Every city near the Sea-Tac Airport has its own, and very different, approach to airport issues. To illustrate this we encourage you to watch this five minute video segment and read the official Federal Way comments on the SAMP (starting on pg #299). Bill Vadino is the Strategic Advisor to Mayor Jim Ferrell, and one of the oldest members of the fraternity of people involved in the SAMP. An original member of StART, even before the three cities (Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way) quit in protest, and now a member of its Steering Committee.
Our take
Please pay attention to what Mr. Vadino considers the key milestones in the SAMP process. He considers the NEPA process a foregone conclusion and the SEPA process also something of a given. There is no mention of appeal. Instead, he emphasizes opportunities after both those processes conclude, by lobbying the Port Commissions and Congress. We struggle to understand how this is any different from previous years.
Mr. Vadino mentions raising the glide slope on 16L (the first runway.) This refers to the angle at which airplanes approach on landing. Most runways have a slightly sharper angle in order to confine noise to a shallower set of homes nearer the airport. How much true benefit it would provide has been the subject of quite a lot of debate, but the mechanics of changing that angle are almost trivial. We should note that this was originally promised in StART v1.0 (2018). In fact, raising the glide slope was originally proposed back in in the 1970’s. The glide slope is what it is because the FAA and the airlines like it that way. So, with all due respect, while it may be useful for a set of residents in Federal Way, this is no big ‘win’. And it has nothing to do with the Sustainable Airport Master Plan of 2025. We object to it being conflated as such because Federal Way residents deserve more. A lot more. In fact, this is simply another broken promise that keeps being re-packaged as some fresh ‘win’ for each new generation that does not know the basics of airport history.
Councilmember Susan Honda rightly points out that airport noise in Federal Way is no longer confined to Marine Hills. But then ends with the same tired mantra of ‘second airport’.
If we had accomplished nothing else over the past eight years we had hoped to end that myth as well. Repeat after us: A second airport has absolutely no effect on the expansion plans for Sea-Tac Airport. You must make that clear to every elected because it is a false alternative.
One bright spot. Mr. Vadino mentions the Federal Way Task Force from 2018 which in our opinion was the best community advisory group in the history of the SAMP story. We heartily recommend watching their presentations and reading their report to see what great activism looks like. Their research and conclusions are still important today.