At last night’s City Council meeting, the Washington State Department of Commerce presented the City of Bonney Lake the 2019 Governor’s Smart Communities Award. The program, now in its 14th year, recognizes projects that promote smart growth planning and “contribute to thriving communities, a prosperous economy, and sustainable infrastructure in Washington.”
The City received the Judge’s Merit Award, which is given to a project that is a “shining example of the best work in a particular topic,” for their 2017 Watershed Protection and Land Use Plan. Parametrix partnered with the City to prepare the plan, which provides an integrated systems approach to watershed protection and land use planning. The project team also included BERK Consulting and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
The judges called the Bonney Lake project impressive, innovative, thorough, and meaningful – a very smart approach – naming it the most impressive submittal this year, and one of the best in the more recent award cycles. The judges noted this as an innovative approach to comprehensive planning, and a great example of how professionals in different disciplines, elected officials, and the public can work together to plan communities that are healthy for residents.
“The City is committed to balancing the needs of economic development and environmental protection. This plan is an integrated approach to facilitating development in Bonney Lake while meeting the requirements of the regional growth strategy and protecting our natural environment,” stated Mayor Neil Johnson.
Bonney Lake has unique geologic conditions not typically found in many western Washington communities, including a drift plain with low hills of outwash materials and numerous closed depressions. Fennel Creek, the main stream in the City, is a former glacial meltwater channel, much of which was later filled with a mudflow from Mount Rainier. This combination of high and low infiltration on a relatively geologically young landscape required site-specific stormwater solutions.
For more information on the award, visit the Department of Commerce’s website at
https://www.commerce.wa.gov/news-releases/community-programs-facilities/2019-governors-smart-communities-award-winners-announced/.