St. Martin’s recognized as unique by the city of Lacey

At its work session Thursday evening, members of the Lacey City Council heard a wide range of new proposals.

Primary among the ideas advanced was the development of a comprehensive master plan for future campus development at St. Martin’s University.

The plans have been developed and await city approval.

The new master plan establishes a process that will streamline city permit review and spells out how conflicts will be resolved when they arise.

In adopting the master plan the city acknowledges that St. Martin’s is a unique community asset which didn’t lend itself to fitting within the city’s current zoning and land use codes.

The council also heard a proposal to celebrate the city’s 50th birthday with the creation of a new city museum, which echos the city’s history, in the form of a railway station on city property, along the Woodland Trail.

Lacey as a city will turn 50 on 2019, which will also be the 125th anniversary of Lacey as a community.

The council also set its top priorities for the 2010 legislative session and told its lobbyist Mark Brown to concentrate on obtaining additional funding so the city can obtain Local Revitalization Funding.

Monies from that pot would go to faciliate development of the Lacey Gateway Town Center Project.

Also on the city’s legislative priority list is legislation that would allow a fire district to waive assumption of the fire district’s bonded indebtedness in newly annexed areas within a city.

This legislative action is needed if Lacey residents are to pay a fair share of debt, if and when they vote to annex into Fire District 3.