Category Archives: Neighborhood Security

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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Returned Stolen Cars May Be Hazardous

Neighborhood Security, Safety

I was reading on the Internet about cars stolen in Bellingham and saw something which I thought I would pass along to all of you.

Kirk Hall

Murphy said many owners of recovered stolen cars tell police that they find large amounts of trash, including small squares of aluminum foil in their cars.

“Some of these cars are just full of the aluminum squares and little straws and pipes and needles,” Murphy said. “You have no idea if there are fentanyl crumbs in there, and we all know that fentanyl is extremely deadly. If it’s in a powder form, it can kill immediately.

“You’re going to need a company to come in and professionally clean that vehicle and very likely decontaminate it from methamphetamine fumes or fentanyl fumes. We recommend people be very careful. Don’t just hop in your car and drive it away, because you just don’t know. And if you see a bunch of drug paraphernalia in there, we would recommend getting it professionally cleaned so that stuff is thrown away properly.”

It’s also important to allow police crime scene investigators a chance to process a recovered car to look for forensic evidence, such as fingerprints, that could possibly lead to an arrest, Murphy said.

Mail Thefts and Society

Neighborhood Security

As many of you know I have a “Ring” doorbell camera (plus a lot of other stuff).  As a result of having a “Ring” I get information about all kinds of illegal activities which other “Ring” owners have suffered.

The old standard reply to mail thefts used to be “Get a locking mail box”. On 9 March someone in Manorwood posted that his locking mailbox had been pried open.  A day before that a community mailbox was broken into and ruined.

Mail theft is a Federal Crime, but the police seem helpless to deal with it as it seems to be classified very low on the enforcement scale.  Because the bad guys know this it makes them bold and more likely to continue. Perhaps we as citizens need to do more to help our local law enforcement deal with these people.  Does anyone think that writing the Postmaster General directly, our Washington State Congressional representatives, and making a formal complaint to the FBI might help?  Our Local Law Enforcement people need more manpower.  Criminals need to be held once they are caught. If our jails do not have the capacity, perhaps a stockade with tents is the answer. (For those who say it is cruel to make criminals sleep in tents in all weather, consider that our military have to serve in all weather, sometimes without even tents to shelter them from the elements.)

Vehicle thefts, break-ins and catalytic converter thefts are on the rise. If you don’t want to install a security camera system, perhaps you should invest in a really good car alarm.  One that activates when glass is broken or the vehicle is lifted and jiggled to get at the catalytic converter.

 

Crime Spree in Sunrise Terrace Monday 2/21

Neighborhood Security

On Monday, February 21,  two cars in the neighborhood were stolen out of garages. The car theft south of 122nd St E possibly occurred sometime in the morning or afternoon, a garage door was forced open and a vehicle was stolen.  Other homeowners on 136th Ave E, north of 122nd St E reported items stolen from their vehicles which were parked in their driveway or carport .  The incidents to the north of 122nd St E happened between approximately 1:30pm-2:30pm. Both stolen cars were reported to the PC Sheriff’s Office. We don’t know if the car thefts were related.  A neighborhood camera on 136th Ave E captured images and time-stamps of the potential suspect walking north on 136th Ave E and recorded the stolen vehicle when it left the neighborhood.  The victims of the car theft north of 122nd St reported a tool bag was stolen out of their car.  It was later recovered at another neighbors property across from the property where the second car was stolen. In the snapshots below you can see that the suspect is carrying both the tool bag and the backpack. The second car was taken from an open garage.  Some neighbors had encounters with the potential suspect who was wearing a backpack and carrying a large bag with tools.  He told them he was at the wrong house or asked if they needed handyman help.  He was also spotted crossing a neighbors backyard.

Potentially there are more victims of this crime spree in our neighborhood.  If you have information to share or have another incident to report please contact the PC Sheriff’s South Hill Precinct, 253-798-3278 . You may also respond to this gmail address ( STACC <sunriseterraceacc@gmail.com>   ) as we continue to compile information for the incident report.

This was very brazen and bold criminal activity pulled off in broad daylight when many people were actually home.  Keep a watchful eye out, call 911 to report suspicious activity or theft. Do not approach on your own as these people may attack you.

The images below were retrieved from our Neighborhood Camera System.  They show an individual with the tool carrier and backpack which was found across the street from where one of the cars was stolen.  We think it is a pretty good bet that the individual shown is the car thief, as we know that the tools were identified as being stolen from a vehicle on 136th Ave E. The third picture down shows the thief when he approaches one of our neighbor’s vehicles, then sees the camera looking straight at him.  He quickly left the property.

We would like to remind all neighbors that more cameras are needed to increase the visual coverage within Sun Rise Terrace Camera Project. If more of our neighbors had cameras with at least one covering the street we would have more evidence against this individual.

There are no cameras guarding access to 136th Ave East so we cannot determine arrival and departure date/times into Sun Rise Terrace. There are many blind spots within the neighborhood that also limit our ability to assist in the identification and date/time of intrusion.

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Capture of 14412hrs

InkedEide House_2_LIIMG_0553

 

SR162 Community Group needs help

Neighborhood Security, Public Service Announcements, Safety

Elvin Lerew aske me to post this for the SR162 Community Group.

The SR162 Community Group has been working alongside the Tehaleh development and Tehaleh has submitting a formal request to the legislature that SR162 be examined along with the other possible state corridors to serve the traffic from Tehaleh’s new highway down to SR162/128th.

The Tehaleh development will be bringing a massive amount of traffic to the valley when their new road is built.  A large portion of that traffic will be westward bound and will be using Military Road as that east-west corridor.  As you may know, the SR162 Community Group has proposed that the county consider a 128th street westbound extension from SR162/128th to reduce traffic on SR162 and Military road.  The county has completed an initial study on this proposal and have agreed that it is viable.

We need to move ahead with the next level of a feasibility study.  Because this new corridor would serve to lighten the load on SR162, the state has a stake in the success of this new corridor and should support it by joining with Pierce County on the assessment process of how to create it.

Your support is needed to convince the legislature that SR162 is an important corridor for Pierce County and needs to be included in the ongoing study for an improved east-west transportation corridor that would improve traffic flow on SR161 (Meridian), SR7 (Pacific Ave) and SR507 (Spanaway McKenna Hwy).

The legislature is now in session, but only for 90 days. Please contact your legislature now and ask that SR162 improvements be examined along with other possible state corridors to serve the traffic from Tehaleh’s new highway.  You can find an easy reference to key legislators and their email addresses on the SR162 Community Group Please Help web page, https://sr162traffic.org/Please-Help/ 

We need your help so that Military Road does not end up with stop and go traffic and so that SR162 does not become even worse than it is. 

 

Mail Thief Interrupted

Neighborhood Security, Safety

Last night (Sunday 9 Jan)  Wayne Flood called me around 10:30PM about a white SUV with one headlight that Cindy had scared away from her mailbox. Wayne suggested that anyone searching for mail on Sunday might actually be looking for mailboxes which were full of several days mail, indicating that the owners probably were away. They might have been marking homes for a burglary attempt later that night.

If you are going to be away overnight it would be a good idea to have someone pick up your mail, or have the Post Office hold it for you.