City Council to decide on Des Moines Creek West purchase from Port

Small parcel big step to enable controversial expansion of business park

[09/19/2024]The City Council has added this item to their September 26 Agenda (6:00pm).

[09/12/2024]At their September 12 meeting, the City Council held over this decision until  October. We will provide notice as soon as it is scheduled. Please note that this sale is not the same land parcel being decided by the City’s SEPA hearing examiner on October 18.

In July, the   Port of Seattle approved purchase of an area of land in Des Moines to begin work on Des Moines Creek Business Park Phase V (ie. ‘Des Moines Creek West’)

At their September 12, 2024 meeting, the Des Moines City Council will also vote to complete the sale, accepting $690,000 to surplus Tract C. Tract C is a narrow strip of land, with an assessed value of less than $20,000. It is to be used as a connecting road between the existing complex and the expansion. Those wishing to provide public comment can do so here or by emailing the City Council: citycouncil@desmoineswa.gov

This is not the WSDOT surplus parcel being appealed by a local group, which we covered here. One almost needs a score card (or a land use attorney) to keep track of the development of the DMCBP. The reason there are so many small parcels has to do with the fact that the area was originally a residential neighborhood. Over time, there were a series of property buyouts and land swaps. WSDOT three decades ago when an alternate route for SR-509 was considered. Then the Port of Seattle as the FAA deemed the area too noisy.

The Property

Background

There have been three major attempts by the Port to partner with the City of Des Moines to develop the property. The current plan goes back to the 2014 Des Moines Creek Business Park Amended Second Agreement. Although the various land transactions had not occurred, that agreement makes clear the City’s current intentions–including Des Moines Creek West.

It is perhaps no coincidence that Des Moines is the only city in the area that has no public planning commission.

Development of the entire area has had devastating negative impacts for the City of Des Moines. It is our poster child for the pitfalls of entering into one-time-money development agreements as a substitute for airport mitigation.

In this latest case, the City will get a one-time payment of $690,000, while the Port will be able to rent the property to the developer and recoup their costs in as little as eighteen months. Since the entire property will remain tax-exempt, regardless of how many workers are employed on site, there will be very little ongoing revenue.

According to the real estate assessment, no tree replacement will be necessary since there are currently no trees on the parcel. This points out another flaw in this development approach. By looking at each parcel individually rather than cumulatively, it further reduces opportunities for meaningful environmental mitigation. The on-paper environmental assessment of the entire Des Moines Creek West project bears little resemblance to what is easily seen by the naked eye–a great potential forest and wetlands.

As we’ve said many times, community benefit was the original language of all the FAA property buyouts. The same money that paid for the Des Moines Creek Business Park also bought North Sea-Tac Park. The WSDOT surplus program allows cities first right of refusal for similar reasons.

Community benefit can mean different things for each community, but the benefit of surplus lands should ultimately redound to the community.

It is unfortunate, but at least understandable why the Port of Seattle would have taken advantage of this system. Revenues they obtain from these projects at least provide genuine economic benefit somewhere in King County. But the fact that the City of Des Moines has been on board with this approach for so long, despite no ongoing benefits to their city is highly questionable.