NEWS

LEADERS WANT A UNIFIED ORTING

By: Melissa Santos June 30, 2008

It’s not hard to see what residents mean when they talk about “old Orting” and “new Orting.” A half-dozen recent housing developments flank the main highway leading into the historic railroad town, followed by a Safeway complex and strip mall with a Starbucks and an H&R Block.

Then old Orting begins: a series of antique shops, quaint-looking restaurants, and family-owned businesses, visually united by their turn-of-the-century architecture.

Luring residents of new Orting to the heart of the valley town has been difficult, officials and business owners say.

They hope the new Saturday Market will help.

The market opened June 21 for its second season, drawing an estimated 600 people downtown, said parks director Beckie Meek.

The market’s 43 vendors this year are farmers, local craftsmen and small-time bakers. Rules dictate that everything sold there must be handcrafted or homegrown.

No food vendors are allowed, an attempt to push people to try the restaurants open nearby, Meek said.

Some say it’s working.

Shawn Potter, owner of the Park Bench Caffe, which is across from where the market is held, said he served people in his restaurant that he had never seen before Saturday.

“We did have a lot of people in who hadn’t been here before, and they’ve been living here for four or five years,” Potter said. “Most people haven’t been past the Safeway to come in to the old town.”

The Orting market contrasts with some larger markets whose vendors compete with local businesses, said Linda Febus, co-owner of First Love Antiques and Collectibles.

Febus, who relocated from Puyallup to Orting last April, said the Puyallup Farmers Market killed her business every year but that Orting’s market has been a boost so far.

“They really aren’t doing anything that competes with us or the restaurants or anything,” Febus said. “It brings people right to the heart of town, right at our back door.”

Orting Mayor Cheryl Temple said the market is just one step city officials are taking to reach out to residents of the new housing subdivisions.

Newcomers have helped Orting grow from a city of 3,760 residents to more than 6,000 since 2000. During the years of the housing boom, many were attracted to the valley floor for affordable homes with stunning views of Mount Rainier.

In 2003, the city bought a new parcel of park downtown, adding to the park property it already owned along two blocks of Washington Avenue.

That’s where this year it put up a new building, called the Orting Station, that can house the farmers market and other events.

The goal is to make downtown welcoming for new residents and old alike, Temple said. The Saturday Market especially has the potential to appeal to commuters, who often don’t spend much time in Orting during the week.

“We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for those people to join us,” Temple said. “We want to keep its quaintness, to be inviting.”

Dave Harmon, president of the Orting Chamber of Commerce, said he sees officials struggling to unite the two parts of town and the values that separate long-time residents from new homeowners.

In 2006, the city rezoned about 60 acres between downtown and the several housing subdivisions along Highway 162, saying the land couldn’t be turned into another housing development.

Officials instead zoned it for mixed residential and commercial use in an attempt to ease the transition between the residential and retail parts of town, Temple said.

But Harmon said the problem could worsen if the property turns into another strip mall.

“We have people calling it ‘new Orting’ versus ‘old Orting,’ and that’s not what we want,” Harmon said. “We just want it to be Orting.”

The mayor said the town is succeeding at keeping its small-town identity through efforts such as the Saturday Market.

The market’s new building was constructed entirely by volunteers, saving city officials about $100,000 they would have paid a developer, she said.

Residents worked on the building on weekends for about six months, a nod to the spirit that characterized Orting in the past.

“Volunteerism used to be such a way of life here, but lately people have gotten busy,” Temple said.

“To me, it symbolizes the way things used to be around here.”

Melissa Santos: 253-552-7058

The Saturday Market


What: The Orting Farmers Market


When: Every Saturday this summer through Aug. 9. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.


Where: North Park, at the corner of Washington Avenue and Calistoga Street in downtown Orting

Reprinted by Permission: Tacoma News Tribune www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/401014.html