COMMISSION 
AGENDA MEMORANDUM                Item No.       3b 
BRIEFING ITEM                   Date of Meeting    December 13, 2016 
DATE:    November 14, 2016 
TO:     Ted Fick, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:   Stephanie Jones Stebbins, Director Maritime Environment and Sustainability 
Joseph Gellings, Senior Planner 
SUBJECT:  Fishermen's Terminal Long Term Strategic Plan Update 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
On May 17, 2016, the Port Commission received a briefing on the planning strategies
comprising the Fishermen's Terminal Long Term Strategic Plan. Today's briefing provides
findings and recommendations on specific elements of the plan as follows: 
Public interpretation plan. Recommend proceeding with a plan that takes advantage of
the terminal's status as an authentic fishing port where visitors can get up close to the
vessels and the dock activities. This includes incorporating outdoor and, potential indoor
interpretive facilities. 
Site plan refinements for parking and gear storage. Engineering layouts have been
developed to meet parking and gear storage needs at each stage of development. 
Phase 1 development. Recommend proceeding with design and construction of the
two Phase 1 buildings, per the phasing plan developed with the stakeholders. 
Incubator. The potential for operating a business incubator is described. 
Hostels. Recommendation against developing a hostel. 
BACKGROUND 
During the fall of 2015 and winter of 2016, staff conducted a stakeholder outreach program to
create a long-term strategic plan for the upland assets of Fishermen's Terminal (FT). Early in
the process, the following scope and goals statement was adopted: 
Scope:   Develop vision and long term strategic plan for Fishermen's Terminal that
leverages maritime and fishing activities and industries. 
Goals:    1.  Continue to grow the economic value of the fishing and maritime cluster 
including the number of local jobs and business revenue. 
2.  Improve overall financial returns that allow us to fulfill our commitment to
the industry and taxpayers. 
3.  Prioritize uses that support the commercial fishing industry, with a focus on
anchoring the North Pacific fishing fleet. 
4.  Prioritize development that maximizes utilization of facility assets. 

Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. _3b__                     Page 2 of 4 
Meeting Date: December 13, 2016 
5.  Recognize and enhance Fishermen's Terminal as a  living community
landmark. 
An economic cluster study was also foundational to the planning process. That study found
that the fishing fleets homeporting at FT draw on an extensive network of suppliers and trades
in the area. It also probed the considerations made by those businesses when deciding where
to locate their operations. The study indicates that the suppliers are having an increasingly
difficult time finding space near their customers at FT. 
As presented to Commission in May, the combination of stakeholder input and the economic
cluster study led to the establishment of five planning concepts: 
1.  Develop new light industrial space 
2.  Draw more public to the terminal and enhance the public's experience while
maintaining the overall industrial character of the terminal 
3.  Expand on FT's role in workforce development 
4.  Protect precious ground plane for industrial uses (consider vertical stacking or an off-site
location for non-industrial uses) 
5.  Develop new parking management tools 
As an outgrowth of the May 17 briefing of the Commission, staff is now providing findings and
recommendations for six specific aspects of the Long Term Strategic Plan as follows: 
Public interpretation plan 
Staff has  been working with stakeholders and a consultant team to develop a public
interpretation plan. All involved see great potential to play to FT's natural, outdoor vantage
points where the public can observe the dock activities that are part of commercial fishing. 
For FT to succeed in capitalizing on its unique opportunity with the "experience economy", it is
important that all aspects of a visitor's experience are authentic to make the experience
memorable. In keeping with this concept, staff has considered wide-ranging improvements to
the core of the terminal that will contribute to the visitor's experience. As illustrated in the
attached presentation, the plan puts as much emphasis on programming (events, tours, etc.)
and terminal identity and wayfinding as it does on traditional interpretive signage. 
Site plan refinement for parking and gear storage 
Staff has created parking and gear storage layouts for all development scenarios.
The parking layouts comply with all City design standards. The resulting capacities are reflected
in the attached presentation. The key aspects of parking management are the number of stalls
and the location of various time limit parking zones. The issue of increased parking demand
from new development is mitigated by the fact that industrial uses have the lowest parking
demand of all uses on the site  and most of the new development planned is industrial. The
essential time limit layout strategy will not change. That strategy designates the retail core
parking as 2-hours, with 8-hours beyond that and 3-days at the fringes of the terminal. The

Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. _3b__                     Page 3 of 4 
Meeting Date: December 13, 2016 
only change to the strategy occurs at Year 10 for the 2-hour parking, when some of these
spaces will be lost to development. Potential remedies include not siting a new building in this
area or re-designating certain stalls in the area to the south. 
Open gear storage experiences a 28% reduction in footprint from current conditions to Year 10.
This is a result of areas being converted to new developments. Open gear storage is a critically
important function, particularly with the trend for fishing vessels to alternate between gear
types for fishing different species. Other terminals have gone to vertically stacked net pallets to
increase the storage capacity per unit of yard area. 
Phase 1 Development 
The strategic plan calls for phased implementation of new developments and identifies two
specific buildings to come in to service in two years. They are the bank building replacement
and the southern-most of the proposed West Wall buildings. Both buildings are part of the
strategy to add light industrial space that targets supplier businesses to the fleets. In addition
to adding new industrial space, the replacement of the bank building offers opportunities to
feature the gateway to the terminal.
Work performed to date includes evaluation of the market for light industrial space and
development of parking and gear storage layouts that meet the needs of the new buildings and
existing buildings.
Staff will request Commission authorization for Phase 1 architectural design funding soon. 
Business Incubator 
Economic Development Division staff is presently shaping a business incubator program, with
FT presenting key opportunities. An incubator at FT would be oriented to the maritime cluster
and would address the typical obstacles encountered during the launch phase for new maritime
businesses. At this time, the greatest needs appear to be finding small affordable spaces and
mentorship / technical assistance. 
Interpretive Center 
As referred to under "Public Interpretation" above, staff recommend a public interpretation
program utilizing outdoor activities and installations rather than an indoor single-purpose
museum. 





Template revised September 22, 2016.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. _3b__                     Page 4 of 4 
Meeting Date: December 13, 2016 
Hostel 
Staff has identified three working models for hostels that exclusively serve individuals in
maritime. They are in Boston, MA, New York, NY, and Newport, RI. None of these operations
have a significant representation of commercial fishing among their clientele.
Short-term housing needs associated with FT can be met through our live-aboard policy and 
potentially through the numerous AirBNB properties located within a half mile of FT (34 at the
time this memo is written).
Staff recommends no further pursuit of the hostel concept, based on insufficient evidence of
demand, as well as the high cost of constructing or repurposing a building for this use. 

ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING 
(1)   Presentation slides 
(2)   Consultant Report: Fishermen's Terminal Interpretive Plan, Cascade Interpretive
Consulting, October 17, 2016 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS 
May 17, 2016, Commission received a briefing on the planning strategies comprising the
Fishermen's Terminal Long Term Strategic Plan 
October 27, 2015, Commission received a briefing about the progress of the stakeholder
outreach program for the strategic plan 
August 11, 2015, Commission received a briefing on the proposed scope and goals in
advance of the launch of the planning process 








Template revised September 22, 2016.