TagNorth Sea-Tac Park(77)

Letter from Sea-Tac Airport Manager Oris W. Dunham Jr. to William C. Holstine addressing community concerns about airport operations, including land acquisition programs, noise mitigation, flight operations, and the North Sea-Tac Park development. The letter responds to a November 14 meeting and community questionnaire about Port of Seattle relationships with surrounding neighborhoods.

This 1980 recreation master plan for North Sea-Tac Park was prepared by Jongejan/Gerrard/McNeal, Inc. as a joint planning effort between the Port of Seattle and King County. The plan identifies community recreational needs, assesses natural and manmade site constraints including airport noise impacts, and proposes development guidelines for the park adjacent to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. It was described at the time as a pioneering example of airport-adjacent land use planning at the national level.

In late 1979, community discussions around Sea-Tac International Airport's north clear zone focused on repurposing approximately 240 acres of noise-impacted land into a multi-use recreational park, featuring soccer fields, tennis courts, nature trails, a golf course, and a motorcycle training area. The Highline Recreation Council unanimously endorsed the North Sea-Tac Park Plan (Sunset Plan), while a separate initiative proposed converting the closed Sunset Junior High School into a regional government records and archives center. Both plans reflect broader efforts to find productive uses for land rendered uninhabitable by airport noise, with funding and community engagement identified as key challenges.

A November 1979 FAA letter to the Port of Seattle expresses support for a 'Modified Passive 2' conceptual plan for the proposed North Sea-Tac Park, while urging that any final park plan carefully weigh adverse impacts on adjacent residential neighborhoods and airport operations. The letter emphasizes that residents in the immediate study area should have meaningful input into the final park plan, and calls for close collaboration among the Port, King County, consultants, and citizens to minimize conflicts between park uses and the unique challenges posed by proximity to a major airport.

In this August 6, 1979 letter from the FAA's Northwest Region to Jongejan Gerrard Associates, the agency provides guidelines on acceptable crowd density levels for recreation planning near Sea-Tac Airport. The FAA outlines four zones around the runway, each with specific limits on peak-time people per acre, ranging from no intensive use in the clear zone closest to the runway to no more than 40 people per acre in outlying areas. The letter also discourages any recreation development that could create bird hazards, incompatible lighting, or electronic interference with airport operations.

A July 1979 FAA memo summarizes the first advisory committee meeting on a proposed recreation plan for the North Clear Zone near Sea-Tac International Airport. The meeting, attended by about 40 community members, consultants, and Port of Seattle representatives, centered on what types of recreational uses—such as soccer fields, golf courses, and bike trails—would be compatible with airport safety guidelines, with the FAA cautioning against intensive uses and large fixed spectator facilities in the clear zone. The group requested more specific, quantitative FAA guidelines on acceptable land use, and a follow-up meeting was scheduled for August 8, with the full study expected to take six months and potentially set precedents for recreational land use near major airports.

A July 1979 letter from planner Janis Snoey to FAA Airport Planning Branch representative George Sato transmits five pre-schematic site plans for the North Sea-Tac Park, showing projected peak-time visitor numbers under various development scenarios. The plans, prepared following an FAA meeting on July 17, 1979, are accompanied by a 'Carrying Capacity' map that classifies park areas by development suitability—from very high intensity (sports fields, motorcycle trails) to low intensity (foot paths only)—based on analysis of soils, hydrology, vegetation, and noise. The documents were intended solely to provoke discussion during the early master planning phase for the North Sea-Tac site.

These three hand-drawn planning maps present alternative development scenarios for North Sea-Tac Park, labeled 'Passive,' 'Modified Passive,' and 'Modified Passive 2.' Each concept proposes different mixes of recreational facilities—such as soccer fields, baseball fields, tennis courts, a golf course, and archery targets—alongside preserved natural areas, nature trails, and passive open space. The maps were intended solely for discussion purposes and show peak-time visitor capacity estimates for each proposed facility zone.