Council chambers were packed Monday night. The topic: a quasi-judicial hearing regarding a resident’s appeal of a proposed housing development.

Stepping Stones would cover 2.12 acres near Gault Street and have 12 lots for single-family residences, many under the 6,000 square feet minimum. The project might get away with the smaller lot sizes by using a nearby side street as an alley to provide secondary access to the houses.

The resident who made the appeal, Julie Nordyke-Moltke, argued that the road in question should not be turned into an alley because it affords primary access to a preschool and day care. Plus, all the extra traffic would harm those businesses.

Her argument against the alley may stand, as one council member pointed out that there is a definition of an alley in the Sumner Municipal Code that states it can only provide secondary access.

That definition is different from the one that both parties had used until that point, so the attorney of applicant Ray Armstrong requested time to respond to it. He has until Sept. 27 and Nordyke-Moltke has until Oct. 8 to rebut his statement.

Armstrong, who didn’t attend the hearing, was reached by phone Tuesday. He said he and his brother own the land and jointly decided to get housing put up. City officials talked them through the process and Armstrong said he was under the impression they were doing everything correctly.

“We thought it would go in the community,” Armstrong said. “We just did what everyone told us to do.”

At 2 p.m. today, Bonney Lake, Sumner and Auburn will meet to make an offer of approximately $33 million to purchase Lake Tapps.

Talk of buying the lake sprouted up again this January, according to Dana Hinman, spokeswoman for the city of Auburn.

The three cities will be competing against another bid from Cascade Water Alliance.

“If nothing else, we just give PSE another choice for long-term viability of the lake,” Bonney Lake Mayor Neil Johnson said this morning.

If Bonney Lake, Sumner and Auburn purchase Lake Tapps, it could mean local control of the lake, with home owners having more of a say in water level and the lake’s operation overall.

“We’d want the home owners on the lake to play a big role in this,” Johnson said. “It means a lot to the region.”

Chalk one up for Girl Power. On opening day at The Puyallup Fair two pint-sized lasses held onto their ewes long enough to nab first and second place in the Mutton Bustin’ competition. Emcee Tommy Giodone of Tommy G. Productions said the event has had a huge response from last year, as the very first day brought in a large crowd and 34 sign-ups to compete.

Mutton Bustin’ pits farm animal muscle against kiddie staying power, as children under 60 lbs. wrap themselves around the flanks of a sheep busting out of a gate rodeo-style. The tiny chaps try to hold on for 6 seconds. Not so easy.

See “Lifestyles” page B1 in The Herald’s Thursday, Sept. 13 edition for full story.