EVERETT — Snohomish County planners issued a grading permit Wednesday to the company seeking to build an air passenger terminal at Paine Field.
The move was widely expected after Propeller Airports settled a land-use appeal earlier in April over the terminal’s stormwater drainage plans.
Groundbreaking is expected by summer, CEO Brett Smith said.
Before that happens, the company needs to sign a lease agreement with Snohomish County. The county is due to receive about $429,000 in yearly rent once that takes effect.
Plans call for a 29,300-square-foot terminal building with two gates.
“We believe this is good for Snohomish County,” County Executive Dave Somers said. “Our economy and the creation of new jobs depends on the movement of people and goods. Once Paine Field Airport includes commercial flights, our region will have another tool for economic growth. We remain sensitive to neighbors’ concerns about commercial service and will continue to engage with them.”
No potential air carriers have been announced. The company hopes to start service in mid-2018.
The terminal could handle up to two dozen takeoffs and landings per day. Paine Field already averages more than 300 daily takeoffs and landings, mostly from general aviation and aerospace companies.
The grading permit will allow Propeller to start work at the approximately 11-acre site. Construction of the terminal itself will require a building permit. No building permit application had come in as of Friday, said Tom Barnett, a project manager with the county’s Department of Planning and Development Services.
The terminal would go up next to the airport’s control tower, which is reachable from 100th Street SW off Airport Road.
Noah Haglund: 425- 339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.
