An online petition has been created requesting that the Port of Seattle withdraw the proposal in its Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) to convert acres of existing green space in North SeaTac Park into an employee parking lot.

The Port intends to turn an estimated 11 acres of mature forest in North SeaTac Park into a 1,500-space employee parking lot #L06, and this has many residents upset.

“Construction of Lot #L06 would replace acres of forested land with a barren surface, destroy mountain bike trails that are an important recreational resource for our community, increase storm water runoff and flooding potential, and remove trees and green space that clean our air of airport-generated pollution,” petition organizers said.

Opponents say that the benefits provided by large trees and mature forested land that the Port proposes to remove “cannot be replaced by planting new trees in other locations. Nor are this community’s forested mountain bike trails a replaceable resource.”

The proposed area also contains a network of popular mountain bike trails used by thousands throughout the region.

Organizers suggest the Port consider converting the existing nearly 40-acre SeaTac north employee lot to a multi-story parking garage, which could quadruple parking capacity and create a noise barrier between the airport and the park and nearby neighborhoods.

“A new lot may cost less for the Port than a parking garage,” they said. “But the resulting loss of trees and green space would cost much more in both human and economic impacts: harmed health, reduced property values, and lost recreational space – all borne by the community.”

    • North SeaTac Park was created by the Port’s removal of large numbers of homes to accommodate airport operations.
    • Its trees mitigate the disproportionate harm that the airport causes communities in its shadow.
    • Most neighborhoods near the park are state-designated as “highly-impacted” due to environmental health disparities caused, in large part, by the air traffic overhead.
    • Research shows that local residents are exposed to pollution uniquely associated with this traffic, including ultrafine particles that pose substantial hazards to human health.

So far, the following have shown their support of this petition:

    • Jill Kintner, Olympic Medalist in BMX for Team USA, who got her start on these very mountain bike trails

City of SeaTac

    • SeaTac Deputy Mayor Peter Kwon
    • SeaTac Councilmember Clyde Hill
    • SeaTac Councilmember Senayet Negusse

King County Council

    • Councilmember Dave Upthegrove

City of Burien

    • Burien Deputy Mayor Krystal Marx
    • Burien Councilmember Cydney Moore
    • Burien Councilmember Kevin Schilling

City of Tukwila

    • City Council President Kate Kruller

City of Des Moines

    • Des Moines Deputy Mayor Matt Mahoney
    • De Moines Councilmember Luisa Bangs
    • Des Moines Councilmember Traci Buxton
    • Des Moines Councilmember JC Harris
    • Des Moines Councilmember Anthony Martinelli
    • Des Moines Councilmember Jeremy Nutting

City of Normandy Park

    • Normandy Park Councilmember Earnest Thompson

Candidates

    • Port of Seattle Commission candidate Hamdi Mohamed
    • Port of Seattle Commission candidate Toshiko Hasegawa

The petition can be viewed online here.

Below is text from the petition:

WE CALL ON THE PORT OF SEATTLE to withdraw the proposal in its Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) to convert acres of existing green space in North SeaTac Park into employee parking lot # L-06. We also call on the Port and local officials to re-evaluate the additional proposals in that plan that would remove large numbers of trees from land near this park for other airport structures.

Construction of Lot #L06 would replace acres of forested land with a barren surface, destroy mountain bike trails that are an important recreational resource for our community, increase storm water runoff and flooding potential, and remove trees and green space that clean our air of airport-generated pollution.

The benefits provided by the large trees and mature forested land that the Port proposes to remove cannot be replaced by planting new trees in other locations. Nor are this community’s forested mountain bike trails a replaceable resource.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE REMOVAL OF THIS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT GREEN SPACE would be to convert the existing nearly 40-acre SeaTac north employee lot to a multi-story parking garage. This could quadruple parking capacity and create a noise barrier between the airport and the park and nearby neighborhoods.

A new lot may cost less for the Port than a parking garage. But the resulting loss of trees and green space would cost much more in both human and economic impacts: harmed health, reduced property values, and lost recreational space – all borne by the community.

North SeaTac Park was created by the Port’s removal of large numbers of homes to accommodate airport operations. Its trees mitigate the disproportionate harm that the airport causes the communities in its shadow. Most neighborhoods near the park are state-designated as “highly-impacted” due to environmental health disparities caused, in large part, by the air traffic overhead. Research shows that local residents are exposed to pollution uniquely associated with this traffic, including ultrafine particles that pose substantial hazards to human health.

Trees are critical to mitigate this harm. But our communities, like many others that bear disproportionate environmental health impacts, already have fewer trees than the national average (less than 25% for SeaTac as compared with a national average of more than 30%.) The Port has helped create this “tree inequity” and must take responsibility to cure it.

We call on the Port to honor its obligation to protect the communities in its shadow, to be a better steward of its forested land, and to address any need for airport expansion in a manner that aligns with its:

1. Mission to operate “in an equitable, accountable and environmentally responsible manner;”

2. Vision of “stewarding our environment responsibly, partnering with surrounding communities, (and) promoting social responsibility;”

3. Goal stated in its March 2021 draft Maritime Climate and Air Action Plan to “address the urgency of the climate crisis and the needs of near‐port communities in Seattle that are disproportionately impacted by air pollution.”

We also call on officials of the cities of Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, SeaTac, and Tukwila to individually and collectively, through the Interlocal Agreement for Environmental Review of the SAMP between four of these cities and by any other appropriate means, to oppose Lot #L06 and to vigorously appeal any proposal that would advance its construction.