Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
April 14, 2011     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 1     (1 of 22 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 1     (1 of 22 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
April 14, 2011
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




lhl,J,,l,,l,l,h,l.h,l.l,i,J,llll .... II .... IIl,,J,hhl ? Thursday, April 14, 2011 Year 125 -- Week 15 -- 8 Sections -- 54 Pages -- Pub!ished in She!ton, Washin on -- $1 Mason becomes fourth-fastest growing county instate By SHEPHARD Mason County grew at a rate of 22.9 percent in the last 10 years, earning it the title of fourth-fastest growing county in Washington state, accord- ing to U.S. Census data re'- leased to the county last week. The population of Mason County rose to 60,699 people i in 2010, up from 49,405 people in 2000, with most of the pop- ulation growth occurring in Cimnty Commissioner Lynda Ring Ericksen's District 1. ' District 1 -- which encom- ptmsee Allyn, Grapeview, Hars tine Island, the Lake Lim- erick area, the Johns Prairie area and much of north Shel- ton -- increased by 4,555 peo- ple, while COmmissioner Tim • Sheldon's District 2 (which in- dudes Be]fair, Tahuya, Union, Mason Lake, Hoodsport and ~ Lgltwaup) grew by 3,505 peo- ' pie. Journal photo by ~ Shepfl~lrd ' Mason County Auditor Karen Herr. See the Bclfair Herald for North Mason census resultS. The two districts now have roughly the same population: District 1 at 20,759 people and District 2 at 20,784 people. Commissioner Jerry Lin- gle's District 3, which covers south Shelton, Taylor Town, Squaxin Island and Matlock, grew by 3,283 people, bringing its total population to 19,156 people. County Auditor Karen Herr said she was surprised.to see how fast Mason County had grown in the last 10 years. "To be the fourth-fastest growing county surprisedme,, she said. "I was surprised that See Mason on page~A:-7 • • , ,. - , -The Evergreen Square clocktower keeps Shelton on time year round. Journal photo by Dean Siemon more in By NATALIE JOHNSON ';~ ~": :A presentation by BRC Acoustics to the Shel- ton City commission last week seemed to show that the 160 acre Shelton Hills property near Sanderson kField would be compat- with residential use, about the : are still ringing el ,: The city held a public hearing on the topic dur- ing its meeting Monday night, which drew much attention from the com- mtmity. Births B-8 city received six Community Calendar B-3 letters since the last pub- Entertainment/Dining B-3 tic, meeting, several of Journal of Record A-6 Which were from groups "It's truly about noise and it's about incompati BRC Acoustics' findings, and his concern over noise levels in the property in dispute. One of the tenets of the BRC report was that the FAA has determined that residential land use is compatible with an av- erage sound level of 65 DNL. Many of the corn- reenters against the re- zone argued that the 65 DNL number was artifi- ble noise." south of the airport from. . commercial/industrial to he.hood/residential. The Port of Shelton appealed the decision to the Western Washing- ton Growth Management Hearings board, saying that• the rezone created Neighborhood Residen- anin~ompatibleiand use. tial would significantly The boardinval- increase the amount of in- idatt~t..tlaeoomprehensive compatible development plaiaupdate, saying that adjacent to Sanderson more information about Field," the letter states, sound levels in the area Port of Shelton Execu- needed to be provided. tire Director John Dob- City staff believes son also spoke during the that the BRC Acoustics public hearing, saying study satisfiesthegrowth that the port was con' ~d's req~ment, and cerned that an influx of recommended adopting sound complaints could the rezone from commer- negatively affect airport cial/industrial to neigh- Shelton grows by almost 1,400 according to census By NATALIE JOHNSON While the economy may have slowed, the population of the city of Shelton has steadily grown over the past 10 years, according to the 2010 census. According to the census, the city of Shelton grew by about 16.5 percent, or 1,392 people, from 8,502 to 9,834, between 2000 and 2010. The population density also increased by almost 12.5 percent between 2000 and 2010, from 1,519 persons per square mile to 1,708 per square mile. Along with the rest of the Mason County, which with Franklin, Whatcom and Clark County is one of the four fastest growing coun- ties in the state, voting precincts in Shelton face redistricting in 2011, Mason County Audi- tor Karen Herr said. =We're going to redistrict and redraw the See Shelton on page A-7 Port of Shelton propping up dilapitated fairgrounds, By NATALIE JOHNSON There are a lot of de- mands on the old and depressed buildings on the Port of Shelton's fair- grounds, most notably the Mason Area Fair and Oys- terFest, but by 2013, those events, and many others, will need to find a new home and new shelter. "I promised the FAA (Federal Aviation Adminis- tration) that the buildings would be gone by 2013," port executive director John Dobson said. The FAA requires that the land on which the fair- grounds sit be repurposed back to airport use by 2013, but until then, the fair and OysterFest must go on. Recently the port accept- ed a donation of free work to help make the buildings habitable for a few more years. According to Dobson, the buildings on the fair- grounds have been main- rained using donated labor and services for the last 47 years, an arrangement that saved everyone money in the short term, but is now going to cost the port about $15,000 to fix the wiring in the eight main buildings. "The L&I inspector ... came and found all kinds of things wrong with the fair- ground," Dobson said. Among the things wrong with the buildings, the wir- ing did not have ground wires, he said. While the • buildings will only be in use for a few more years, Dob- son said the expenditure is worth it to make the build- ings safe for fair and Oyster- Obituaries B-7 writing on behalf of the cial and inaccurate, operations, borhood/residential. Fest patrons. Oninions Letters A-4 Port of Shelton, ques-The Washington State "It's truly ,about noise ~e many people [ "In good conscience I ii ? the validity, andDepartment of Trans- and about incompa rezone, : don't feel I can rent the fair- :Weather -~ ~-6 ~''~BtBty of the BRC portation (WSDOT) also ....... ~'~ :':~:~';~ :~ : ~';' : ........ :' ' : ~ble noise, he said. ~~4t,to bring ~1 grounds to anyone without Acousitics report. • . ~s~.~ 05: D_NL ~ent ............. :; ; :. ~i :e~.ft.~4~, ;,.:• Kraus said. ._~ ause also sent the ;~:~.~fi-~~ l~r regarding - - . . : came out against the re- zone in a letter to the city. "WSDOT Aviation is concerned that the re- zone of 160 acres from Commercial/Industrial to In April 2010, the Shel- construction jobs and new l sorting out the electrical is- ton city commission ad- ~,.,.~t~.-,~t!le:.. Shelton I sues," he said. opted an ordinance whlcl~ ~.~,~e:~ ~., .. ..... " [ Port staff hopes that the updated the city's compre- The city will discuss a l $15,000 should also cover hensive plan, and rezoned possible vote on the re- l 160 acres one half mile.,~ ~ ~i~y:~:: , / See Fairground on page A-7 &