PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 
COMMISSION AGENDA               Item No.      7c 
STAFF BRIEFING 
Date of Meeting     March 8, 2016 
DATE:    March 2, 2016 
TO:     Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:    Lindsay Wolpa, Regional Government Affairs Manager 
SUBJECT:  Local Legislative Update: Seattle Department of Transportation's
Proposed Vacation of Occidental Avenue 
SYNOPSIS 
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) recommended the Seattle City Council
vacate  a  portion  of  Occidental  Avenue  S  within  the Seattle's Duwamish
Manufacturing/Industrial Center (MIC) for development of a sports and entertainment
arena. The Seattle City Council has called a public hearing for March 15 on the topic and
announced a possible vote on the vacation in late April. 
The SDOT recommendation fails to fully consider the severe negative impacts on
movement of freight and other traffic resulting from loss of a street segment within the
congested SoDo area; the lack of identified mitigation for increased congestion and
schedule coordination with existing sports facilities; and flaws in the environmental
review of the arena project. 
BACKGROUND 
The proposed acquisition of Occidental Ave S. between S. Holgate Street and S.
Massachusetts Street is essential to construction of the proposed 20,000-seat sports and
entertainment arena within the Duwamish MIC. 
The arena has been proposed as a home for both professional basketball and hockey, as
well as a venue for concerts, shows and exhibitions. 
The industrial center connects vital international trade, manufacturing and transportation
interests at a crossroads in the heart of Seattle. The area serves an important function in
facilitating the efficient movement of cargo between shipping terminals, rail yards,
transload facilities and distribution centers.  It also supports thousands of permanent
family-wage jobs. Although construction of a new arena in SoDo, or any location, would
create temporary construction jobs, much of the permanent employment resulting from
the development of a new arena would be temporary and part-time, minimum-wage
positions. 

Template revised May 30, 2013.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
March 2, 2016 
Page 2 of 3 
The proposed sports and entertainment project was announced by developer Chris
Hansen and officials of Seattle and King County on February 16, 2012. The Seattle and
King County councils approved an Interlocal Agreement and Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with the investment group on October 15, 2012. 
The arena would be financed by a combination of private investment and contributions
from Seattle and King County tax revenues up to $200 million. Before public funds
could flow to the project, the developer must secure permits, including the street vacation
for the project, certain financial guarantees and an NBA team with a non-relocation
agreement. Several years ago, the NBA rejected a bid by the ownership group for the
Sacramento Kings team and there is no immediate prospect of securing a team. Nor are
there prospects for relocation of an existing NHL team or league expansion to Seattle. 
The Final Environmental Impact Statement was released in September 2015 and did not
fully acknowledge the potential negative impacts on freight mobility or traffic generally.
In addition, alternative options to the SODO site have not been thoroughly considered
and analyzed. Some have indicated this is because of the legal restrictions of the MOU.
That agreement is set to expire December 2017. 
MARCH 8 DISCUSSION POINTS 
SDOT Occidental Vacation Recommendation is Incomplete 
SDOT's recommendation outlines "examples of potential mitigation measures," but does
not include any plans in how the City would replace the lost capacity in taking Occidental
out of the system. The "transportation-related mitigation measures" suggests various
plans to address street closures, scheduling event coordination and event access
information, but fails to explain how any of these proposals might actually be executed. 
Further, the SDOT report implies that vacating Occidental would cause no harm because
other streets in the vicinity have already been vacated (S Massachusetts Street east of
Occidental Avenue S and Occidental Avenue S between S Atlantic Street and Royal
Brougham Way). However, the segment of Occidental Avenue S under the proposed
Arena is different. The arena site is located in a narrow sliver of SODO that is
sandwiched between the BNSF Railroad's mainline tracks and the BNSF Seattle
International Gateway (SIG) Railyard. Concerning issues not addressed include: 
Long trains can cut this area off, leaving the only alternate route via the gradeseparated
crossings at SR 519; 
Only two north-south streets in this area connect through to SR 519: 1st Avenue and
Occidental Avenue; 
The intersection at 1st Avenue S/SR 519 is already the most congested intersection in
the neighborhood; and

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
March 2, 2016 
Page 3 of 3 
1st Avenue South is one of the primary connections to the BNSF SIG Railyard. 

Lack of Progress with Scheduling Agreement 
Siting the arena near the two existing stadiumsCenturyLink and Safecosubstantially
increases the likelihood for simultaneous large events on dozens of days throughout the
year. Large events already adversely affect terminal access and the surrounding industrial
area by increasing congestion earlier in the afternoon and interrupting street and rail
operations when cars arrive early to find street parking. It has been well documented that
shippers will avoid coming to the Seattle terminals on days when there are large events
due to congestion and street closures. 
Overall, the SDOT Street Vacation report identifies mitigation measures that are too
vague, may be infeasible, and may not be legally enforceable, including: 
"Updatethe current Event Scheduling Agreement that exists between the two
existing venues to add the Arena." 
"Establish a protocol for scheduling to minimize conflict with events." 
Both mitigation measures rely on multiple other businesses and organizations, including
the Port of Seattle. As far as we are aware, the project proponent has made no progress 
toward a scheduling agreement. The commitments must be feasible and enforceable. 
SODO ARENA EVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (EIS) 
The Port of Seattle has long been on the record with our concerns about the SODO Arena
EIS and its failure to sufficiently address the probable negative impacts of the project,
and further, its failure to adequately evaluate arena alternatives such as upgrading Key
Arena that would avoid such impacts. Last fall, staff sent a letter to Seattle's Department
of Planning and Development outlining our issues with the EIS. A copy of that letter is
attached to this memo.
CONCLUSION 
Given the severe peak-hour congestion at 1st Avenue South at the SR-519 access ramps,
there are no easy solutions known to mitigate the loss of Occidental Avenue, capacity
reduction on Holgate, and event closures of nearby streets. We believe that the Seattle
City Council must address the incomplete issues outlined above before they vote on
SDOT's recommendation. 

ATTACHMENT TO THIS REQUEST 
November 13, 2015 Port of Seattle Comments on the Proposed Seattle Arena
Addendum to the Final Environmental Impact Statement