It’s entirely disingenuous of the mayor to title his memo “Equal treatment under the law,” as if the citizens of Federal Way, who were given only 17 days from initial notification to submit comments on this project, were asking the city to do something illegal when they call for a public hearing and a moratorium on accepting new permit requests until a proper civic discussion has occurred.

Please be aware, it’s really the next project planned by IRG that is a bigger problem than the fish processing facility. IRG plans a 700,000-plus-square-foot warehouse facility in the northwest section of the property. This would entail approximately 1,100 semi trucks a DAY trying to get in and out. The only ingress and egress would be Weyerhaeuser Way at South 320th Street, an area already in near gridlock just east of the mall, and Weyerhaeuser Way where it intersects with Highway 18 and South 336th Street heading west past the Christian Faith Center to Highway 99.

The Federal Way Revised Code does not allow industrial development in a residential area, yet IRG can do this because of an annexation agreement between Weyerhaeuser and the city in 1994, which will likely be found to be void if and when the matter goes to court. In their 1994 ordinance accepting the terms under which the Weyerhaeuser campus would be annexed into Federal Way, the City Council made clear that their intention in allowing the agreement was that the open spaces be preserved, the the unique natural features of the property be protected, and that the “character of the property” be maintained. In what way does the mayor think paving over the property, expanding Weyerhaeuser Way to five lanes, and having over 1,000 semi trucks a day trying getting in and out “preserves the character of the property”?

Now picture a college campus, tech company headquarters, research facility, or similar use of the campus. Those would truly preserve the features of the property, bring HIGH-PAYING jobs to Federal Way, and provide IRG with a good return on its investment. Its not like they scoured the earth for years trying to find such tenants for the campus. They closed on the property in February and had the current deal together in two or three months. They lied to the local residents about their plans and have tried to avoid letting citizens have any say in the destruction of what is truly a community treasure.

The mayor and city staff work for the people of Federal Way, not for a developer from California who’s here to “flip” corporate property without regard to what will be left when they leave. It’s the people who deserve and demand due process and equality under the law.

Please check out www.saveweyerhaeusercampus.org, sign the petition, attend the City Council meeting on Tuesday. Help the city avoid a serious, irreversible mistake.

Michael Brown, Federal Way (North Lake)