Lacey Park Commissioner quits over hearing process on controversial gas station

Lacey Board of Park Commissioner Sarah Daniels announced Monday her resignation from the board as a protest against the City's process of hearing public comments on the controversial Meridian Market and Gas Station.

Daniels said she was concerned that the issue was never raised or discussed in the Board of Park meetings, and she only knew about the project because it was happening in her neighborhood.

"The fact that they chose not to share this information with the Parks Board speaks to a larger issue," Daniels said in an interview with The JOLT.

Daniels, who served as a park commissioner for four years, said that Lacey should follow a formal procedure to gather input while informing the entire community.

"If they get to withhold information on a case by case basis, they get to choose and direct–that's manipulation," she added.

In an email sent to the Board of Park Commissioners and the members of the council, Daniels also questioned the decision of the Sound Law Center Hearing Examiner Andrew Reeves to recommend to the City Council the approval of the Meridian Gas Station.

"The Hearing Examiner's summary in no way reflects this community's feedback either accurately or completely," wrote Daniels, claiming that the word "park" was mentioned over 900 times in the community input for the project but was neglected in the summary report of the Hearings Examiner.

On April 12, Lacey held a public hearing on the proposed construction of a gas station in the City's northeast corner.

The Lacey City will discuss the Hearings Examiner’s findings at their regular meeting on June 2.

The Meridian Market and gas station is based on the Meridian Campus plan of Thurston County in the 1980s. Lacey annexed the land in 1992, which provided varieties of uses such as commercial, residential, industrial, and institutional zones.

Based on its project proposal, the commercial district would have a Chevron gas station and two commercial buildings that provide 9,000 square feet of commercial and office space.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story omitted mention of the Lacey City Council's plan to discuss the proposed projects at this Thursday's meeting. We regret the error.