A skeptical City Council hears aviation official say Narrows airport expansion is unlikely
While an expansion of Tacoma Narrows Airport for commercial passenger service is possible, a state aviation official told the Gig Harbor City Council, it is also unlikely.
The council wasn’t buying it.
David Fleckenstein, the director of the state Department of Transportation’s Aviation Department, acknowledged that the general-aviation airport adjacent to Gig Harbor is on a list of regional airports being considered for future expansion, but it was not ranked very high.
“I will tell you that it is on the list, as being ‘possible,’ just based on basic factors,” Fleckenstein told the council by videoconference on Nov. 9 “But currently there is no industry support for either commercial air service or air cargo operations at Tacoma Narrows Airport.”
Fleckenstein ticked through the airport’s liabilities: A short runway, limited acreage, potential for traffic congestion, and a sponsor — Pierce County — that does not want to see it expanded.
Council skeptical
But the council remained unconvinced, and their questions to Fleckenstein were freighted with suspicion. Almost immediately after his presentation ended, the mayor and council began to strategize about how to fight the possibility of a second Sea-Tac in their back yard.
Council Member Jim Franich brought up the example of Paine Field in Everett, where “ the community said again and again, ‘We don’t want it,’ “ but it happened anyway.
“I’m afraid we could lose control of this very quickly,” he said.
“I can already see how this is going,” said Council Member Spencer Abersold, who said he worries that someone else — perhaps the state, or a regional port, could replace Pierce County as the airport sponsor with the Federal Aviation Administration.
“It would take a lot of time and a lot of resources, but there is a lot of money in commercial aviation. You’ve got Tacoma, Olympia, Bremerton, all around this airport. I can see this as a target facility.”
Airports at capacity
Fleckenstein is chairperson of the state Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission, a group of elected officials and aviation experts created by the state Legislature to plan for aviation needs that are expected to double or triple by 2050 — an estimated 25 to 27 million takeoffs, the equivalent of another Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which is already at capacity.
Since there is no obvious site for a new Sea-Tac, Fleckenstein said, “the Commission decided that the best way for us to pursue this is ... in order to meet the near-term demand, we would look at expanding operations at a couple of existing airports, while we continue to work to try and site a larger facility that would meet all of the demand.”
Fleckenstein said there are a variety of factors that go into selecting locations: available land, existing facilities, environmental constraints, proximity to population centers, a willing airport sponsor, and transportation access.
Among other airports being assessed, he said, are Arlington, Bremerton, and small airports in Shelton and Toledo.
To be considered, any airport would need to be in the Puget Sound area and within 90 minutes by road of any major population center, he said. Tacoma Narrows meets those definitions. But the Gig Harbor airport has drawbacks that Fleckenstein said make it very unlikely as a candidate.
Issues with TNA
“There is an issue with acreage, the runway is only 5,000 feet long, it does not have transit service,” he said. “It is close to the highway, but there are traffic congestion issues. The WSDOT assessment is that it is ‘unlikely due to runway constraints,’” he said, using the acronym for the Department of Transportation.
The commission has determined that a Sea-Tac-sized airport would need 4,600 acres, and a regional airport would need between 1,000 and 2,00 acres, he said. Tacoma Narrows has only 568 acres.
“Our industry partners have told us they prefer a runway of 8,000 feet,” Fleckenstein said. The runway at Tacoma Narrows is 5,000 feet and ends in a cliff.
At any rate, the decision is a long way down the road. The commission was originally instructed to come up with a list of six airports by January 1, 2022. Due to uncertainty raised by the drop in air travel during the pandemic, members have asked the Legislature to extend the deadline to 2024.
Not reassured
All of this seemed to reassure neither the council nor Mayor Kit Kuhn.
“Someone told me about this two years ago, and I didn’t take it that seriously, and I should have.,” said the mayor. “We have been left out the loop.”
If Tacoma Narrows were to become a passenger hub, Kuhn said, “Our property values will plummet. Planes will be taking off over Cromwell, over Fox Island, coming in over Port Orchard. Gig Harbor as a desirable place to live won’t be here any more. I personally believe this will be really destructive.”
Abersold had this advice for Fleckenstein: “Save yourself time and money and take us off the list.”
At first, the council discussed the potential of sending out informational mailers to thousands of residents that would argue against the expansion.
That approach was called into question due to its cost — which Kuhn estimated at $80,000 — and concerns it wouldn’t be effective.
“I am against the mailer,” Abersold said. “They’re just going to forget about it and it’s going to be a waste of money.”
Council Member Robyn Denson then suggested a social media campaign to reach the community.
Council Member Bob Himes agreed, saying he wants to “get broad support against this thing” and said “if we’re late to the party, it will be all over.”
Himes agreed with the idea of a social media campaign and specifically called for outreach to environmental groups.
Mailer idea dropped
Mayor Kit Kuhn said in an interview with The Gateway later that the city won’t be going ahead with a mailer.
“I kind of got a conclusion with council that we would really not do a mailer right now,” Kuhn said. “They thought that social media would be a better way.”
Kuhn said he was considering platforms like Facebook and Instagram in order to “hit in different targets.”
“We want to do a call to action to the citizens around our area and also reach out to Pierce County Council which would be a huge help for them say ‘no,’” Kuhn said.
Kuhn emphasized that he wants that “call to action” to be about education about the various studies and impacts of previous projects rather than explicitly tell people what to do.
“I try not to say ‘let’s do this,’ but basically let people form their own opinion,” Kuhn said. “How are we going to have all that traffic work? Can our bridges handle it? What is it going to do to our property values?”
Probability low
Fleckenstein repeated in a Gateway interview later in the week that he thinks the probability of the Narrows location being selected is not high.
“My planner’s perspective is that it would be very problematic to pursue commercial service anything like the size really of what Paine Field has or even more right now because of the extension that would be required to the runway alone,” Fleckenstein said. “If I were a betting person, I would say the commission is not going to probably make a recommendation where Tacoma Narrows would be towards the top of the list.”
Fleckenstein said a keyhurdle is lack of support from any big industry players like UPS, FedEx, Southwest or Alaska Airlines.
“For an airport to be viable, it has to have industry support,” Fleckenstein said. “None of those industry partners have expressed an interest in Tacoma Narrows. That is one of the big factors and the reason I don’t think it is going to rise to the top.”
Other officials have echoed that assessment.
The Peninsula representative on the Pierce County Council, Derek Young, said a Tacoma Narrows expansion is “an absolute non-starter” and Puget Sound Regional Council executive director Josh Brown said the Gig Harbor airport is probably the most challenging location being considered.
But the mayor said public opposition will help keep it a low priority.
“I think its low if they have resistance from the public. That’s why I feel as mayor I need to keep the pressure up,” Kuhn said. “You have to voice your opinion or they’ll do what they think is best for the state. What may be best for the state may not be best for our community.”
In other business, the Gig Harbor City Council:
Agreed to a planned improvement, known as “alternative 3,” of the Burnham Drive Roadway to create a shared-use path for both bicyclists and pedestrians. The council had previously voted on Oct. 26 to reconsider the project.
Adopted Resolution No. 1191 certifying the regular property tax levy and No. 1192 certifying the 2021 excess property tax levy. The resolutions “set the City’s regular tax levy and excess levy (voted Eddon Boat bonds) for property tax collection in 2021.”
Passed a resolution authorizing the Mayor to put in place a Professional Services Contract with Robinson Noble in an amount not to exceed $68,100.00, for the design, permitting and construction support of a replacement well adjacent to the Cushman Trail within the Shurgard Storage center.
Chase Hutchinson contributed to this story. Reach him at chase.hutchinson@thenewstribune.com
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
