information from Defenders of North SeaTac Park
Defenders of North SeaTac Park will host a community celebration of the park’s 24th birthday (1998 - 2022) at the picnic shelter in the park at S. 128th St. and Des Moines Memorial Dr. S. on Sunday August 21 from 1-4 p.m. Occupancy limit by park facility rental is 50. Local media are invited to cover this event.
The theme is ‘celebrate to protect.’
This 200+ acre park, one of the largest open green spaces in South King County, contains forested areas, multiple wetlands, tributaries of Miller Creek, one of the few true bogs left in King County (Tub Lake), and a wide variety of recreational amenities, walking trails, and gathering spaces. Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden is within it.
The FAA wrote in 2016 that, according to the Port of Seattle “the Park is the culmination of a long term and very open planning process to compensate the area’s residents for cumulative airport impacts.” (1)
However, although these impacts continue to intensify, the park is not secure. Its land is zoned “Aviation Commercial,” (2) the entirety can eventually be developed by the Port, and 55 acres can be taken out of park use “at any time”. (3) The Port’s 2020 Real Estate Strategic Plan recommends 340,000 square feet of “aviation supportive use” inside this 55-acre parcel and notes that the property has been moved under the purview of the Sustainable Airport Master Plan. (4)
The Port recently stated that they have no development plans inside the park. (5) Instead, they refer to “site specific considerations.” (6) Unless the park is zoned and legally protected as a park, these “considerations” can be reactivated.
The Defenders of North SeaTac Park’s Community Forest Consensus has been signed by over 2,000 community members, including multiple elected officials and 35 organizations and businesses. It calls for permanent, legally binding protection of the park and a moratorium on Port development of forested land within two miles of the airport until enactment of a comprehensive plan for adequate and healthy forest for the near-airport community. Public Health Seattle and King County has recommended increasing trees and green space within 10 miles of SeaTac Airport to reduce human exposure to airport pollution associated with a wide range of negative health impacts including shortened lifespans, premature births, and learning problems in children. (7)
More event information and a link to the Consensus and public signatures: https://KCTreeEquity.org
This press release, with footnotes, can be read online at: https://KCTreeEquity.org/hbnstp
Media Contact: Noemie Maxwell Vassilakis noemie_maxwell@yahoo.com (253) 653-6028
