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Fife staff: geotechnical drilling, council priorities will shape RFP for Levy Road housing site
Summary
City staff said a $100,000 feasibility loan and four planned geotechnical test holes (two about 100 feet) will inform an RFP for the city-owned Levy Road (Lehi Pond) parcel; council priorities placed utility extension first and housing variety second, and FEMA floodplain mapping may delay an RFP until 2027.
At its March 2 meeting the City of Fife Planning Commission heard an update from Planning Director Larson on the city-owned Levy Road (Lehi Pond) property and next steps for a possible affordable-housing solicitation.
Larson said the city signed a contract with a South Sound housing affordability-and-attainability partnership that provides up to $100,000 for feasibility work. He told commissioners the city has contracted GeoEngineers to drill four geotechnical test holes — two of them about 100 feet deep — to better understand groundwater and seismic design criteria for an eventual request for proposals.
Larson summarized council input from a recent retreat on priorities for the site: extending utilities was ranked first, housing variety second, with homeownership and site-plan control tied for third. On sale price and proceeds, council members generally favored recouping purchase costs rather than maximizing market-rate proceeds, with several suggesting using proceeds to finance more affordable-housing work.
Staff discussed affordability trade-offs commissioners considered, including whether to target deepest affordability (very low AMI) for few units or a larger number of units at moderate affordability (for example, 80% AMI). Larson said council preference clustered around mixed approaches rather than the deepest-layer option. He also noted a parks-planning option: some council members favored incentivizing build‑out of the Lehi Pond Park master plan as part of development agreements.
Larson warned that Pierce County’s ongoing FEMA floodplain mapping may place the parcel in the 100‑year floodplain; he said staff will wait for that data and for Canyon Road corridor work to inform infrastructure needs before issuing an RFP, and estimated the RFP could be 2027 based on current data timelines.
Commissioners asked whether utility-extension plans would include the nearby Firwood neighborhood (Larson: yes) and whether limited commercial uses such as a gas station would be considered residential-supportive (Larson: no). Larson closed by saying staff will collect geotechnical and floodplain data over the coming months and use council priorities to shape a future RFP.
Next steps: geotechnical drilling in the coming days, data collection through summer, further analysis tied to updated floodplain maps and Canyon Road work before staff issues an RFP.
