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) and supporting a planned south‑end water‑tower loop.

Brewer said Salish Landing would include approximately 200 housing units, commercial space and public amenities, and that private funding would support extending a 16‑inch water main toward the site. He said the project team is offering to donate land for a new South Sound YMCA facility; project renderings shown to council indicated two indoor pools and a shallow “zero‑entry” water play area. The team also cited estimated regional economic benefits in the “tens of millions” (they referenced about $40 million in total output in an economic analysis they provided to the EDC).

Developers said they have retained a hydrogeologist and committed to funding a supplemental environmental impact statement being completed by Thurston County; they also said they consulted US Fish and Wildlife Service on wildlife matters. Brewer said private investment would provide an opportunity for small parcel owners to connect to city utilities and spur additional infill housing in the corridor.

Tumwater staff and council members asked about interactions with Inner City Transit (now Intercity Transit), school district land and potential impacts on the Olympia Regional Airport. The developers said they have discussed transit and could provide a south‑end turnaround point to support expanded bus service; they also said the school district owns parcels near the site and would be a beneficiary of utility extensions. On airport growth, a council member asked whether master‑plan runway expansions would increase emissions; the developers deferred to TRPC and airport staff and said federal forecasts cited in the RTP show virtually no passenger service growth through 2050.

Process and timing: Brewer said the application was submitted to Thurston County in 2021; he said outreach with city staff began in 2018 and the project team has been coordinating engineering, hydrogeology and environmental studies since. He said Thurston County is conducting a supplemental environmental impact statement and that final action on any UGA swap is a county legislative decision under the Growth Management Act, though the city could later be asked to enter an interlocal agreement or consider annexation should the swap succeed.

Council members asked technical questions about groundwater studies, the cost of hooking existing mobile‑home park residents to sewer, the timing of utility work relative to a planned city water tower and how latecomer or connection fees would be handled. Developers said they committed to fund required environmental analyses and that utility investment would create opportunities for redevelopment of many small parcels that otherwise could not individually finance extensions.

Developers said the project has engaged local tribes in design (renderings were prepared with input from the Squaxin Island Tribe) and that the YMCA design reflects that collaboration. They said they expect the county’s UGA review to be part of the periodic review schedule and that guidance from the Washington State Department of Commerce on UGA‑swap rules may affect timing.

• Key excerpts from the meeting: “By extending the utilities down Old Highway 99, we would present an opportunity for systems like Melody Pines and the many other parcels… that would greatly impact redevelopment,” Mike Brewer said. “This will cultivate opportunity for a lot more housing to come to this corridor.”

• Context: UGA boundary changes and annexations are controlled by Thurston County under state Growth Management Act rules; Tumwater staff said the county will complete the EIS and the county commissioners will make legislative decisions. The city could later be asked to enter an interlocal agreement or consider annexation.