Auto-crushing project in South Tacoma must address noise and traffic concerns

The City of Tacoma determined Wednesday that a recycling center and auto-crushing facility proposed for South Tacoma will not have a probable significant adverse impact on the environment.

The city, though, is requiring the company to address noise and traffic impacts that were not addressed in previous permits or rules and regulations.

Even with the determination, some people still are wary of the center.

Tacoma resident Norma Ramirez said she still doesn’t think Sutter Metals has adequately addressed the community’s concerns and thinks the company build the center somewhere else.

Ramirez said she heard about the center from The Conversation organization, which promotes social justice through ideas, ideals and action, according to its Facebook page. She said the group discussed the center and said she realized the heavy industrial zoning “is placed near residences where people don’t have a lot of say in what’s happening there.”

“This tends to be happening in neighborhoods of color or lower income,” Ramirez told The News Tribune. “I know that South Tacoma is an area that’s often overlooked.”

Ramirez said she’s concerned that the city is relying on its old zoning and isn’t up to date.

The 30,000-square-foot Sutter Metals Recycling Center that includes a 1,950-square-foot auto-processing structure would be located near South 56th Street and Burlington Way.

In July, some people expressed concern over the impact the facility might have on the air, groundwater, noise and traffic.

The city found that air and groundwater concerns were fully addressed by Sutter Metals, but it will require the company to address pedestrian and bicycle access and vehicular circulation, as well as restrict hours of operation to 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The determination requires Sutter Metals to:

▪ Construct a sidewalk or its equal along the front of the property to connect to South 56th Street and nearby Sounder Station.

▪ Install gates at least 20 feet from the back of the sidewalk “to discourage vehicles from blocking the sidewalk when opening or closing, and to provide sight distance when exiting.”

▪ Replace a speed hump if removed.

▪ Not allow vehicles to queue in the roadway.

▪ Have trucks use primary streets on the Priority Auto Network when outside Industrial or Commercial/Industrial Mixed Use zoned areas, with the exception of the use of South Washington Street.

Venus Dergan, a South Tacoma resident and board member for the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council, said she doesn’t think the recycling center is at all appropriate.

Although she is concerned about air and water, that the center will be near businesses and where children play and over the water protection district, Dergan said she and the neighborhood council are concerned about the impact on South Tacoma’s quality of life and the zoning.

“I’m not sure this is really a feasible location. I’m not sure this is really the right area for this operation. It should be out in the Tideflats,” Dergan said. “Why would we put an auto-crushing facility with contaminants over an aquifer?”

Dergan said the zoning for South Tacoma has been overlooked for the past 60 years and that it needs to change.

Review comments should be submitted to John Harrington, the principal planner for the project, at jharring@cityoftacoma.org by Sept. 13. Phone calls may also be made, but Harrington said email is preferred in order to keep better records.

This story was originally published August 31, 2019 at 6:05 AM.