TagNoise Remedy Update(34)

This February 1982 draft document outlines the scope of work for updating the Sea-Tac Airport Noise Remedy Program, covering two main elements: an Airport Noise Compatibility Plan and an Environmental Assessment. The plan details tasks including reviewing land acquisition programs, inventorying existing community conditions (such as land use, population, housing, and noise levels), and identifying noise abatement alternatives ranging from local zoning measures to federal flight-track modifications. It also establishes criteria for evaluating those alternatives, including community sentiment, cost, and the reduction of noise-impacted populations near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

A February 1982 letter from Port of Seattle Special Projects Director Arthur H. Yoshioka invites Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) members to a Task Force meeting on February 18, 1982, to kick off Phase II of the Sea-Tac Communities Plan Noise Remedy Program Update. The meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Sea-Tac Administration Office Conference Room, would cover the current status of the Noise Forecast Update, regulations, funding, traffic, and a proposed citizen involvement program. The Port aimed to deliver a recommendation to the Port Commission by March 1982, building on a decade of research into the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of Sea-Tac Airport on surrounding communities.

In a January 29, 1982 letter to the Port of Seattle's Director of Planning and Research, Riverton Heights community representative William C. Holstine outlined several concerns about Sea-Tac Airport noise management, including calls for annual calibration of noise-measuring equipment, independent auditing of the Perry Company's noise study, and additional community-level noise measurements beyond the existing fixed monitoring stations. Holstine argued that existing remedies such as property acquisition and purchase guarantees should not be delayed while new solutions were being studied, and stressed that a five-to-ten-year timeline for resolving aircraft noise impacts—after already waiting ten years—was unacceptable to his community. He urged the Port to expedite and expand its noise remedy programs, drawing a comparison to the Port's willingness to fund other major projects like the Shilshole Marina expansion and the West Seattle Bridge.