Developers outline Salish Landing UGA‑swap proposal; promise utilities, YMCA and housing in Tumwater’s southeast corner

Mike Brewer and Rob Rice, the project team behind a proposal called Salish Landing, gave Tumwater City Councilmembers an overview of an urban growth area (UGA) land‑swap application they filed with Thurston County and described how private utility extensions and community amenities would accompany the development if the swap proceeds.

The presenters said their application would remove about 60 acres currently inside the urban growth area (lands that include the outfall from Black Lake and the headwaters of Percival Creek) and add roughly 40 acres in the city’s southeast corner, producing a net reduction in UGA acreage while creating developable land close to existing population centers. Brewer said the swap is enabled by legislation passed in 2022 and is being evaluated as part of Thurston County’s periodic review.

Why it matters: the proposal would change the boundary of Tumwater’s UGA and enable a privately funded extension of city water and sewer mains to the southeast corner. Developers said their utility work would create off‑site benefits including giving scores of small parcels access to sewer (they identified about 62 parcels and cited Melody Pines Mobile Home Park’s more than 100 septic systems as an environmental concern)…