Runway Process Continues Despite Threat Of Lawsuit

The Port of Seattle is continuing to buy homes that will be razed to make way for a third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, even though it faces the prospect of yet another lawsuit against the project.

“Anything the port does right now is at its own risk,” said Peter Kirsch, the Denver attorney for the Airport Communities Coalition in its challenges to the project. “It is still highly speculative that the port will ever be able to build this project.”

Kirsch said opponents have until Sept. 2 to decide whether to sue the Federal Aviation Administration over its approval of the third runway. He would not say whether a lawsuit would be filed, but called it a “reasonable possibility.”

But port officials say they’re confident they’ll prevail in any legal action, and are going ahead with the property purchases.

“We are moving along, we think, at a very good pace,” port spokeswoman Rachel Garson said.

Since the FAA approval about a month ago, the port has made offers to 32 homeowners near the airport. Thirteen have signed deals to sell and 12 more have made verbal commitments, Garson said.

By the end of the year, the port plans to make offers to 88 homeowners. In all, the port plans to buy 388 homes over three years.

Under federal law, the port must pay fair market value, plus moving expenses, and must find an available, comparable house.

Construction on the runway wouldn’t begin until about 2005, but port officials say they need to own the surrounding land to begin relocating a stream and a road.

Meanwhile, other runway-related lawsuits are still working their way through the legal maze.

The state Growth Management Hearings Board is due next week to rule whether the city of Des Moines had the right to approve a comprehensive plan that conflicts with federal plans for the runway.

The communities coalition’s challenge to the port’s environmental impact statement is scheduled for a hearing in December.

The group’s lawsuit against the Puget Sound Regional Council over the way it approved the third runway is set for trial in January, and a concurrent lawsuit against the port has a court date in May.