Arrow Lumber plans meet resistance

Arrow Lumber, a seven-unit chain of hardware stores and lumberyards headquartered in Buckley, Wash., is running into resistance from both city and county officials over a proposed expansion to his Port Townsend lumberyard, according to an article in the Port Townsend Leader. 

Owner Barney Wagner, who wants to add a 7,200-sq.-ft. hardware store to his existing lumberyard, received a 45-page letter from the Jefferson County Department of Community Development detailing the agency’s concern about fire flows, traffic impacts and zoning issues, among other issues. 

The City of Port Townsend has also raised objections to the land-use designation that would allow a large retail store to be built just outside city limits, when its “Growth Management Act” calls for new development to be in-filled inside city limits or other parts of the urban growth area before expanding outside of those boundaries.

Wagner said he’s grown accustomed to government opposition to new building projects; he intends to see the expansion through. 

Arrow Lumber operates locations in Buckley, Eatonville, Port Townsend, Randle, Port Orchard, and Orting, Wash.