Tacoma mega-warehouse won approval only after changing its plans, accepting conditions

Tacoma’s Planning & Development supervisor says public comment led to changes in the Bridge Industrial warehouse project, which received land-use approval from the city on Friday.

Shirley Schultz, Planning & Development supervisor with the City of Tacoma, told The News Tribune in a Monday phone interview that “probably the most impactful was the discussion on tree canopy and air quality and the number of trees and trying to increase some of that asset in South Tacoma.”

She noted the exact number of trees that will be part of the project is unknown at present.

“So much will depend on what their revised landscaping proposal is, and the species,” Schultz said.

The condition, as announced Friday on the city’s project website, required “Protection of the Garry Oak trees on site and providing excess plantings to compensate for the one being removed.”

“Larger species count toward more coverage,” Schultz told The News Tribune, “though the fee in lieu is the same regardless. The requirement is 30% tree canopy and getting as close as possible on site, then payment of the fee for any trees off site.”

She added, “It doesn’t probably seem like a lot from the public perspective, but hitting the 30% tree canopy is a pretty big lift for them.”

Schultz also noted public input led the city to getting much more information from the developers “because we required so many more studies and proof after the public and agency comment.

“So the things that rolled in after last April — all the air quality studies, the noise study, the photometric (light) study — they kind of went back and confirmed and changed some of the assumptions in traffic.”

Another result from public comment, she added, was “holding them to their traffic estimates, and as they build out and get tenants, along with continuing monitoring so that they stay within those parameters.”

One vocal critic of the project is Michelle Mood, who expressed disappointment in an emailed statement Friday to The News Tribune after the project’s permit decision was announced. Mood wrote that she found “no mention at all of the health equity concerns clearly prominent in comment letters by the EPA, Department of Ecology, Department of Health, and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department ...”

A reader who left a voicemail with The News Tribune over the weekend said, “This warehouse project has got to stop. This can’t happen. This needs to be a park.” He recommended Hawks Prairie as a more suitable location.

“I heard a lot of that too,” Schultz told The News Tribune.

In response, she said, “Are you voting for the bond measure for the parks district to be able to buy property? Those are the kinds of things that I think people need to keep in mind when they get that postcard for long-range planning.”

Schultz pointed out that while there is potential space for development in Hawks Prairie and Frederickson, those sites are “further from the port.”

The project, not counting repeat submissions such as form letters, received 675 “unique” emails of public comment, but more than 1,000 when counting form letter submissions, such as from members of organized groups.

Other recent high-profile projects, such as Stanley Playfields, generated about 100, she noted, but just 30 unique comments, while PSE’s LNG project generated far more at the time than the Bridge Industrial project.

As for lessons learned about the Bridge permitting process, Schultz said it was too soon to do a deep review, but added that improvements could be made in how the city receives comments, with expanded online commenting instead of to one email account. She also noted improving translation services to other languages could benefit future feedback processes.

Schultz said the project’s public notice was sent beyond the normal 400 feet “under a director’s rule.”

“Typically, if we have a critical areas permit, the notice distance is 400 feet. But we’ve got this director’s rule that says when you’ve got a commercial development adjacent to residential, then we go out 1,000 feet,” she said. “The rule doesn’t technically say industrial, but we extrapolated and went 1,000 feet so we did a bigger notice range.”

The city noted in its news release Friday, “The Bridge BNSF Warehouse Project is legally ‘vested’ in the current regulations via complete land use permits, and future moratoria or land use ordinance changes will not affect it.”

The Critical Area Permit can be appealed and filed with the city’s Hearing Examiner, along with the SEPA determination “in conjunction with an appeal on the Critical area permit,” the city stated Friday, with a deadline of 5 p.m. May 5.

Schultz had tips for those seeking further change, starting with engaging in the long-range planning process. Upcoming meetings of note include a Home in Tacoma City Council study session in May. The city’s comprehensive plan for 2024 also is coming up for review.

“Stay involved in that South Tacoma subarea plan, stay involved with the Planning Commission and know what they’re up to and know what the City Council’s making decisions on,” Schultz said.

Decisions affecting projects, she added, “those are made when the zoning is created, they’re made when the comprehensive plan is designed. They’re made at that time. And we often hear a lot from business owners and industry, etc.

“We don’t always hear from neighbors and members of the public.”