With an agreement between Snohomish County and Horizon Air reportedly close, an environmental review may soon be all that stands in the way of a few daily flights from Paine Field to Portland and Spokane.
That federal review, which a county official says is likely to look at noise, traffic and air quality impacts, is completely appropriate. It also shouldn’t take long. Pertinent data are easily gathered, and the impacts from a relative handful of flights at an already well-used airport aren’t likely to be major.
Opponents of scheduled service at Paine don’t see it that way, however, and they insist their fight isn’t over.
Mukilteo Mayor Joe Marine, for example, has said his strategy is to use the courts to make the process time-consuming and expensive. The hope, apparently, is to make things so unappealing that Horizon simply gives up and goes away.
Mukilteo taxpayers, who already have had $250,000 set aside for a legal fight, should consider whether at this late date their money is being spent prudently or wasted on a futile fight.
The Snohomish County Council, despite a majority that’s on record opposing commercial flights, has approved construction of a terminal because it realized it had no choice. Failure to negotiate in good faith with Horizon would have resulted in the loss of federal funding for Paine Field, giving Boeing and other aerospace employers a compelling reason to take their jobs elsewhere.
Horizon and Allegiant Air, the other carrier that has expressed interest in flying from Paine, believe there’s a market to be served here, and there’s little doubt they’re right. That’s why the Economic Development Council of Snohomish County and others strongly support commercial air service.
The city of Mukilteo, which borders Paine Field, has a clear and appropriate interest in monitoring the environmental review. We suspect, though, that many of its citizens will object if the city resorts to frivolous efforts to throw up roadblocks to the inevitable. Mukilteo voters have consistently disdained wasteful spending, which an ultimately hopeless legal strategy would be.
Commercial service is coming to Paine Field. The county council has done what it can to limit it by approving a terminal that’s only big enough for a handful of daily flights. Local taxpayer dollars might be able to delay it, but they won’t prevent it.
Such dollars are in short supply. Surely the Mukilteo City Council can find better ways to spend them.
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