Resolution opposing New Sports Arena in Seattle
[This resolution is being considered by the King County Democrats; my inclination is to support the resolution.]
Resolution in Opposition to Locating a Professional Sports Arena
in Seattle’s Industrial Maritime District
WHEREAS tens of thousands of dollars have been spent in support of building a third sports complex in Seattle’s maritime industrial district, with virtually no funds spent studying alternative sites; and
WHEREAS the proposal to build this arena was developed in closed meetings; and
WHEREAS the developer stands to profit from the sale of lands to the City of Seattle and seeks a binding commitment for public investments in return for building the arena; and
WHEREAS traffic congestion in the center of Seattle is an ongoing and severe problem, the present stadiums are underserved by public transportation, and further congestion caused by this third facility in SODO will make the situation unacceptably worse; and
WHEREAS the Arena Multimodal Transportation Access and Parking Study, paid for by the developer, considered only a SODOlocation for the arena; and
WHEREAS marine cargo at the Port of Seattle is an essential economic engine for the region and Washington State, providing tens of thousands of good jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in commercial value and tax revenues annually; and
WHEREAS SODO’s key freight routes and facilities serving Elliott Bay, one of the world’s great deepwater harbors, should not be compromised by an expanded entertainment district, and the SODO area is neither planned nor equipped to accommodate or provide the public infrastructure and services needed to support a third entertainment complex there; and
WHEREAS entertainment facilities can be built at other locations such as the publicly-owned Seattle Center, a location that for decades provided a successful home to the Seattle Supersonics NBA franchise, while a marine cargo job base requires direct, reliable access to appropriate marine terminals; and
WHEREAS the impact of the two current stadiums on the capacity of local roads serving marine cargo terminals was to be mitigated by three major overpasses to carry traffic over railroad tracks, of which one was built and one was significantly reduced, while the third project was neither built nor funded; and
WHEREAS the public deserves thorough environmental and economic impact studies, exploration of alternative sites, and a robust public discussion before committing public dollars to any arena;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the King County Democrats oppose the siting of this proposed new arena in Seattle’s industrial maritime district; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the King County Democrats forward this resolution to Seattle Mayor Michael McGinn, the Seattle City Council, King County Executive Dow Constantine and the King County Council.
Adopted __________________ by __________________________________
 Originated by Marcee Stone and Max Vekich, 34th Dist. Democrats (marceestone@msn.com).
 Adopted by 32nd LDDO, 7/12/2012