City Hall
Planning Commission: Slow Down on Arena Plans
The city's Planning Commission---typically a strong supporter of new development---has issued a cautionary report on the proposed SoDo arena, warning that the arena "has the potential to generate adverse impacts that may threaten the container port, maritime, industrial, and manufacturing sectors" in the SoDo area. "The Commission believes that locating a new major sports and entertainment facility inside the Duwamish Manufacturing and Industrial Center (MIC) holds a strong likelihood of displacing living wage jobs and nearby businesses and disrupting container port operations and freight mobility."
The specific potential impacts are outside the scope of a Planning Commission report; instead, the commission focused on unanswered questions related to the arena deal and made recommendations to address those questions.
Specifically, they recommended:
• Conducting more environmental review before signing a memorandum of understanding with ArenaCo, arena proponent Chris Hansen's group of investors. "Much more work must be done to ensure the proposed arena siting does not undermine long-standing goals and policies that support industrial businesses vital to Seattle and the state."
• Establishing a port overlay district that would establish hard edges defining a "manufacturing and industrial sanctuary" and prohibit new hotels in the industrial district adjacent to the proposed.
• Conducting a port access study to make sure that freight can get in and out of the area on game days.
• Improving pedestrian access to and from the arena from the ferry terminal, Pioneer Square and the ID, and light rail statoins.
• Clarifying plans for a proposed pedestrian mall adjacent to the arena and the future of property currently owned by BNSF Railroad, which Hansen has proposed turning into an access road to the arena.
• Additional transportation analysis that would "provide a comprehensive analysis of potential impacts that the proposed arena would have on transportation including freight rail, trucks, automobiles, transit, bicyclists, and pedestrians."
• Improvements to pedestrian access between the SoDo and Stadium light-rail stations. "The quality of the walk from downtown and the Stadium and SODO light rail stations to the proposed site is very poor in terms of sidewalk conditions, access, lighting, wayfinding, etc.; it would require substantial investment to support an arena at the proposed location and make non-motorized transportation a better alternative."
Additionally, the planning commission concluded that unlike backers of previous stadium proposals, arena proponents only considered factors like cost and construction time in choosing a site, ignoring "factors related to the public interest." And they found that a new arena would likely siphon off events that would have gone to KeyArena in the absence of a competing venue.
The specific potential impacts are outside the scope of a Planning Commission report; instead, the commission focused on unanswered questions related to the arena deal and made recommendations to address those questions.
Specifically, they recommended:
• Conducting more environmental review before signing a memorandum of understanding with ArenaCo, arena proponent Chris Hansen's group of investors. "Much more work must be done to ensure the proposed arena siting does not undermine long-standing goals and policies that support industrial businesses vital to Seattle and the state."
• Establishing a port overlay district that would establish hard edges defining a "manufacturing and industrial sanctuary" and prohibit new hotels in the industrial district adjacent to the proposed.
• Conducting a port access study to make sure that freight can get in and out of the area on game days.
• Improving pedestrian access to and from the arena from the ferry terminal, Pioneer Square and the ID, and light rail statoins.
• Clarifying plans for a proposed pedestrian mall adjacent to the arena and the future of property currently owned by BNSF Railroad, which Hansen has proposed turning into an access road to the arena.
• Additional transportation analysis that would "provide a comprehensive analysis of potential impacts that the proposed arena would have on transportation including freight rail, trucks, automobiles, transit, bicyclists, and pedestrians."
• Improvements to pedestrian access between the SoDo and Stadium light-rail stations. "The quality of the walk from downtown and the Stadium and SODO light rail stations to the proposed site is very poor in terms of sidewalk conditions, access, lighting, wayfinding, etc.; it would require substantial investment to support an arena at the proposed location and make non-motorized transportation a better alternative."
Additionally, the planning commission concluded that unlike backers of previous stadium proposals, arena proponents only considered factors like cost and construction time in choosing a site, ignoring "factors related to the public interest." And they found that a new arena would likely siphon off events that would have gone to KeyArena in the absence of a competing venue.
