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Writer's pictureLiz Johnson

Tehaleh’s First Step Toward Cityhood

There’s been some big news recently! Those of you familiar with Tehaleh’s community developers “Newland Communities” know that they’ve had some BIG plans for Tehaleh. Though years away from completion, Tehaleh will one day consist of 4,700 acres and 25,000 residents! That sounds like its own city!

And that’s exactly what Newland Communities were thinking. This is why they have just taken the first step in helping Tehaleh become its own city in the future. Tehaleh is already incredibly close to meeting the state’s laws in regards to requesting incorporation as a new city. Its current resident count is around 2,500 and homes have continued to sell rapidly, counting steady growth in the community.

The plan would be for the current 4,700 acres of Tehaleh to incorporate several other nearby tracts that are not already a part of it into the new 5,300 acre Potential Incorporation Area. If the Planning Commission chooses to recommend Tehaleh’s request, and the County Council then approves it, Tehaleh would then have equal say as nearby Bonney Lake in regards to governing the development.

Newland Communities realizes that there is still much work to be done if Tehaleh is to become its own city. The current road network could simply not support the new influx of traffic. To begin resolving this, they plan to add a second main access road through the community to accompany the current one along 198th Street East. The new route would connect traffic through the valley below, connecting to Route 162. The goal for this new road would be to bypass the traffic of Downtown Orting.

Another concern raised was as to whether there would be enough resident taxpayers to support the municipal services Tehaleh would need to provide as its own city. Again, Newland Community aims to resolve this in the future. The development plans for Tehaleh ultimately has it becoming a center of employment with plans to include local stores, restaurants, offices, and other commercial buildings. Again, these developments are still years in the making, but Newland Communities does indeed have a plan of action to address these concerns.

The ball has started rolling, but in the end the decision will ultimately fall into the hands of the residents. Even if approved after the careful review and consideration of the Boundary Review Board and the County Council, the vote to become a city would fall to the residents.

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