Two rural Skagit County sites being considered for the state’s next major airport hub are not suitable options, Skagit County planners say.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is considering 10 sites across Washington, including the two sites in Skagit.
Both sites are considered rural, with one located just east of La Conner (Skagit County Southwest), and the other just south of Bow (Skagit County Northwest). Neither location is appropriate for an airport, according to Skagit County Planning and Development Services Director Hal Hart.
“From a county’s perspective, we wouldn’t want to see an airport go into a place that would wipe out agriculture or the natural environment,” Hart said Friday. “The other location — up near the existing airport — isn’t great either. It might have a negative impact on agriculture and the community up there.”
Ten sites, known as Greenfield sites, were evaluated for “essential factors,” according to a document from the state WSDOT. Essential factors include: terrain impact, property acquisition, environmental justice, floodplain impact, wetland use, incompatible land use, population served and unaccommodated passenger demand.
All 10 sites are undeveloped land located within 100 miles of Seattle and west of the Cascade Mountains.
Evaluations of both the Northwest and the Southwest Skagit sites indicate several “impediments to implementation,” according to the WSDOT review document. The biggest impediment for both: more than 4,000 acres of floodplains in both locations.
Both sites scored low under other essential factors, including populations served, environmental justice and unaccommodated passenger demand.
Other sites the state is considering, including in Snohomish County, have better infrastructure in place already, Hart said.
Snohomish is home to the Boeing Everett Factory, the largest manufacturing building in the world. More than 30,000 employees — including engineers, architects and private security — work on-site, where they produce several major airplanes, including the 747, 767, 777 and 787.
“Snohomish County has a tremendous, top-in-the-world [workforce],” Hart said. “That’s from years and years and years of Boeing being located there … it’s created an amazing talent pool over time.”
Hart said a new airport in Skagit “is not in line with our comprehensive plan,” a planning document that guides county decisions on land use, transportation, parks, housing and more.
“We would say ‘Stick with our existing airport site,’” Hart said. “If [the state] looks at Skagit, they may eventually say ‘We need another airport,’ but that’s a really tall order for someplace where there isn’t any infrastructure.”
Skagit already has a regional airport, operated by the Port of Skagit County. Major construction projects at the airport will add another 50,000 square feet of hangar space in the coming months.
The state, though, said existing airports in the region “were evaluated and are unable to fully support” future airport designs, according to the review document.
Other Greenfield sites include two locations in Snohomish County, two locations in Pierce County, two locations in Thurston County, one location in King County and one location in Lewis County.
Residents can submit public comment about each of the potential sites at the WSDOT Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission website: engage.wsdot.wa.gov/cacc/greenfield-sites-under-study/
