The Weyerhaeuser property has been the face of Federal Way for decades; a regional image that many cities envied. A place that lived its legend and embodied the best in Northwest culture. It proved business, jobs and the environment could live as one.

But times change, and Weyerhaeuser went to the big city. We felt jilted by the business, but the land was still here and our sense of ownership rivaled any actual title holder. As stewards of our land and our future, we trusted our leaders to share that affection and see the potential for the property that we saw – that any proud parent would see.

The reflection of our community when viewed through regional eyes has not been kind. Our sports teams achieved success, but shootings and assaults gave us new nicknames that we despise. We hoped and prayed for months that whomever replaced Weyerhaeuser would become our new signature business.

With such a spectacular gem of forest, ponds, gardens and views, the Weyerhaeuser property could be our savior. A brand new front yard was on the horizon and would provide the beacon we needed to attract new corporate interest and restore our tarnished image.

Mayor Jim Ferrell and City Council members talked of grandness. A college campus was imagined, and visions of Hollywood stardom danced through our heads as the city’s Economic Development Director whetted our appetites with the notion of movie studios moving in and making motion pictures. The new owners hinted at a high-tech complex that we saw as enhancing the natural setting. Take that Seattle! Take that Tacoma! Take that Redmond! We will be stars! No more second-class for us!

We waited with bated breath to see what our leaders would bring us. As our self-induced moment of theatrics continued, we heard the drumroll in the background as our anticipation grew. Then the announcement was made! The first parcel to be developed that would define the NEW FEDERAL WAY would be…

A fish warehouse?

Oh, we had heard the rumors and shouldn’t have gotten our hopes up. But it was still unbelievable. Almost shocking in its humiliation. Is this the “branding” of our community that our city government spent thousands of dollars to achieve?

Clear-cutting our forests and filling in almost sacred wetlands, to be replaced with a seven-story manufacturing plant accompanied by parking for over 300 cars and 35 trucks! Federal Way isn’t the Tacoma tide flats, and this isn’t a previously zoned industrial area similar to the Auburn-Kent valley where this type of enterprise is expected and planned for. Surely our Mayor and City Council wouldn’t allow this travesty!

But Ferrell said the proposed development falls under current zoning. If so, that likely means the acting director of the Planning Department, whose background is building code enforcement and not planning and environmental review, may be stretching the interpretation of “light industrial” zoning to allow it to fit.

Our future regional business image should be more important than a quick, hollow deal that fits a political timetable instead of our needs. In our musing moments of anticipation, did anyone really wish for a fish plant?

Beyond leaving our desires for a game-changer behind with a property that could have marked our emergence onto the regional business stage, we are left with significant technical questions about how the proposed use will impact our community.

According to professionals in the field, food processing is typically an industrial use in most cities. Such things as truck traffic, odor, noise and wastewater discharge can be significant. The plant could be a heavy water-user. Is there water and sewer capacity? If not, who will pay for upgrades? The property’s internal road system isn’t built for large trucks and will likely need to be completely rebuilt. Who will pay for that? And what if those truck drivers learn that sometimes using city streets is faster than the freeway to the Port of Tacoma, or that Pacific Highway can be a faster route to SeaTac airport or the Port of Seattle during rush periods? And if they think Highway 18 to I-90 will be faster than from Renton?

What will the State Department of Transportation have to say? What will be the environmental impact? Will the plant operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week? Will there be food service on-site? If so, their workers are not likely to leave work to eat in our restaurants and do a little shopping while they’re out. And what about those family-wage jobs the public has been so insistent about? What will any of these jobs pay?

But residents have a bigger worry. This parcel is only a small portion of the full 430 acres. This is the first domino and will set the tone for future development of the property. Already we hear of another warehouse whose footprint could rival Husky Stadium. How many first-class medical, business or corporate headquarters want to follow this lead? These developers were said to be well-connected in their home state, California. They couldn’t sell companies on trading smog, high prices and traffic jams worse than ours and moving to the great Northwest? Or is this what they think of us?

Over the last several months, the Mayor and City Council have scheduled two emergency meetings of the City Council for politically advantageous reasons, even though neither was needed to obtain public input. But Ferrell’s comments suggest the city will try and make the property fit into current zoning to avoid a public hearing, even though the websites and coffeehouses are already burning up with angry comments and questions from citizens who don’t agree with Ferrell’s “positive development for our city” viewpoint.

The city only gave residents until Aug. 22 to present written comments. But since the public just found out about the proposed land use, the city should extend the deadline and call for a formal Council Public Hearing to gather input to be used by the city planning staff in its review. Even though that could open the door for a wider appeal process, which the city clearly has no interest in hearing.

Ferrell needed some type of construction on the property prior to next year’s election season as a political defense against criticisms of Weyerhaeuser leaving on his watch. But rather than reduce potential candidates for office, this announcement, and how the city responds, might attract them. Some Council members may support the Mayor’s viewpoint, but others are said to be exploring options. Councilman Mark Koppang seemed to sum up the opposing view, saying, “We don’t want Weyerhaeuser Way to become Warehouse Way.”

The new, big issue could be a candidate’s vision of the future of Federal Way that’s much different than where the city is currently headed. Which candidates want to run on the platform that their vision of our city’s new dynamic future starts with a fish warehouse?

Disclosure: I am on the Board of Directors of the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce, but the views reflected in this column are mine alone. Only the Chamber’s CEO can speak for the Chamber.

Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is the former mayor of Auburn. He can be reached at bjroegner@comcast.net.