Category Archives: Neighborhood Security

Incident on 136th Ave E.

Neighborhood Security, Safety

On 31 Jan 2023 at around 4:30PM three teenage friends, one of them black, were walking on 136th Ave. E. toward Military Dr. When they were near the sports court just before 118th St. E. they were accosted by two men in a red Chevrolet, License Number BMB 9859. One of the men asked the boys “Have you ever been robbed nigger” obviously referring to the black teenager. The boys felt threatened, though no physical harm was done to them.  They reported the incident to their parents. Fortunately,  because of the Neighborhood Camera System, we were able to identify the car which had cruised past the boys three times in total. A police report was made.

This kind of harassment has no place in our neighborhood, or in fact anywhere in the US.  It was as vicious as it was unprovoked. Let’s keep an eye out for things like this.

Below are some pictures which show that between 4:08PM and 4:30PM the car passed the kids three times.

First recorded passRed Chevrolet at 408.43PM

Second recorded passRed Chevrolet at 416.51PM

 Third recorded passRed Chevrolet at 419.57PM

Mail Theft

Neighborhood Security, Safety

On 12 September 2023 at 0102hrs two individuals on electric scooters came down 117th St E and turned on to 138th Ave Ct E. They went from one end of the street to the other and opened mailboxes to see if anyone had left mail to be picked up that day. They did not bother one Neighbor who has a Ft. Knox heavy steel mailbox. Also if you get the USPS app that lets you know approximately what to expect on a given day it will help you know if someone has gone through your mail. This link will take you to a USPS web page which will guide you through signing up for the service. https://www.usps.com/

Mail theft must pay well because  electric scooters are not inexpensive and judging by the ease they went up 117th they were fairly powerful, therefore probably in the upper end of the price range. It appears that they used a truck as well as the scooters, as the first picture shows a truck stopping at some mailboxes at 0130:29 hrs.

I have heard that they hit another nearby neighborhood. It is tempting to put outgoing mail in your postbox to be picked up the next day.  However remember that unless you have a very heavy steel mailbox like the Ft. Knox, it is easy for thieves to steal your mail in the early morning hours.

Below are pictures of the bad guys:

0130hrs

3 0102.45hrs 2023 2 1

Yes We Have a Bobcat!!!!

Neighborhood Events, Neighborhood Security, Safety

Yesterday a neighbor sent me some great pictures of our neighborhood Bobcat hanging out in their yard. The Bobcat lay in their yard for about 10 minutes before walking off.  When I received these pictures I checked with Google Images and it returned pictures of  Bobcats in the US. I guess this put to rest any doubts we may have had about the correct identification of the animal. Anyone with small dogs or cats might consider making them into strictly indoor pets.

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Do we have Bears in the Neighborhood again?

Interesting Things, Neighborhood Events, Neighborhood Security, Safety

One of my neighbors was walking down Jennifer Court and spotted what he thought was bear scat.  He sent me a picture and it looked the same as the Bear scat we found in the Neighborhood several years ago. It appears that the scat consists mostly of the remains of cherries.  Since as far as  I know, we do not have cherry trees around here, if they are cherries they must have come from someone’s home.

I have added the picture I was sent.  If you have an opinion that it is something other than Bear scat, feel free to let me know at kahalljr@comcsast.net.

Addendum: A Neighbor texted me with the information that they have a cherry tree in their backyard and the last time  we had a bear in the Neighborhood it was eating from their cherry tree.  The scat looked the same as below.

Scat

Bobcat den in our area?

Interesting Things, Neighborhood Events, Neighborhood Security, Safety

My next-door neighbors saw a much smaller version of the bobcat I saw several weeks ago.  Did not get a picture though. The bobcats may have established a den nearby and are raising a litter. Now we appear to have cayotes and Bobcats looking for a meal in our neighborhood.  Take care of your cats and small dogs.

For those who did not see it.  Here is the photo I got previously of the adult Bobcat.

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Request for Support

Neighborhood Events, Neighborhood Security, Safety

The STACC committee sent a letter (see below) to Michael Jimenez, Senior Planner, at Pierce County in regard to the Public Notice Short Plat request for approval at 12009 132nd Ave Ct E, Application #1010106. He replied that our comments about safety, traffic impact and the proposed density being reduced have been sent to the engineering department and added to the record for the Hearing Examiner to consider.

We encourage more neighbors to send additional messages to Pierce County. Email or call Michael Jimenez, Senior Planner at:

michael.jimenez@piercecountywa.gov

(253) 798-7181

Here are views of the area asking for the short plat.  As you can see if approved this will dump a large number of vehicles on to 136th. If you don’t mind waiting while 10 or 20 vehicles try to leave 136th at the stop sign you can ignore this post, but if you don’t want even more congestion you ought to write a letter to Mr. Jimenez.

Please see the STACC letter below these pictures.

10101061010106

This is the letter sent by the STACC committee:

Sunrise Terrace Architectural Control                                                                                                                 Committee STACC C/O RTPC4227 S                                                                                                                     Meridian Ste C-120 Puyallup WA                                                                                                                           98373sunriseterraceacc@gmail.com

Michael Jimenez, Senior Planner

Michael.jimenez@piercecountywa.gov  Phone: (253) 798-7181

Dear Mr. Michael Jimenez,

The Sunrise Terrace Architectural Control Committee, STACC, is writing to you because we need your expertise and help, please. STACC has safety concerns regarding the short plat property with parcel number 0419118016, Application #: 1010106. As we understand, the property will be developed for six single-family lots. The safety concern involves a higher likelihood of vehicular accidents with increased traffic. The proposal states that on a daily average, 60 vehicle trips will be added.

The entrance and exit of 132nd Avenue Court East for the proposed short plat is Military Road. Less than 100 feet from their intersection is a stop sign, where most residents turn right onto 122nd Street East. All the houses in Sunrise Terrace (north), Sunrise View Estates, Shawnee Ridge and additional homes exit via Military Road.

Also, Military Road and 122nd Street East are used as major thoroughfares from SR 162 Orting-Sumner Highway to South Hill and Highway 512 making them highly congested. Many drivers try to short-cut congested traffic by taking Military Road since going west up the hill on 122nd Street East is heavily congested. Also, the Tehaleh developers are building a new road down the western hill of Bonney Lake, connecting with SR162, which will force even more traffic up Military Road and 122nd Street East.

We have seen very unsafe accidents at the intersection of 122nd Street East and Shaw Road about 1500 feet from the proposed short plat.  At least an additional 952 average daily vehicle trips will be made at that intersection since 100 townhomes and twenty single-family homes from the new development, Shaw Heights, are currently for sale.

In addition to concerns about safety, there is another statement in the proposal that is incorrect. Criteria 2 of Required Findings asks the applicant to state how “the public use and interest will be served by such short subdivision/large lot division.” South Hill Development LLC answers that “The proposed plat will provide a well-planned and harmonious addition to the neighboring parcels, therefore encouraging future property improvements to be built to similar standards…the proposed plat will easily integrate with the neighboring properties and blend well with future adjacent property development.” Respectfully, we firmly disagree with their answer and believe this proposal is inharmonious with the surrounding properties. For example, larger lots are characteristic of Sunrise Terrace and the neighboring communities.

Sunrise Terrace was “well planned” in the 1960’s; the properties have been improved and the covenants remain in place today. Rather than changing the lot size and setbacks, “the public use and interest” would be better served if South Hill Development LLC would build homes on lots of similar size to the surrounding community. As proposed now, the number of homes would greatly outbalance the existing two homes directly across the street on 132nd Avenue Court East. We are not opposed to the development of this property, but we strongly feel that a safer and more “harmonious addition” of only two to three houses would better integrate with the older established neighborhood and have less impact on traffic and safety.

We appreciate you taking these comments into consideration.

Sincerely,

Sunrise Terrace Architectural Control Committee

Celeste Hurst, Committee Chair

Luke Rambo, Member

Nancy Jo Williams, Member

Julie Hrivnak, Member

Jacqueline McMahon-Ehlen, Member

Masha Williams-Jeans, Member

Scott Elder, Member

 

June 12, 2023

New Route From The Valley Highway Up & Down South Hill

Neighborhood Security, Safety

 

WSDOT will be holding a meeting at 1pm on April 19th at High Cedars (14604 149th Street Ct E, Orting, WA 98360-8451) in the Rainer room to discuss their recommendations for cross county transportation improvements.  Due to the continuing increase in traffic on Military road and the additional impact of the new road from Tehaleh to the valley highway at 128th, they have been investigating how best to move this traffic up and down from South Hill.

Two options have been considered, widening Military Road or developing a new route between the valley highway at 128th to either Reservoir road or 144th.

We have learned that WSDOT is planning to recommend that Military Road/122nd be widened with one additional lane up the hill. This recommendation with be discussed at the meeting on the 19th.

The additional traffic on Military Road will make it even more difficult to get into and out of our neighborhoods. Please consider attending the meeting on the 19th to express your concerns about this additional traffic.

Elvin Lerew

My opinion is that WSDOT needs to complete a new way up and down South Hill BEFORE considering putting in the new road from Tehaleh to the valley highway at 128th. Unless they do, we are going to see much greater traffic congestion for years until the new route is completed.

 Kirk Hall

Home Break-In

Neighborhood Security, Safety

I received the information below from Kim and Rich Amsden who live across 122nd from our Neighborhood. It is a sorry state that we live in today when things like this happen.  The Amsdens said that the police no longer have a person who can look through video recordings for relevant pictures. One way to solve this is to print out hard copies of the pictures they need to see and burn a disk with short clips showing the bad guys.  These will help if the police do catch the bad guys.

The homeowners in our area might consider an alarm system like one offered by SimpliSafe at SimpliSafe.com.  It is a do it yourself installation which is easy to install and can be monitored by SimpliSafe. The Police report Number for the break-in is 2224601550 (Burglary).  By the  way, the homeowner did just the right thing by calling the Police and waiting outside the house, because someone might have been still inside. Since the break-in the Amsdens have added an alarm system and have cameras and sensor lights installed.

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Just wanted to let you know that yesterday, September 3rd, between 10:30 am and 4:30 pm I came home to find that our house had been broken into, and items were stolen. Our garage door that opens to let your car in had been forcibly opened (it was open about quarter way when I arrived home). Our door into the house from the garage, that was deadbolted closed, was destroyed with wood shavings all over the floor, and the baseboard around the door wrecked. Inside, a wallet, a purse, and a new laptop were taken.

I immediately called the police, and two officers came (I waited outside for them to arrive in case someone was still in the house). With my credit card, they had already charged things at Safeway, Shell gas station, Walmart, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. My bank had contacted me when an attempt for $404.00 was made. Luckily, I notified the bank saying that this was not an authorized charge and had this credit card closed. The other items that were purchased will be credited back to our account (in time).

This was a terrifying thing to go to, especially since we had spent a fun day at the WA State Fair and I was returning home alone. We have lived in this neighborhood for over 15 years now, and the only people to come down our driveway are usually the mailman or Amazon.

We don’t have any security cameras, and even if we did, the police said that they don’t even have anyone to look at footage and look into it like they used to.

So, I just wanted our neighborhood to be aware and to report any suspicious activity or people wandering around that don’t look like they live here. We think that it being Labor Day weekend that whoever did this thought there was a good chance that we may have been out of town. We even had a car parked in our driveway!

Even with doors and windows locked, the police said that if someone wants to get in, they will find a way to do so. It could have been a lot worse—-they could have destroyed the inside of the house while looking for what they got.

Stranger Casing Neighborhood ?

Neighborhood Security, Safety

There was a stranger in our Neighborhood this afternoon. He was spotted on several people’s property and approached at least one neighbor’s back door.

One of the neighbors took a photo of him and asked him his name. He said it was Darren Brewer and he appears to be in his early 20s and has been found on Facebook. He had a different story here at one neighbor’s house, another story when still another neighbor saw him between two and 3 o’clock today, and then had a third story when a third neighbor saw him.  A different story each time he was asked why he was in our Neighborhood. Apparently, he was walking around quite a bit because this was all in a period of at least 3 1/2 hours. The stranger appeared impaired.

The Police were called.  If you see this individual do not approach him. Call the Police immediately.

Picture taken in our Neighborhood

Stranger

Pictures from Facebook

 

 

 

 

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