongoing functions of our critical areas, I think that would be a solution for us to balance the goals,” Smith Erickson said.

Brad, a staff member, reinforced that the conservation element and the critical areas ordinance are intended to align with state requirements. “We meet the minimum state requirements,” he said, and noted the city can choose to adopt stronger protections but must balance those choices with other state-directed mandates, such as accommodating housing and urban growth.

Council members expressed frustration that the element’s language about ‘‘protecting’’ resources can appear at odds with visible development, and asked for clearer public framing about the tradeoffs the city must manage. Several members urged that the conservation element be used as the framework to strengthen tree protection and canopy goals and to make implementation steps more visible.

Committee members asked staff to return the item to a future General Government Committee meeting for continued discussion. Staff said the draft element and a trackable Word document with questions would be uploaded to council packet folders and that the committee would continue the discussion at the next GGC meeting so members could provide more detailed edits before the element goes to the full council.