By Eric Stevick
Herald Writer
ARLINGTON —Arlington Municipal Airport, already a magnet for business and light industry, has been given the green light to expand even further.
The Arlington City Council approved a major development permit Tuesday night to subdivide 147 acres on the west side of the airport for a 124-acre business park. Construction would take place in three phases over an undetermined number of years.
As part of the project, the council also approved a 23-acre flight line area adjacent to the west runway for aviation-related hangar and light industrial development.
The development could have been much larger. It was cut down from a 286-acre project initially proposed in 1998 in the wake of Federal Aviation Administration and state Department of Transportation concerns over flight approaches.
The pace of construction hinges on road improvements. Ultimately, the park could include 1.3 million square feet of business, office, research, light manufacturing and airport-related uses.
However, only a small fraction can be built until there are major improvements to the I-5 interchange at 172nd Street, also known as the Highway 531 overpass at I-5.
"Full development is going to be tied in to the overpass improvements," airport manager Rob Putnam said.
With wrangling over the transportation budget in the Legislature and no money set aside yet for road construction, local officials aren’t predicting an expansion of the overpass anytime soon.
There is money set aside for design and right-of-way acquisition, said Victor Salemann, a Bellevue consultant who has studied the traffic impacts of the project.
The goal is to widen the overpass and increase the southbound ramp capacity, he said.
Ultimately, the airport business park expansion could produce between 1,500 to 2,000 jobs, said John Burkholder, a land-use and engineering consultant. There are about 3,000 jobs in and around Arlington Municipal Airport now.
The permit application faced a challenge from the Stillaguamish Tribe, which argued that site has cultural, historic and spiritual significance. In a letter, tribe chairman Edward Goodridge Sr. said elders told him that the area was once a tribal village where "the warriors used to meet" and where a sweat lodge was located.
Developers rejected the claim as unsubstantiated. A records check by the state Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation found no evidence to back the tribe’s contention. State and federal law requires that work be stopped if any archaeological or historic materials are discovered.
On average, the development is expected to add 10,473 new vehicular trips to the road system each day, including 1,193 new afternoon trips during peak-hour traffic.
You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446
or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.
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