The Seattle City Council has blocked the Port of Seattle's proposal to include housing in three of its five redevelopment alternatives for the North Bay area - at least for now.
The idea was simply too controversial, but it could be revisited in the future, according to council president Jan Drago. "I'm not saying it should be, but it could be," she said.
Mayor Greg Nickels welcomed the council vote, according to spokesman Marty McOmber. "We also don't want to see housing there," he said. "Our bottom line is, we're very concerned over having a healthy maritime-industrial sector in Seattle."
North Bay project manager Mark Griffin did not seem overly concerned with the development at a public hearing last week over the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for North Bay. "It's always been a supporting use," he said of housing.
Besides, Griffin said, the Port had anticipated all along that elements from each of the five alternatives might be combined in a single preferred alternative.
"So not having residential in there doesn't necessarily affect that," he said. "What we're trying to accomplish with North Bay is [to] generate jobs."
Still, the kind of jobs the Port wants to generate is a concern for many. Along with traditional ones like those at CityIce and Trident already in North Bay, the Port is targeting so-called emerging industries such as biotech and high-tech.
"We're not against new and emerging industries," insisted Dave Gering, executive director of the Manufacturing and Industrial Council of Seattle.
But he said he doesn't think North Bay is the right location for that sector. Trident generates $700 million in sales a year, while the entire biotech industry in Seattle generates only $680 million a year - and Trident is just one company, Gering said.
Jack Faris, president of the Washington Biotechnology Business Association, doesn't see it that way. Speaking at the North Bay Draft EIS hearing, he said the Port's proposal presents "an extraordinary opportunity for Seattle."
The city, he added, has the potential to become a world center for global-health research. "And people are working on this every day," Faris said. "We're going to grow, and we have the opportunity to grow here."
Janis Traven, vice chair of the 36th District Democrats, said the orga-nization was concerned that the Port had not made a commitment to maintain maritime activities in North Bay. "We are opposed to alternatives that contain housing," she also said at the hearing.
Mike Warren, a Queen Anne Community Council (QACC) member, worried about the possibility of a Big Box store showing up in North Bay, and he slammed the idea of residential use for the area.
Stressing that he was speaking only for himself at the hearing, Warren said he has been told the Port is looking for small retail businesses that can support industrial uses. "If that's what's intended," he said, "it needs to be written down."
It was a comment echoed by Kirk Robbins, a QACC member who is also on the Neighbors Advisory Committee, a group of Queen Anne and Magnolia residents who monitor Port activities at Terminals 90 and 91.
He said the area needs to be protected against Big Box retail because, among other things, it could create transportation problems - especially if the Monorail doesn't get built, as some people fear.
John Hamilton from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 174 described North Bay as a unique piece of property because it has access to deep-water port facilities.
"We strongly oppose residential and multi-use development of this property," he said at the hearing. Hamilton also said North Bay was a perfect location for maritime and industrial uses. "It should stay the way it is zoned now."
Speaking for himself, Magnolia Community Club president Victor Barry disagreed. "If maritime industry was strong, it would be here now," he said. "I don't think we should bet on just one pony."
Heather Trim, a Queen Anne resident from People for Puget Sound, said the environmental organization would like to see North Bay preserved as a "proactive environment" that would include buildings built to green standards.
Maintaining industrial jobs is vitally important to the city, she said, but Trim was also concerned about transportation. "Sixteen thousand parking places does not exactly encourage transit use," she said.
Margaret Irvine, executive director of the Greater Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce, said the organization endorsed the Port's efforts to revitalize North Bay. But the Chamber is concerned about one issue. "Our biggest fear is [that] this area will be sold to private developers," she said.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.
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