Cleanup of contaminated soil is emerging as one of the leading concerns of property owners in south downtown as the City of Tacoma begins a two-year master planning process.
Overall, at least two dozen oral and written comments have been submitted about what the City of Tacoma should consider as it begins a process that could pre- approve up to 30 million square feet of new development.
But city planner Ian Munce said Friday that property owners in the area have pointed out in meeting after meeting that any new development in south downtown will have to mitigate the land.
“We can plan for traffic and water and all those things, but property owners have said, ‘we’re still going to have to deal with the dirt,’” Munce said.
The City of Tacoma and the University of Washington are co-leading a process to develop a master plan for about 500 acres in south downtown, an area comprising the Dome and Brewery districts, the University of Washington Tacoma and part of the Foss Waterway. Using a $500,000 federal grant administered through the Puget Sound Regional Council, planners are preparing a broad environmental impact statement and sub-area plan.
The idea is to set the table for private investment.
If the environmental impact statement ultimately is approved, it will allow individual developers to skip the costly and time-consuming step of doing environmental studies on their own. The city estimates this could save developers about $5.8 million.
The process has just begun. It’s in a “scoping” period, which will guide planners on what weight to give particular issues, such as air quality or open space, based on how much weight the public gives them. The project will examine the area’s roads, power, water and sewer needs, giving city leaders a tool to help them decide what infrastructure investments to make during the next decade. It also will plan for parks, trails and open space.
On Dec. 1, a scoping forum was attended by about 80 people, and another dozen or so gave testimony. At another scoping forum Thursday at the UWT, about 40 people attended and about a dozen people gave oral testimony. Among them were a representative of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 367, two people from Jobs for Justice, and some residents of the area.
The UFCW representative and Jobs for Justice speakers highlighted the importance of living-wage jobs in planning for additional jobs and homes downtown. Other speakers emphasized the importance of low-impact development using natural trees and plants, as well as the importance of treating runoff water as to not further pollute the Foss Waterway.
Munce said based on the feedback planners have gotten about the dirt, the city has taken the lead to apply for a $1 million grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to start handling soil contamination. The grant application is on behalf of the city and its partners on brownfield cleanup, including the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, the Puget Sound Regional Council, the Foss Waterway Development Authority, the UWT and the Tacoma Housing Authority. Other business and housing organizations included letters of support.
“There are hundreds of brownfield sites in Tacoma’s South Downtown Subarea,” reads the city’s EPA grant application. “These range from manufacturing and processing facilities to dry cleaners and gas stations. In addition, materials of all sorts were used as structural throughout the area. There is existing information on many of these sites in local, state and federal agencies. However, many sites remain un-assessed.
“The Tacoma Pierce County Health Department ... inventoried former gas station sites that have no regulatory record and found 22 in the South Downtown Subarea, an indication that there are likely many other sites that contain unconfirmed contaminants,” the application reads.
The city’s broad coalition should give it an edge in the EPA grant process, Munce said. The grant award decision will come this spring. The application indicates the money would be used to study all the soil in the area and create an inventory of site contamination.
Kathleen Cooper: 253-597-8546 kathleen.cooper@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/business Twitter: @KCooperTNT
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