Submitted by Michelle S. Mood.
The community might not be entirely aware of a proposed set of warehouses in Pierce County that could radically intensify traffic congestion, air pollution and health inequities. I’ve been following most closely the mega-warehouse planned for South Tacoma just south of TPU – a 2.5 million square foot monstrosity that will pave over 125 acres of abandoned grassland, forest, and wetlands. The land was bought in 2021 by Chicago-based Bridge Industrial and the permits have been working their way through the City of Tacoma Planning and Development Services office this year. So far the PDS has not made any determination about the proposed project, just repeatedly asking for resubmission of materials rather than requiring an Environmental Impact Statement, apparently believing all the environmental effects could be mitigated.
In response to the initial permit notice, in April thirty organizations and several hundred citizen sent letters requesting an EIS or denying the project outright. Some of the concern was related to the proposed extra 5,000 vehicle trips a day. Some was related to the location, not only on top of the last significant green space in South Tacoma, but also on top of the South Tacoma aquifer, part of the South Tacoma Groundwater protection area and used yearly as Tacoma’s backup water source. The location in the poorest section of Tacoma already suffering a lot of air pollution and health problems also raised issues of environmental racism and health inequity.
EarthJustice wrote a 300-page comment that used industry reference manuals to doublecheck Bridge Industrial’s estimated additional vehicle trips, and concluded that 10-12,000 new vehicle trips a day were more likely. The city has not responded to that data. An independent hydrogeologist has evaluated the materials and determined no appropriate data has been collected to allow anyone to calculate or know the effects of paving 125 acres over the South Tacoma aquifer. With climate change accelerating, that’s like playing Russian roulette with our future sustainability. Additionally, the four wetlands and the creek connect to Chambers Creek and empty into Puget Sound – 2022 findings show that the Pacific Northwest salmon die-off is connected to tire materials washed from roads. This could be devastating to our ecosystem.
In September of this year, the US EPA and WA Departments of Ecology and of Health and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department have all asked Tacoma City Planning and Development Services office to conduct a Health Impact Assessment of this project so as to evaluate health and environmental impacts on South Tacoma. They also requested environmental justice and community inclusion be front and center in handling this project, while the Department of Ecology noted the Health Equity and Accountability Law (HEAL) is now a statutory obligation. Why hasn’t our city responded to these requests? Detailed questions to PDS about why the Lead Agency has not requested compliance with HEAL, a Health Impact Assessment, environmental justice and community inclusion have not yet been answered.
We’re all waiting to see what the city will decide about this life-changing project, and I hope you will help spread the word to your community. Traffic burdens will increase in not just South Tacoma but all the surrounding communities and all the way up to Port Tacoma and Port Seattle. Air pollution will be intensified. Environmental sustainability may be jeopardized. Ecosystems may be permanently changed. Stay informed, stay engaged, and let your local leaders know your concerns.
For more information, the public has free access to all permit materials on PDS permit application website, searching under the land use permit number LU21-0125 (at https://aca-prod.accela.com/TACOMA/Default.aspx). You can also find additional information in blogs by Michelle Mood on 350Tacoma.org
What is the address of this property in South Tacoma
The address listed on the permits: 5024 S Madison (Tacoma) which is north of S. 56th between South Tacoma Way and Tyler Street. But the plan is to pave an area bigger than 50 football fields to become warehouses, destroying the natural vegetation/watershed and bringing an estimated 12,000 more vehicle trips per day plus 52 natural gas heaters (for even more air pollution than is already there).
Besides the horror this will inflict on the residents and urban wildlife of that particular community, it will devastate traffic flow and safety for miles around.
Anyone worried about all the littering and polluting the homeless population is doing to our environment? I remember when people used to frown upon littering. Now homeless people seem to think it’s ok to throw their trash and chemicals just about anywhere and nobody even batts an eye anymore….
It’s south of TPU, on the old BNSF land, between South Tyler and South Tacoma Way, from South 36th St all the way down to South 56th St.
You can see clear maps here, just scroll down past the buildings
https://bridgepointtacoma2mm.com/
They say the “primary address” is 5024 S Madison but that doesn’t really give the scope of the 150 acre development.
Bordered by south side of TPU (S 35th & Union), east of S Tyler, west of South Tacoma Way, north of S 56th
This will also significantly impact traffic safety and congestion getting to Fircrest, University Place, Steilacoom, Gig Harbor and beyond.
See the massive plans at: https://www.bridgepointtacoma2mm.com/
Also, it’s not just this warehouse. 15 million sq ft of warehouses are being proposed in Pierce County, some already under construction, according to The News Tribune. https://www.thenewstribune.com/…/article264296916.html
Where all the traffic will go is beyond me. Everyone throughout the county will be impacted.
I would like to know what Environmental Racism is? I didn’t know our environment could be racist. This project may actually help with the homelessness problem in the area also. That’s not a bad thing, as I am a person who gets no where with city on this issue. I say build 2 more of these developments.
Michelle, what exactly would you suggest they do with the property?
Do you know how much they are paying in taxes and insurance just to own the property? And how much did the property cost? Do you have any idea how much work the owners put into earning the money to purchase the property? They have taken all the risk and effort to accomplish just having the land, but you want to tell them what to do with it now?
If you feel so strongly about it , why didn’t you buy it? Have you tried to buy it from the current owner, or do you just expect to try to control what is done with it by raising public outcry?
What about all the jobs that the “mega warehouses “ will produce?
Are you offering jobs?
What right do you really feel you have, to demand what someone else does with a property they worked hard to attain? For the vision , they are working for?
What exactly is your vision? How much money , assets and straight up risk , are you putting towards your vision?
Do you feel , that if you buy a property and put your vision forth, risking everything to do it, do you think it’s ok for someone else, with no skin in the game , to tell you, what to do with your land? That you paid for?
Please try to at least see
Both sides. Your view might broaden out a bit.
As a businessman who has spent decades connecting consumers with product, I understand your perspective Andrew, but most people in a city environment have no idea what makes their lives convenient – the very reason they live in a city.
One would have to calculate the environmental and economic offset of having localized accumulation/distribution versus a random model of the same.
Social justice warriors have no regard for those who take risk and build commercial infrastructure.
They take for granted, what goes into creating and sustaining business/jobs, paying taxes, and funding programs.
A city by its nature is not a pristine environment and can never be.
If that is the desire, then one should leave the city and become self-reliant in a rural setting.
Having come from that and still having a connection to that, I can tell you, that is the opposite of convenient.
Is this the former Nalley plant property?
No, this is former railroad property — close to Nalley but farther south.
What is TDA?
Maybe Pierce County, Tacoma and Lakewood could buy part of this land and build the Community Village, a project to hose the homeless.
Just look at Fife’s massive amount of warehouses. DuPont is also becoming inundated with warehouses. I live in DuPont, and it is not what it used to look like. The local deer and other wildlife are being forced out.
If that’s the look you want in Lakewood, allow the warehouse process continue. It’s sad.
Everything a city-dweller consumes is produced and “shipped” in from somewhere.
A city is a mass of consumers.
If you were concerned about the environment, you would want that process to be as efficient as possible – maybe some massive scrubbers for your continuous discharge.
A city is a terrible environment for “wildlife”.
A large distribution center, surrounded by housing and public transportation, sounds like a perfect environment for those who spend their time on social media.
After all, what’s another wall in your world of walls?
Throw in some wine bars and coffee shops and you have urban paradise.
I’d certainly prefer a cement pad over an aquifer rather than a homeless encampment – think about that one.
You want to discuss the environment of Tacoma as if it is the Olympic National Park?
Get real.
They are building these warehouses but there has not been any commercial interest in using them. No employers, no employees.
There is a request to the city submitted by the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council to change the code for this area to be an Economic Green Zone.
South Tacoma has the highest death rates in the City of Tacoma. The air we breathe is not as healthy as the rest of Tacoma.
There has been a lot of thought and discussion on this topic. We don’t want it closed to business, we want environmental clean business. Businesses that won’t add more pollution and traffic to South Tacoma and the surrounding area.
Gigantic warehouses, costing million$ to build, with no proposed business plan?
That seems a bit strange.
Annette, what is your idea of an environmentally friendly business to fit your proposed green zoning?
So, a lot of lively comments here, I really appreciate the interest. I do hope we can refrain from distracting stereotypes about me or others who have a different vision than warehouses. Let’s have a real discussion, hey? Those of us in South Tacoma know that the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council in spring 2021 put forth a plan for this to be the South Tacoma Economic Green Zone, to have green industries while preserving the wetlands acreage and stream. But even though the city planning department knew about this planned use of the property, did not let any neighborhood councils know that at the same time the city was working with Chicago-based Bridge Industrial to build warehouses here. This means the city was not transparent and was not listening to our neighborhood council representatives. So that’s a governance issue right there. Regarding my use of the term “environmental racism,” that’s been around for decades as a shorthand to express the statistical congruence of nonwhite residency to polluting industry (Louisiana is an iconic example). The State of Washington uses the term “environmental justice” instead. There is a correlation of poorer air quality with higher nonwhite percentages in the population, and there is now a database of old racist redlining that correlates with worse air quality even 50-100 years later. If you don’t know about redlining, that’s when the Feds decided no federal mortgages could be given to blacks, and the realtors/city/banks drew red lines around the no-go zones. Welp, this construction is inside the old redlining of Tacoma, and, yes, the state health disparity maps show that the census tracts and zipcodes of the planned construction contain the highest percentages of black, Hispanic and mixed race residents, as well as the rock-bottom poorest, with the most cardiovascular disease and worst low-birth weight baby problem in the city. And, guess what, those two issues — heard disease and dangerously small babies — are made worse by vehicle exhaust. So the shorthand for placing addition environmental stress on already environmentally suffering populations who are not white is called environmental racism, and its solution is called environmental justice. If we just use the same zoning as from the 1950s, then we will replicate the racial aspect (or racist, if you will) of zoning of those days. So that’s why the South Tacoma Economic Green Zone was so visionary — a productive, economic area that would not increase pollution. In fact, Tacoma has the Climate Action Plan which is supposed to guide Tacoma towards a sustainable, cleaner future. This construction is not that. Also, I pay taxes but I have to dive 15 minutes to the nice Point Defiance Park — why can’t South Tacoma have a park? There are no homeless in Point Defiance. We deserve a clean, safe, beautiful park, and this place could provide that. I hear coyotes at night, and there are two red tailed hawks that hunt on this land from the trees in my yard. It’s a functioning ecosystem that cools the surrounding area. During the heat wave in 2021, temps were ten degrees hotter in South Tacoma than elsewhere. If we pave 125 acres, it will create an even more stifling heat island. In terms of jobs and services and what it takes to make a city work, I have lived abroad in desperately poor countries with no income tax system, and so I do have a good idea of what is needed to make a modern city livable. But, as I mentioned in a comment, 15 million square feet of warehouses are being planned in the county as a whole, which will devastate our quality of life, not to mention the benefits to the community are limited — look at this ad for FRED310 “take advantage of the following incentives and operational savings:
No Personal State Income Tax
No Corporate Income Tax
No Inventory Tax
No Sales or Use Tax on Machinery and Equipment Used in Manufacturing Operations
No Head Tax
Family-Wage Tax Credit
Industry-Specific Incentives
Workforce Training Grants and Credits
Other Project-Specific State and Local Programs”
Good lord, there certainly is a lot of passionate replies about this, and a lot of people voicing opinions on what should be done with this property that they do not own. This is not government land, it has been purchased by people like yourselves, the only difference being they are laying out a tremendous amount of risk and capital to create a better way of life for themselves and a lot of jobs for people who didn’t take a huge risk.
In life, you either work really hard, and chase your dreams, or you will end up working really hard for someone who did.
Dave Shaw, in DuPont,
this Parcel, it went up for sale, did you try to buy it? If not, why do you think you have the right to say what is done with it?
And Michelle, I really appreciate your passion, if not your facts; wanting something to be true and it being actually accurate are two completely separate realities. You mentioned “climate change is accelerating “ now is that your point of view? Does that make it true? Just for a moment, please, just entertain the idea, that there was, in “fact” a actual ice age. Now most people don’t argue this. (Although at this point i’m sure some do)
Anyway, we had the ice age, the ice……has been receding…the polar ice cap…is getting smaller. I completely agree this is true. The question here is , is building a mega warehouse, putting thousands to work, going to accelerate this? If you think so, think about this, if you had a 20 ft square cube of a giant block of ice, and dropped it in your back yard, for hours and hours, mebbe even a day….you would not see much difference. But once it started to shrink with melting, what happens?
It ACCELERATES…. Because…there is less of it to keep itself cool, the more it melts, the faster it melts. Period. Wether people are watching,
Now I realize this is a lot to take in. I’m not asking you to drop your life’s passion. I’m just saying perhaps you should realize other people’s passions are just as strong and some of them are actually risking everything to build a better life and future for themselves, and others that will be employed by them.
How many environmental warriors are building anything to employ anyone? What do you do to earn income to support your family, do you work for a “fascist”? A people refer to driven builders these days?
Are you using a smartphone? You think builders are bad, if you saw the conditions in the countries that are digging up the minerals that go into making a smartphone it would break your heart. They could make the phones here, but they don’t, because “it costs more” to build them here. Do you think Apple and Samsung can afford it with the prices they charge for new phones? The answer is YES… but they don’t want to, why would they? If you saw the conditions people are working in to make the phone you are writing your opinions, it would ruin your month.
I hope you will take a breath and realize that there are more than one view. And please, remember, if you want to control what is done on a piece of real estate, then buy it.
Hi,
Great questions!
CLIMATE – I’m basing the climate change information on the Tacoma Climate Action Plan, written by better-informed people than I. It’s free and available on line! ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: The new Health Equality Accountability Law (“HEAL”) is now statutory law in the state of Washington, and it includes the recommendation that Tacoma city buy land to help implement policy to redress health inequity. You can see Washington State Environmental Health Disparity Maps here: https://doh.wa.gov/data-and-statistical-reports/washington-tracking-network-wtn/washington-environmental-health-disparities-map
DEVELOPMENT: The One Tacoma development plan requires the Planning and Development Office to be involved in redressing environmental health disparities and to include the community and so on. That’s why it’s so frustrating they never told the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council about this. And Bridge Industrial, the company who bought the property, has no experience in building warehouses, is just an investment company from Chicago who is jumping on the warehouse bandwagon even as warehouse need slows (https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/industrial/supply-will-outpace-demand-as-likely-recession-slowing-online-sales-crimp-industrial-demand-113827). They used ProLogis’s 2007 warehouse plan (25% smaller) and thought they could sail through permitting even though our laws and needs are different now in the 2020. Sadly they got in a bidding war and paid $1million per acre, crazy huh? Poor investors!
SMART PHONES: I’m actually a China scholar and did interviews in Chinese factories, so I do know where my phone comes from (child slave labor in Central African Republic also complicit). That’s one reason I don’t use Apple products, what they are doing in Zhengzhou is horrific.
Hey, Andrew, I asked for authentic discussion without distracting stereotypes so, I guess I will answer you question about work honestly! Nope, not working for a fascist! China, Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany are the only bona fide fascist systems I know of, but enlighten me. I haven’t worked for any of those and I currently live in USA where, hey, it’s not fascism! Thank goodness!
Let’s keep the discussion going! And I hope everyone’s registered to vote! Enjoy the blessings of democracy!
Michelle I’d really like you to comment on my point that you don’t own the property, although you could have purchased it.
Seriously, if you feel this strongly about the area, why didn’t you buy it?
You say enjoy democracy, isn’t that what the current owners are doing?
Comment on what right you have to stop someone from legally building on land they legally own.
If anyone is getting distracting here, it’s your complete disregard of my obvious point when you “answer”
This has been noted by others, in this section, not just me.
Can you answer Brian, on what green sustainable business you would build there? (Without tax dollars)
Answer these points with no purposeful clouding of the issue and I’ll be completely shocked.
She missed your entire point.
Good grief!
Right?! And to keep mentioning “stereotypes “ isn’t that incredibly ironic?
The bottom line here is that hard times build strong people, strong people make for easy times. Easy times build weak people. That’s a quote I’ve read that aptly describes all this nonsense today. Everyone who builds nothing wants to criticize the people that build everything they use to live the easy life they have.
The climate has been changing since the ice age, but it’s like the homeless issue. Expanded government keeps using these issues to raise taxes. We are supposed to balance our budget but our “government “ doesn’t even seem to grasp the concept. I feel that the red herrings used to upset a lot of people like Michelle (the environment, homelessness, institutional racism) these are issues used to get people all emotional so they don’t see what is REALLY going on, right in front of them. Propaganda like this works, obviously, in the past as well as now.
How disappointing.
With the Seattle-Tacoma port facilities continuing to develop and expand as a principal transfer point for international trade, the desirability of local real estate for warehousing is not likely to diminish. I live in DuPont, a town with considerable undeveloped (some would say “underdeveloped”) real estate. Much of that real estate is not suitable for other uses other than warehousing. The problem lies in how you service the warehouses. Driving I-5 these days is often like driving in a moving canyon with massive truck/trailers to one’s left and right, fore and aft. It doesn’t take a lot of statistical analysis to observe the disproportionate number of trucks involved in traffic interruptions and highway shut-downs. A good thing to do in forming an opinion about the impact of a proliferation of massive warehousing is to take a drive on Marvin Road in Lacey between I-5 and Tolmie State Park. Personally, I’d never want to live there. In DuPont, our voters have, to the extent that they are able, said no to zoning changes that would permit more warehouses. We’ve also limited truck traffic to areas away from residential areas. But we still feel like the boy with his finger in the dike. The pressure continues. Because of our location and the presence of a major port, this is not a problem confined to municipalities. It’s a regional problem…and one hears precious little discussion about how the issue will be managed and controlled in the future as the demands continue inexorably to grow.
Still, not a single description of what these “Green” business models look like or consist of.
“Green” you mean like Solydra? How about another $500,000,000 in the dumper. What “green” industries actually turn a profit without government intervention….that is taking your tax money and supporting them financially because they can’t compete with main stream industries. A large parcel of land requires an industry that represents the highest and best use. Ultimately it comes down to $$$: that ability of the business to be competitive AND the municipality to extract the greatest amount of tax revenue with the lowest capital outlay. Lakewood went through the same process where Walmart (Bridgeport way) now resides…..not withstanding that the comprehensive plan called for apartments and despite the presence of red tail hawk nests.
Exactly. Perhaps because there is no such thing that can be profitable or sustainable without tax dollars to foot the never ending bill,
All these comments about freeway problems, do they realize that democrats consistently call freeways “racist” ? This is another red herring to get tax payers too emotional to think, while they push a agenda driven mass transit program that no taxpayer wants. These are the same democrats pushing social distancing and more shutdowns and mask mandates in California right now, (Washington’s politicians always copy California)
So they say stay away from each other, but at the same time cram together on a bus to get to work.
I’m also shocked anyone wants to build in Washington today, with the explosion of crime due to democratic politicians complete soft on crime approach due to their fanatical push of “institutional racism” .
Remember Brian, when we were growing up , when your own actions and choices were your own actions and choices? That you were responsible for?
Where all this is heading in my opinion is straight down, on multiple levels.
Look up the evolving definition of fascism.
It boils down to private ownership but government control of property.
The left of course attributes it to a far-right dictatorial situation while ironically emulating it through public activism.
Even more ironic is that they call this anti-capitalist activism, democracy.
We saw this form of democracy play out with various anarchist riots the past few years.
That is why the founders established a Constitutional Representative Republic for our nation, because in a world of fools, the mob rules.
The reason our system is now failing is because our elected representatives have been allowed to violate their oath of office without penalty.
There is a case being considered by the SCOTUS to address that, but I have doubts that they will have the courage of conviction to take it on, as it would lead to a complete and overdue overhaul of government.
There is little difference between a ruthless dictator and a mob intent on destroying our Constitutional freedoms.
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and there are those who will use your good nature against you.
When we as citizens lose control of our property, we are no longer a free people.
Look what’s happening to Dutch farmers in the name of ESG environmental, social, and governance activism.
This is scary stuff, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg that’s preparing to sink our ship, so to speak.
I could not agree more, and I might add that you put it in the nicest way possible. It’s really a lot more insidious and purposeful. I think these “activists “ are just tools being led around by the nose , never thinking, just blindly following their emotions. Look at how Michelle referenced that info on climate change, like it was a absolute because Tacoma government decided it was. Even though the same council is responsible for a mass exodus of businesses leaving Tacoma because of crime, BECAUSE of the same council government’s actions.
I agree with everything you’ve said so far.
Andrew and Brian,
True..a person buying land should be able to use it the way that he/she wants _especially if he can afford to pay for that land)…if you live on an island somewhere and don’t need any thing or any service from anyone not on your land …a world without neighbors, government systems etc! However, let’s get back to reality…in a civilized society in the United States.
However, a distribution/fulfillment center (especially one like ‘Bridge Point Tacoma 2MM’….2 1/2 times the size of an ‘average’
Amazon fulfillment center) cannot financially survive just operating on their building site alone. The pollutants that come off that site (into water systems, into the air, etc) will impact the neighbors and ecosystem. This fulfillment site will need to use public roads (paid by the Tacoma residents and his neighbors) to move the products to final destinations using highway What about the wear and tear on these roads (from 10,000 additional vehicle trips daily), traffic congestion, inconvenience to the this company’s neighbors (financial/added transportation fuel costs, lost time spent in traffic congestion). With the current South Tacoma infrastructure (road/street systems, traffic flow, road conditions), residential neighborhoods(schools, local businesses), this site location is NOT appropriate for a multi-million sq space fulfillment center).
In addition, this company has NO experience (proven track record) of success with building and managing a multi-million sq ft fulfillment center anywhere else in the country!
The Bridge Industrial Company has stated that this building proposal (for permit #: LU21-0125) is “speculative” (the tenants and types of potential tenants are “unknown”). The Kidder Matthews Company brokers will be handling leasing of the space (in these 4 buildings).
Looking at Risk/Benefit… .Is the benefit of (possible) new (no guarantee of types of jobs..pay rate) employment worth the high risk associated with this building project?
On a side note, the City of Tacoma Planners (and other employees) are employed by the Tacoma residents…to represent and serve the needs of the residents. Part of providing services is to engage citizens in the decisions that affect the citizens (clearly stated on the Planning and Development Services Dept website).
Hi again! I have to push back on the idea that if you own property that you get to do what you want on it. In fact, an Environmental Impact Statement is needed for many aspects of private construction. That’s not been the case for 100 years or more. Zoning laws. In terms of this proposed construction, the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process identifies and analyzes environmental impacts associated with governmental decisions such as issuing permits for private projects. So, this is what the Department of Ecology is asking for, the EPA, and the Department of Health, for current construction plans to be in compliance with laws.
In terms of the proposed green industry, I don’t know but it’s public record. The city council records have the March 2021 presentation (something like 60 slides of information) so you can email the city clerk for a link to that (citycleark@cityoftacoma.org) The permitting is still going on, see https://www.cityoftacoma.org/in_the_news/public_hearing_scheduled_for_2022_amendments
https://cms.cityoftacoma.org/Planning/2022%20Amendment/E3%20Packet%20-%202022%20Amendment%20Assessment%20(5-19-21).pdf
Also here’s an early news report: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article262142157.html
Also remember that legally the city is supposed to allow neighborhood councils to co-create their areas, and the city worked on the sale of the property for 12 months without notifying the neighborhood council. That’s not democracy. (It’s not fascism either of course).
The need for consumer product distribution is only going to increase as urban centers densify.
A centralized model seems more efficient than a remote or random model.
Transportation can be mandated to off-peak hours.
Emissions and runoff are quantifiable against alternatives.
These are the things that should be discussed in order to understand the net outcome.
Brian,
The country did need more of these warehouse/distribution centers..with the consumer demand during the pandemic.
In 2021 and 2022, Amazon apparently overbuilt their fulfillment centers. Now some of those centers have closed…or, in some cases, never opened (abandoned).
Those fulfillment centers have been typically in the range of 600,000-1 million sq ft per center. This proposed distribution Bridge Industrial center…with 2.5 million sq ft…is a very risky proposition for the area! These over-sized fulfillment centers need to be open 24 hrs/day…7 days a week..to suceed financially. The area street and road systems would still be overwhelmed with traffic with use.during “off peak” times only…remember, 10,000+ vehicle trips per (24 hr) day.
A centralized area would seem to be the most productive and efficient approach..if in an industrial park area…located far away from residential areas.
Unfortunately, this South Tacoma land area (due to many decades history of ‘redlining’) has continued with ‘heavy industrial’ zoning. So, the City planners have been able to “justify” the use of this area for industrial use.
Residents have fought for change with this zoning land use designation (get rid of the M-2 Heavy Industrial..change to the Green Economic Zoning type zoning).
This permit application (#: LU21-0125) for this 2.5 million sq ft building project is NOT appropriate for THIS location. This is a poor business decision!
Again, please give us an example of a self-sustaining green business model.
I’ve never seen one.
Yes I’m sure you think Wall Street Journal is wack for thinking greening is profitable. What could they possibly know?!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/green-finance-goes-mainstream-lining-up-trillions-behind-global-energy-transition-11621656039
And yet Tacoma is banking on LNG etc. And so far, the city is not even asking for electric vehicles in permitting Bridge Industrial’s mega warehouse that will create 5-12,000 new vehicle trips per day.
If government is doing their job they will require mitigation of potential impacts to include curbs, gutters, sidewalks, expanded roads, traffic signals, surface water management, green belts, and other infrastructure improvements. Just because you own the land and have a business plan doesn’t give you carte blanche with respect to actually building it. There are many hurdles you have to jump over before the first spade of dirt. Whether that business is green or not green is moot: the same development requirements apply to both. So favoring “green” development is more of a politically correct decision than development decision.
How can the planning department mitigate if they refuse to do an Environmental Impact Statement? What impacts can they mitigate if they haven’t done the legwork to find out what this unprecedented warehouse will do, on top of our aquifer, etc?! You seem remarkably willing to rely on and trust the government to do their job well, without any oversight or input from their citizens. Hunh.
Riiiiiight. I agree. “If government does their job.” Haven’t you read anything I’ve posted? They did not do their job when they ignored the role of Neighborhood Councils, and they are not doing their job now. The whole reason I posted is that they are not doing their job in responding to laws like HEAL and what the Departments of Ecology and Department of Health are requesting (oh, and also the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department). No government works without transparency and accountability, governments aren’t like wind up clocks that run perfectly without oversight or citizen engagement. The documentation online shows what the city wants the owner to do, and so far that does not yet include responding to DOE and DOH and US EPA, sadly. That’s why I wrote this “LETTER” — to shine some light on government activity. You’re welcome.
Have you ever developed a piece of property? I have and government development requirements were so onerous that they nearly killed the project. It took a significant amount of time and effort to reach an agreement with planning/permitting to get the project off the ground and funded.
Sounds like the City of Tacoma is doing its job and has not approved the project which is in the early stages of development: i.e. planning and permitting. You’ve made the assumption that all these negative impacts won’t be mitigated as part of the development plan. It appears that first and foremost you’re just against warehouses.
Even if they put “green” development into that land you’d still have the same impacts that would have to be mitigated….unless you think everyone in a “green” business rides a bike, walks or takes public transport to work. Green businesses aren’t inherently green themselves.
Also, the WSJ lost its street-cred a while ago, when it went woke and walked away from established business principles.
Robbing from established business for carbon credits based on political environmental theories is not self-sustaining, it is parasitic.
If you think inflation is high now, just wait until all this environmental activism gets fully manifested.
New technology is welcome, but it should be slowly established over time, after it has been thoroughly tested.
Yes, and as John pointed out, Michelle is obviously just against warehouses. I’m wondering where she thinks all her goods comes from? And as you aptly pointed out, Tacoma isn’t the Olympic National forest, it’s called the “gritty city” for a reason. More warehouses, and jobs? Who would think that’s bad, unless they’re into progressive fanaticism?
From her lack of answers to serious questions and obviously attempts to cloud the issues brought up with her “Woke ideology “ it’s pretty clear from my opinion she is just another person obsessed with reverse racism. Saying the term “environmental racism “ to me shows fanaticism, that doesn’t adhere to facts or common sense in any way. Clearly big business is bad, all white men who worked and saved money to build something are just bigots blah blah blah. Do you see this differently?
Brian, Please direct me to your own publication that rivals WSJ. Thank you.