WA airport-coordinating commission to meet for final time. Will it recommend a location?
The Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission, tasked by state lawmakers with recommending a preferred location for Washington’s next major airport, will convene Friday for the final time before expiring at month’s end.
Unlike other CACC-related meetings held since early 2020, people may attend in person. It’s scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. in “Building 1” at South Puget Sound Community College, 4220 6th Ave. SE in Lacey. The meeting will be live-streamed on the public affairs network TVW or people may sign-up for a meeting link via Zoom.
Prior to the meeting, anyone can send a public comment to cacc@wsdot.wa.gov. During the session, there will be 20 minutes total allocated to all in-person or online public comments, with no more than two minutes afforded to each speaker, according to the CACC’s website.
Following more than three years of investigating possible airport landing spots and less than nine months after controversially narrowing options to three greenfield sites in Pierce and Thurston counties, the state-created commission could choose Friday to select one site to recommend to the state.
The key question is whether such a recommendation would carry much weight.
Gov. Jay Inslee has asked the CACC to avoid recommending a single site, citing an uproar from neighboring communities, an Inslee spokesperson told The News Tribune last month. Inslee also has called for a renewed focus on potentially expanding existing airports, rather than building from scratch, to address Washington’s future aviation needs.
It seemed unlikely just a few weeks ago that the commission would come together again after legislation to immediately disband the CACC successfully made its way to Inslee’s desk. When the governor signed Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1791 on May 15, he vetoed four sections, including one that would have ended the CACC before it was due to sunset on June 30.
The CACC’s continued existence meant it felt obligated to move forward with its statutory mission to make a recommendation before its June 15 deadline, commission Chairman Warren Hendrickson told The News Tribune last month. Via text, Hendrickson said Tuesday that nothing had changed since then.
State lawmakers created the CACC in 2019 to identify a site for a new airport to address a projected future gap in Washington’s commercial passenger and cargo capacity. The CACC’s decision in September to reduce candidates to three sites in or near Graham, Roy and East Olympia set off a wave of backlash from residents, lawmakers and others who raised concerns for quality of life, the environment and wildlife.
ESHB 1791 was born out of those concerns. Despite Inslee’s section vetoes, the bill’s passage was viewed as a victory by opponents of an airport being sited in Pierce or Thurston counties.
As passed, the legislation protected any site that interfered with military operations from further consideration, which applies to all three sites named as finalists by the CACC, according to Joint Base Lewis-McChord officials. It also created a new working group to take over the CACC’s exploration of Washington’s future aviation needs.
South Puget Sound Community College recommends that anyone attending Friday’s meeting arrive at least 30 minutes early to find parking, according to the CACC. Parking is free and doesn’t require a permit.
The meeting is scheduled to last until 11:30 a.m.
