Mt. Rainier project gets court hearing

N.S. NOKKENTVED, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Thursday, March 21, 2002

OLYMPIA -- A legal case is the only thing developers of a proposed resort near Mount Rainier have built so far.

Developers of the proposed Mount Rainier Resort at Park Junction will meet their legal challengers, the Tahoma Audubon Society, at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Judge Paula Casey's courtroom in Thurston County Superior Court.

At issue is a conditional use permit for the proposed $90 million project 12 miles west of the Mount Rainier National Park's Nisqually entrance -- a proposal that would draw more people to the Nisqually Valley and the national park.

The project would include a 270-room lodge, 18-hole golf course, 500-seat conference center, 20,000 square feet of retail space, a spa, tennis courts and more than 300 vacation homes and condominiums on 440 acres abutting state Route 706.

The project has been in the planning stages since 1992. In 1996, developers applied for and got a conditional-use permit from Pierce County. The county issued an environmental study of the project later that year.

The Tahoma Audubon Society challenged the permit's legality and the adequacy of the study.

In October 2000, a Pierce County examiner upheld the permit and the study.

Audubon appealed the ruling. The case was set to be heard on July 27, but was delayed until Sept. 27 and then rescheduled for Dec. 21 -- only to be postponed again.

Opponents sought to have the case heard in Thurston County because the Pierce County executive office was involved in the controversial case, said Robert Mack, attorney for Tahoma Audubon Society.

Thurston County judges also have more experience with Growth Management Act appeals, Mack said.

Opponents said Pierce County's approval was based on economic development concerns, and did not adequately consider the impact on Mount Rainer National Park.

They also contend that an environmental study was inadequate because it failed to consider the proposal's effects on the park and local fire district and the potential geologic hazards to resort guests.

Developers said challengers rely on opinions rather than evidence and assert that the project does meet state law.

Opponents presented no evidence to support the contention that the environmental study was inadequate, developers said.

Proponents say the project would boost the flagging timber economy, providing badly needed jobs in the rural area.

And the resort would fill a need for a major resort in Pierce County.

Nobody argues that the project would bring more people to the Nisqually Valley and the already crowded national park -- but the two sides disagree on the number of additional people and when they might come.

Project manager Sylvia Cleaver says top estimates for resort visitors each year is about 75,000 people. But critics say the number would more likely be about 300,000.

Either way, the resort guests would add to the more than 2 million visitors to Mount Rainier National Park each year.

And that concerns park Superintendent Jon Jarvis, who fears the increased visitation would come during spring and fall "shoulder seasons" -- times when park staff levels are low.

Conferences at the resort would be scheduled March through June and September through November. Estimated occupancy rates are highest in July and August and lowest in December.

The developers are Elbe business owners Gayle and Cora Adams, backed by Portland businessman Selwyn Bingham.

The resort would be the first master-planned resort in Pierce County, a concept loosely defined under the state's 12-year-old Growth Management Act to create acceptable and healthy growth in rural areas.

On the Web:

- Thurston County Superior Court

- Mt. Rainier National Park

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