Residents on the east side of Lay Inlet enjoy looking across the bay at All Saints Camp and Retreat Center, a heavily forested stretch of Raft Island shoreline that provides a home to wildlife and brilliant fall colors. The view hasn’t changed in decades. Neighbors might have worried earlier this month, when barges and heavy
The land slated to become The Reserve, a planned subdivision in Gig Harbor extending from Peacock Hill Avenue eastward down the hill toward Crescent Valley, is hardly a slam-dunk for development. The long, narrow 9.88-acre site slopes noticeably on its western half, where developers plan to build 14 homes. It then drops sharply to an
A pair of brothers from a prominent Tacoma business family has bought up properties with big development potential in downtown Gig Harbor. Their purchases include a historic waterfront building between the Tides Tavern and the new 7 Seas taproom near the Old Ferry Landing. Another incorporates more than three-quarters of an acre in the commercial
For some tenants in John and Luke Xitco’s downtown Gig Harbor properties, the brothers’ arrival as landlords meant rent hikes. In several cases, the businesses left or plan to leave due to the increases. The Gallery Row cooperative art gallery has operated out of 3102 Harborview Drive for 22 years. After the Xitcos, through their
It’s not every watering hole that gets official recognition of its birthday from the mayor, saluting its two generations of leadership and proclaiming it both a well-run landmark and an “iconic and joyous meeting place” before a crowd of citizens and the assembled city council. But not every local joint is Gig Harbor’s Tides Tavern
Eric SanInocencio of Gig Harbor has what many would consider a dream job. From his house near the head of the bay, he is immersed in baseball all day, every day as vice president of social media for Perfect Game USA. The company bills itself as the world’s largest scouting organization and hosts tournaments and
With this state’s vibrant space technology sector, it’s no surprise that NASA in 2023 chose three Washington companies for its NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which provides seed funding to nurture early-stage ideas that could transform future space missions. Washington firms awarded the highly competitive NIAC slots, each with a $175,000 grant, include a
As a youth, Ty Clarke liked to water-ski and wake-board from his parents’ beach on the southwest shore of Fox Island. Cutting through the glassy water of Carr Inlet, at the turnaround point on their runs, Ty and his friends couldn’t help noticing something off-putting: a neglected concrete box of a building squatting on the
Think the fight against Walmart in the 1990s, or the more recent flap over building 35 new dwelling units at the bottom of Harborview Drive, stand as the biggest citizen crusades in peninsula history? Those were minor disagreements when compared to the Battle for Carr Inlet, fought in the early 1950s. Decades before the term
When sunny skies arrive, a waterfront business like Island View Market needs to focus on keeping the beer coolers full, boat gas flowing and sun screen stocked. This June, though, the iconic south Rosedale country store and filling station has a stressful distraction: A lawsuit between the current owners and the previous owners who sold
