| Dec ’09 |
| 23 |
The Port of Seattle announced that it will start sampling and testing stormwater from the former Lora Lake Apartment complex in Burien this winter as part of a legal agreement with the Department of Ecology (Ecology).
Ecology is seeking public comment on this plan through Wednesday, Dec. 23rd, and residents interested in reviewing the proposal should click here.
The project, called an “Interim Action,” is part of the work the Port is required to perform to study contamination at the site, which housed a barrel-cleaning company in the 1940s and 50s and an auto-wrecking facility from roughly 1960 to 1981.
A 22-building apartment complex was built in 1987. The Port, which owns Sea-Tac Airport nearby, bought the property in 1998 and demolished six buildings within the airport’s Third Runway protection zone in 2007.
At one time, the 234 Lora Lake Apartments were affordable housing.
The remainder of the buildings were demolished just recently.
Environmental samples taken in preparation for that demolition showed higher than expected levels of contaminants from the pre-apartment complex activities at the site. Pollutants associated with the site’s former activities include petroleum products, dioxin, solvents and other contaminants.
The Port demolished only above-ground structures, and took measures – under Ecology oversight – to not disturb potentially contaminated soil.
Port consultants will collect stormwater samples during rainstorms, with a plan to collect sampls during up to 10 storms. The information will help Ecology determine whether the site requires special or additional stormwater controls or treatment. Polluted runoff – stormwater – is the leading threat to water quality in the state’s urban areas.
As we reported in August, the Port of Seattle wants to develop facilities for airport-compatible activities there, such as air cargo, food service and warehouses, and on other property it owns within Burien’s Northeast Planning Area north of the airport.
But the now-vacant lot is just inside the Burien city limits and several city council members hope this location will anchor economic development in the Northeast Planning Area that will generate additional sales tax and other revenue for the city. Possible land uses include an auto mall and a business park.
City Manager Mike Martin said recently that an interchange at the location, at 15001 Des Moines Memorial Drive, would increase the value of the Lora Lake site for business development.
It is also available for review at the Burien Public Library (400 SW 152nd St., 206-243-3490), as well as the Department of Ecology’s regional office in Bellevue – by appointment (425-649-7190 – 3190 160th Ave. SE).
A fact sheet on Lora Lake Apartments site is available at: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0909175.pdf.
For technical questions or to comment on the plan, please contact David South, Ecology Site Manager, 425-649-7200; e-mail dsou461@ecy.wa.gov.
by Burien long has wanted an interchange connecting State Route 518 with Des Moines Memorial Drive to improve access to businesses that, city officials hope, will move into the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA).
Now an interchange from SR 509 to NERA, located under flight paths from Sea-Tac International Airport north to S. 138th St., is also under consideration.
Burien City Manager Mike Martin said recently that any interchange on SR 509 would provide access to the Northeast Redevelopment Area.
“No one has agreed to a 509 interchange,” Martin stressed. “This is just a concept. There are only draft plans (at the city) now.” And it’s not on any to-do list at the Washington State Department of Transportation or the Puget Sound Regional Council.
Both the Port of Seattle, which owns much of the property in the area, and the city anticipate business and commercial development here within a few years. Business parks, technology and light industry, and auto sales – perhaps an auto mall, to which dealers now on 1st Ave. S. would relocate, all could play a role in the economic development of the NERA.
“This property has been blighted by the second runway and now the third runway,” Martin said. “What we are doing (by planning for a new interchange) is trying to make NERA more accessible so we can put this property back into use.”
He added that the area “is large enough to accommodate small box stores and retailers of construction materials.” But the market will determine what kind of businesses locate here. In the meantime, “we need to prepare the area to be ready for certain types of activities.”
The cost of a new interchange, including planning, design and construction, has yet to be determined, Martin said. Most of the financing probably would come from federal and state funds.
So far, he’s talked with local state legislators, “who have received the idea very warmly.”
by Ralph Nichols
Burien City Council members were presented with dismal sales tax figures from City Manager Mike Martin at the beginning of their meeting last Monday, Oct. 5th.
Through July, the city’s sales tax revenue for the year to date was down 16.2 percent compared with the same time frame in 2008, Martin reported. For July 2009, compared with July 2008, it was down 19.7 percent.
The data reflect a 14.3 percent decline in retail trade in the city, a 47 percent decline in construction-related purchases, and a 10.6 percent in accommodations and food service.
But this does not make Burien unusual. “We’re pretty much on par with our neighbors,” he observed.
NORTHEAST REDEVELOPMENT AREA
Council members heard a presentation by Scott Greenberg, Community Development Director, on proposed revisions for the city’s Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA) that, if adopted, will amend the Burien Comprehensive Plan and certain zoning designations within this area.
The NERA, located north of Sea-Tac International Airport between 8th Ave. S., S. 138th St., and Des Moines Memorial Dr., is an area that both the city and Port of Seattle, which owns much of the property there, hope is developed for business and commercial activity.
Alternative 1 in this proposal would change the existing Special Planning Area 4 designation to Airport Industrial and Professional Residential. In both areas, the current two-acre minimum for redevelopment would be eliminated.
Potential uses, according to Greenberg, include technological, light manufacturing, light industrial and offices. Auto sales and other commercial uses would be allowed in the south paort of the Airport Industrial zone.
The Professional Residential would allow for new single-family developments as well as small offices, retail uses and art studios.
Alternative 2 would include the same zoning changes, but would not include auto sales and other commercial uses.
Alternative 3 would leave the current NERA zoning unchanged.
These proposals will be introduced at the Tuesday, Oct. 13th meeting of the Burien Planning Commission at 7 p.m. in City Hall. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, a joint hearing with a hearing examiner and the planning commission will consider the proposed comprehensive plan amendments and proposed zoning changes.
Liz Ockwell, an assistant city planner, detailed for council members proposed zoning code amendments relating to land use, garages, slope, parking and landscaping for new developments.
| Oct ’08 |
| 23 |
| 6:30 pm |
This just in from the City of Burien:
Map of the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA)
The City of Burien, in partnership with the Port of Seattle (operators of Sea-Tac International Airport), is studying the Northeast Redevelopment Area (NERA), located north of the recently constructed third runway.
The study will identify ways to help property owners transition their properties from a mixture of vacant, residential, public, and small commercial land uses to uses that are compatible with operations at Sea-Tac International Airport. The NERA redevelopment strategy and master plan will evaluate options that are flexible and respond to market conditions, as well as propose ways to guide long-term redevelopment in the NERA. This effort will build upon past planning and environmental studies.
The public is invited to attend a meeting on Thursday, October 23, 2008 from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm at the cafetorium in the Cedarhurst Elementary School (611 South 132nd Street in Burien – map below) to share comments and perspectives related to strategies that are developing for the NERA.
The evening’s discussion will cover the following topics:
- Market and economic conditions
- Land uses – community and airport compatibility
- Transportation
- Utilities and infrastructure
- Environmental considerations
The consultant team working on the NERA strategy and master plan recently completed the existing conditions analysis, which included identifying the location of Miller Creek, adjacent wetlands and their protective buffers. A detailed market analysis also was prepared. The team has also been working with City of Burien and Port of Seattle staff to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges in the NERA planning area, as well as to identify potential redevelopment scenarios. The results of this work to date will be summarized at the October 23, 2008.
If you have questions or would like to obtain additional information, you are encouraged to contact consultant team member Kristen Clem at Otak (phone number: 425-739-7959).
You can also send an email to the project email address: NERA@burienwa.gov or check the City’s website at www.burienwa.gov.
