Published February
2002
Arlington
OKs
business-park permit
By
Eric Stevick
Herald Writer
Arlington Municipal
Airport, already a magnet for business and light industry, has been given
the green light to expand even further.
The
Arlington City Council approved a major development permit in January
to subdivide 147 acres on the west side of the airport for a 124-acre
business park. Construction would take place in three phases over an undetermined
number of years.
As part of the project,
the council also approved a 23-acre flight-line area adjacent to the west
runway for aviation-related hangar and light-industrial development.
The development could
have been much larger. It was cut down from a 286-acre project initially
proposed in 1998 in the wake of Federal Aviation Administration and state
Department of Transportation concerns over flight approaches.
The pace of construction
hinges on road improvements. Ultimately, the park could include 1.3 million
square feet of business, office, research, light-manufacturing and airport-related
uses.
However, only a
small fraction of that can be built until there are major improvements
to the I-5 interchange at 172nd Street, also known as the Highway 531
overpass at I-5.
“Full development
is going to be tied in to the overpass improvements,” Airport Manager
Rob Putnam said.
With wrangling over
the transportation budget in the Legislature and no money set aside yet
for road construction, local officials aren’t predicting an expansion
of the overpass anytime soon.
There is money set
aside for design and right-of-way acquisition, said Victor Salemann, a
Bellevue consultant who has studied the traffic impacts of the project.
The goal is to widen
the overpass and increase the southbound ramp capacity, he said.
Ultimately, the airport
business park expansion could produce between 1,500 to 2,000 jobs, said
John Burkholder, a land-use and engineering consultant.
The permit application
faced a challenge from the Stillaguamish Tribe, which argued that the
site has cultural, historic and spiritual significance. Developers rejected
the claim as unsubstantiated. A records check by the state Office of Archaeology
and Historic Preservation found no evidence to back the tribe’s contention.
State and federal law requires that work be stopped if any archaeological
or historic materials are discovered.
On average, the development
is expected to add 10,473 new vehicular trips to the road system each
day, including 1,193 new afternoon trips during peak-hour traffic.
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