Special to the Times/News

After several years, a tug-of-war between the city of Des Moines and the Port of Seattle over the use of 90 acres of land south of Sea-Tac International Airport has been settled.

Both the city and the port recently adopted unanimously the first development agreement for the Des Moines Creek Business Park at this location.

"This is very significant," Des Moines Mayor Bob Sheckler declared.

The land, which City Manager Tony Piasecki said has sat vacant for almost 20 years, will be transformed from a property that was almost destined to become a gravel pit into a developed site, Sheckler observed.

The History

Between 1989 and 1993, the Port acquired property in Des Moines under a Federal Aviation Administration regulation for aircraft noise mitigation, according to Port officials.

"Prior to this [current] agreement, the Port and city were engaged in a controversy about the third runway," Sheckler noted.

The Port relocated people from the land for noise mitigation, and 50 acres were designated as "borrow site," Sheckler noted.

That designation meant the Port used fill from this property for the third runway.

"Four million cubic yards [of fill] was hauled away for the runway," said John Faulkner, Aviation Business Development Manager for the Port. The Port operates the airport.

Once the runway fight was over, it was important for the city to negotiate with the Port to keep the property from remaining a borrow site, Sheckler continued.

In 2003, the Port partnered with neighboring cities, including Des Moines, to perform a marketing assessment of vacant properties surrounding Sea-Tac airport, including the area now designated for a business park.

Port officials labeled it the New Economic Strategy Triangle (NEST) Study.

"The idea was to look for properties in relation to economical development [potential] on empty space near the airport," Faulkner said.

The Port finally decided to proceed with the development agreement on that site following the conclusion of the NEST study, which indicated that commercial development would create an opportunity for the city, he added.

Moving Forward

Development of the business park promises "tremendous financial benefits" for both the city and the Port, said Port of Seattle Aviation Community Development Director Diane Summerhays.

Summerhays negotiates with city staff on development of projects.

According to Faulkner, the NEST Study estimates that "direct benefits may create anywhere from 2,500 to 3,800 jobs for employees that may work on the site."

This is a significant impact, said Piasecki, considering that "even 500 jobs concentrated in [the business park] area would make this the highest employment center in Des Moines."

In addition, these jobs will pay more than minimum wage.

"We are looking at potential family wage jobs," Piasecki said.

"If this happens, there will be a creation of a new market in Des Moines, which will be the linchpin in our economic development plan."

Faulkner also reported that indirect benefits would include between 4,000 to 7,500 additional jobs as a result of the development.

Another benefit resulting from the business park development includes an increase in the local tax base.

"The Port owns the land, so they will enter into a long-term lease with the businesses," said Piasecki.

"Because the Port owns the land, there will be no property taxes. But [Des Moines] will get the leasehold tax, which equates to the amount we would get in property tax."

For the Port, lease payments will be money they can put back into more noise mitigation, said Summerhays.

"The proximity [of this site] to the airport also makes this development valuable for cargo-related trade," said the Port's Senior Developer Analyst Tom Green.

The Port will be able to declare this site a Foreign Trade Zone, said Faulkner, which will allow manufactured goods to enter regularly and will keep transportation costs down.

Benefiting both the city and the Port, the plan will meet noise mitigation requirements and create an airport-community buffer.

There are also some challenges that the city and the Port will need to address.

According to Piasecki, the biggest challenge for the city is environmental concerns, such as wetlands on the property.

Although these wetlands are few, the city will "have to ensure that [they] are retained and not encroached upon," said Sheckler. "We must determine how much of that land will be developed."

The other major challenge of this plan, said Piasecki, is determining whether the development meets the city's standards. "Does it create traffic problems and will it be pleasing to look at?"

"[The Port] is engaged in transportation planning and how to reroute traffic during construction," said Faulkner. "There is still much work that needs to be done."

However, Des Moines Councilwoman Susan White observed, "We have overcome a lot already with the development agreement. This agreement was our biggest challenge and now it is paving the way for a positive outcome."

Now that the Port and the city have come together, everyone involved expects changes to occur in the near future.

"If we all continue to work together with the spirit of cooperation that we've been working on, the odds are pretty good that this will be completed in early 2007." Piasecki predicted.

"The Port is behind [the city] now in looking towards economic development and making Des Moines a more livable community," White said.

Now that the business park will be used as an economic development site rather than a borrowed site, This "is a big step forward toward accomplishing our economic development goals," Sheckler declared.