As expected, SeaTac lawmakers rescinded March 23 a moratorium on building and development agreements in the city center area next to the airport light-rail station.
The council was set to rescind the moratorium on March 9 until Councilman Ralph Shape requested the action be delayed two weeks.
On March 23, Shape said he wasn't necessarily against removing the moratorium but was upset adequate time was not given on March 9 to study the proposal.
He said the city attorney and public had not been given enough time two weeks earlier to comment on the proposed action.
Deputy Mayor Gene Fisher replied that the city attorney had vetted the proposal. He noted the council had earlier withdrawn a condemnation action against a surface parking lot that lawmakers had wanted to replace with a public parking garage.
Councilman Tony Anderson also said he was unhappy that the moratorium removal had been delayed. He noted that the moratorium was blocking a proposal that would benefit the city.
Gordon Tang, owner of the Jet Motel property at 17300 International Boulevard, wants to construct an eight-story Marriott Hotel on the site that is advertised as the closest motel site to the airport.
The city center area is between International Boulevard and 32nd Avenue South from South 176th Street to South 170th Street.
The council unanimously voted to rescind the moratorium that was scheduled to end in May.
In other business, the council again failed to approve comprehensive plan amendments left over from last year.
The 2009 amendments were put on hold after a SEPA appeal was filed against a proposed six-acre expansion of a Master Park surface parking lot onto Washington Memorial Park land. A zoning change allowing the lot on unused cemetery land was part of SeaTac's comprehensive plan amendments.
Planning director Steve Butler noted March 23 that the amount of stalls planned for the expansion has been reduced from 1,000 to about 700 to 750.
On March 1, a hearing examiner ruled in favor of the city on the appeal, paving the way for the delayed adoption of the 2009 amendments.
However, Councilwoman Pam Fernald said new questions about surface parking had recently come up and she asked to delay consideration for two weeks.
The council will consider the 2009 plan amendments at their next regular meeting on April 13.
City Attorney Mary Mirante Bartolo assured lawmakers they could consider additional amendments later in the year as part of the 2010 comprehensive plan update. State law prohibits making comprehensive plan amendments more than once a year but Bartolo said the previous amendments are left over from 2009.
