Powerline Road neighbors try to fix road problem

 
By Danna Webster, KP News

 
The recent washout of a section of 144th Street (known as Powerline Road) caused Tacoma Power officials to request a meeting with residents near the washout in the 16800 block of 144th St NW. (Residents refer to the area as the canyon.) As the result of the road problem and the estimated $150,000 repair cost, Tacoma Power wants to develop an alternate access for maintenance of its power lines and equipment.

Neighbors listen to the Tacoma Power proposal at a meeting with company officials at the Wright-Bliss Fire Station in January. Photo by Danna Webster

“We are in the process of determining the best long-term solution for gaining access to our power poles and lines since our right-of-way is currently not usable,” Chris Gleason, community and media services manager, wrote in a letter to residents. “You currently hold an easement or own property that could potentially provide the alternate access we are seeking. We are interested in discussing with you and your neighbors our options for sharing this easement and road.”

Powerline Road has long been a point of contention between the power company (owned by the city of Tacoma) and some local residents (not affected by the washout proposal) who use the road as their only access to their properties. One group of residents has been in a lawsuit with the utility regarding the road access. Powerline is a utility road owned by Tacoma Power, which says the residents have been using the road illegally and without permission. The utility has asked Pierce County to place a moratorium on any new building permits for any property that cannot show legal access.

On Jan. 15, nearly every neighbor concerned about the access proposal attended a meeting at the Wright-Bliss Fire Station. Gleason told the audience that a 100 percent agreement of the 17 owners directly affected by the proposal was necessary in order to allow the power company to use the existing access. If one neighbor is not in agreement, the proposal would be withdrawn.

Accompanying Gleason was the transmission and distribution supervisor Tom Anderson and Tacoma Assistant City Attorney Bill Fosbre. Anderson described the proposal objectives: pay for the square footage of property required, develop a maintenance fund and provide an ongoing continual maintenance arrangement. He explained his offer to property owners was based on property tax appraisals. “We’re trying to avoid a lawsuit. All lawsuits do is cost people money and nobody wins in the end,” Anderson said.

Property owners discussed their complaints, problems with the original developer, questions, and objections. They asked Pierce County Councilman Terry Lee, who attended the meeting, why the county provided building permits to them without access (prior to the moratorium). “They are concerned about the building, not how you get there,” Lee said. “Tacoma Power asked us not to issue permits anymore unless you can show legal access except (Powerline) Road,” he said. Later in the meeting, Lee said the county looked into developing 134th Street, west of Wright-Bliss, and found the cost of tens of millions of dollars prohibitive.

The neighbors took the proposal under advisement and set a meeting for the following Saturday at the Zach and Debra Blake residence. Again, the majority of neighbors attended and they began the task of formalizing a response to Tacoma Power. They are asking for a 30-day extension with the hope they can draft a proposal that is all-inclusive of their community, the 17 property owners addressed by Tacoma Power and nine other neighbors with bordering properties.

With regard to the request for an extension of time to negotiate, Tacoma Power replied positively. “Tacoma Power is actively participating in ongoing negotiations with the home owners’ and is currently unaware of any deadlines,” Anderson wrote in an email to KP News.

“We as the people are trying to work it out,” Debra Blake said. “The government isn’t working for anyone but themselves.” She wants an agreement that is legal and final, so that people can drive out to work and not worry that they will be locked out of their home when they try to return.

“I want to fix the problem for all of the people — make sure people are taken care of. I don’t want this to happen again,” she said. Some neighbors are working on the language of a formal proposal and more meetings are scheduled.

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