The survival of this 200+ acre urban oasis is at stake
So are the health and safety of the people who live near it
Photo: A few of over 200 competitors in the Northwest Mountain Bike Series “Wednesday Night World Championships” held in North SeaTac Park, 8/11/21
DEFENDERS OF NORTH SEATAC PARK
December 2021 Update
“Most parks have friends groups. But the survival of this 200+ acre urban oasis is at stake. This park needs defenders.”
Since this Oct. 2021 presentation, a group has been meeting to create a Consensus Statement and organizing plan to assist in saving the park and protecting the surrounding community from the Port’s deforestation plans.
More information available at Defenders of North SeaTac Park KCTreeEquity.org/consensus
At Stake�
Critical public health and climate stabilizing green infrastructure
Critical habitat connections �for the regional forest and waterways�
INSIDE NSTP
55 out of 200+ acres including�* Large areas of mature forest �* Wetlands�* At least one tributary of Miller Creek�* Verging on Tub Lake Bog �* Extensive walking & mountain bike trails�
NEAR NSTP�
An estimated 75-83 additional acres
of mostly tree-covered land
��
�
Community Health and Airport Operations Related Noise and Air Pollution, Seattle,-King County Health Department December 1, 2020
Three zones of proximity to SeaTac Airport:
Here, life expectancies are lower and rates of premature births, cancer, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, and other negative health outcomes are higher. So are levels of the kinds of pollutants known to cause many of these illnesses.
Trees capture significant amounts of pollution generated by the airport and known to cause many of these health impacts, as well as large amounts of climate disrupting pollution.
One last true bog remains in our area
�Lost bogs of Seattle
OWNERSHIP
MANAGEMENT
LIMITATIONS
Abbreviations
SAMP: Sustainable Airport Master Plan
RESP: Real Estate Strategic Plan
“…The park is the culmination of a long term and very open planning process to compensate the area's residents for cumulative airport impacts” and is “the best compatible use of a severely airport-impacted area.”
FAA Compliance Reviews of Airport Noise Land Use & Financial Operations: SeaTac Intl Airport, 2016
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
The Port of Seattle is
A special purpose government
The public “owns” the Port and all its assets
Including North SeaTac Park
Ownership: Port of Seattle
Management: City of SeaTac
Oversight: FAA
In the 1970s and 80s, to expand SeaTac Airport, the Port bought the land that the park is now on from thousands who owned homes here.
As it used FAA funds to do this, the Port is limited in what it can use the land for.
By agreement with the City of SeaTac, most of the land is in park status until 2045. The Port can require the City to vacate the other 55 acres “at any time.”
Zoned: Aviation Commercial
For unclear reasons, the City of SeaTac changed the zoning of this land from residential to Aviation Commercial years after the Port’s purchase. A change to Park zoning would likely involve negotiation as the land has greater market value with its current zoning designation.
Previous petition
Between May and August 2021, 2,400 community members called on the Port to:
The Port responded to the first item by removing the parking lot proposal from the SAMP. It hasn’t responded to the second.
Image adapted from document obtained through public records request. https://tinyurl.com/yatautv6
CITY OF SEATAC POTENTIAL FUTURE OWNERSHIP
HIGH-VALUE
COMMERCIAL LAND
COMPLEX OWNERSHIP
& OVERSIGHT
NO ORGANIZED PUBLIC GROUP TO PROTECT
THE PUBLIC INTEREST
STRUCTURAL INCENTIVES
TO DESTROY TREES
North SeaTac
proposals
Information on this and the next slide adapted from 2016 Port Commission Study Session: Real Estate Strategic Plan as well as SAMP documents
Estimates on next slide are “best guesses” of potential tree loss - as the Port doesn’t provide a comprehensive summary
WESTSIDE MAINTENANCE CAMPUS (S07)
(label added based on information in SAMP documents)
ESTIMATED PLANNED TREE LOSS
IN & NEAR NSTP
Sustainable Airport Master Plan (Near-Term SAMP)
a. Cargo Warehouses
Sites C02 & C03 (26.2 acres)
b. Parking Lots and Receiving and Distribution Center (RDC)
L05 & L07 and S10 (RDC) (17 acres combined: 13 + 4)
c. Westside Maintenance Campus
S07 (Rough estimate of acreage = 5 Acres)
Real Estate Strategic Plan (RESP)
d. Food Innovation Center and other “useable acres”
Inside North SeaTac Park near Tub Lake Bog (31.5 acres)
e. Supporting SAMP and SR 509 Extension (L-Shaped)
S. 200th Street (27.7 acres)
Estimated Totals
a. 26.2 Acres
b. 17 Acres
c. 5 Acres
d. 31.5 Acres
e. 27.7 Acres
TOTAL 107.4 Acres
ESTIMATES BASED ON INCOMPLETE / PRELIMINARY SOURCES:
https://www.portseattle.org/plans/sustainable-airport-master-plan-samp (Scoping Information p. 14)
https://meetings.portseattle.org/portmeetings/attachments/2016/2016_07_26_SS_5_supp.pdf (p. 17-23)
INSIDE THE PARK
Thirty-one acres inside the area of the park that the Port can order the City to leave “at any time”
are considered“usable acreage” (for aviation development) in the Port’s Real Estate Strategic Plan
PASSIVE TREE DESTRUCTION
Uncontrolled invasive weeds kill the forest & degrade its economic value
Further paving the way for development
The Port of Seattle funds some – but far from adequate - forest restoration in the park. It has no comprehensive plan to save the forest.
SAMP
National and State Environmental Reviews are pending
Potential mitigation, not likely to halt development
RESP
Environmental reviews unknown
TREE LOSS THROUGH NEGLECT
No accountability
SAMP ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW TIMELINE
Graphic adapted from Port’s SAMP website
UNDER THE ROAR
OF A GLOBAL CROSSROADS
A Highly Impacted* Community
Is losing its guardian trees
* Highly Impacted by environmental health disparities according to Washington State’s Department of Health
WAVES OF DISPLACEMENT
The park is sited on unceded traditional land of the first people in our region, people of the Duwamish Tribe and other tribes, past and present.
In the 1970s and 80s, thousands who lived on this land - along with their houses, schools, and places of business – were removed by the Port to expand the airport. Remnants of home foundations, backyard gardens, and roads remain throughout the park. Evergreen Lake, Lora Lake and Reba Lake, once thriving recreational areas, were filled.
Many displaced from elsewhere in the region and across the globe now live here, drawn to more affordable housing. This includes people impacted by generations of state-sanctioned wealth-handicapping of non-whites. It includes immigrants and refugees, far from the lands where they were born.
Photo: one of the few remaining elm trees of the 1,200 planted on the west side of the park to honor 355 men and women of King County who died in World War I.
American Forests Tree Equity Score National Explorer
https://www.treeequityscore.org/map/#11/47.4485/-122.299
SeaTac’s
Tree Canopy cover: 21%*
National average
>30%**
*Green SeaTac Partnership Urban Forest Enhancement Guide, Forterra, City of SeaTac, Port of Seattle, 2019, p. 14
**Declining urban and community tree cover in the US, Nowak, et al. V. 32, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 5/18, 32-55
https://tinyurl.com/ymkv5nvu
Tub Lake
King County Heat Map
https://tinyurl.com/yzrc9mb4
L06 Site =
Wildfire pollution & 108-degree+ heat domes
People living in the “highly impacted communities” near North SeaTac Park experience greater impacts from these events than most residents in King County.
Wildfire smoke delayed incoming flights for hours at Sea-Tac Airport, Jennifer King, 8/19/2018, King5
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/wildfire-smoke-delayed-incoming-flights-for-hours-at-sea-tac-airport/281-585634046
Presidential Executive Order 12898
Promotes the principles of environmental justice in all Departmental programs, policies, and activities.
US Department of Transportation Order 5610.2
Pursuant to Executive Order 12898, the FAA must analyze impacts – including cumulative effects - on low income and minority populations. “Determine if any low-income or minority populations experience a disproportionately high level of cumulative effects.”
LEGAL PROTECTIONS
DON’T APPLY AUTOMATICALLY
MUST BE ASSERTED
EPA Sept. 2018 Comment on SAMP
“The potential impacts of each alternative should be quantified to the greatest extent possible. It would also be useful to list each alternative action’s impacts and corresponding mitigation measures. The EPA encourages selection of reasonable alternatives that will minimize environmental degradation.”
From EPA Scoping Comments on the proposed SeaTac Sustainable Airport Master Plan King County WA, 9/28/2018
LEGAL PROTECTIONS
DON’T APPLY AUTOMATICALLY
MUST BE ASSERTED
EXAMPLES OF EMERGING FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
WHO IS LOOKING OUT FOR THE PEOPLE LIVING NEAR SEATAC AIRPORT
TO ENSURE WE’RE IN THE RUNNING FOR THESE LARGE GRANTS THAT CAN RESTORE OUR URBAN FORESTS AND PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH?
https://KCTreeEquity.org
More info at KCTreeEquity.org