Good news, mountain bikers. North SeaTac Park and its dirt trails and jumps are no longer being considered as a site for a future airport parking lot.
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday that a proposal to use 11 acres of the park as an employee parking lot has been eliminated from further consideration.
Earlier this year, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport submitted a draft federal environmental assessment of the airport’s master plan to the FAA for review. To meet the demands for a projected increase of 1 million people in the region by 2035, the assessment proposed using one of two Port of Seattle-owned lots as potential employee parking lots.
The decision is due to environmental concerns raised by the public and staff’s determination that the site is “not the best path forward,” from an environmental perspective, according to Sea-Tac Airport spokesperson Perry Cooper.
The proposal drew ire from the community and city of SeaTac staff, who considered the proposal an encroachment on the city’s green spaces. A petition in July garnered over 1,200 signatures.
Still being eyed as a possible site is the vacant land that is adjacent to the airport’s current North Employee Parking Lot, Cooper said.
“We know this proposal is of great interest and likely concern to members of the community. The Port’s environmental work screened this proposal out early, even as other analysis is continuing, and this will be welcome news to many concerned residents,” the airport’s master plan page stated.
Final approval for the project will not be made until all of the environmental review is complete.
The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.