Transfer Station Design Workshop Tuesday

Seattle Public Utilities is holding its next stakeholder group workshop relating to the new North Transfer Station (NTS) on Tuesday, Sept. 14, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Institute for Systems Biology, 1441 N 34^th. Everyone is invited.

The purpose of the workshop is to review and comment on the initial design concepts, and to consider additional design ideas.  To learn more about the NTS planning process, and to view the new design concepts, visit the project website here.

We also received the following information from Wallyhood reader Allison:

“The NRDS expansion project could very well cover 4 city blocks; it is arguably one of the biggest development projects in the neighborhood.  6 of the 7 alternatives to be presented on Tuesday night would require changes to the existing land use laws to allow the facility to expand. The Wallingford Community Council Board of Directors unanimously approved the attached letter regarding the proposed land use changes.

In addition, I think the project touches on a number of other interesting issues.

How does SPU plan to move towards zero waste and what kind of facility is required to handle the City’s future solid waste and recycling needs?

How should the city approach a high visibility, public industrial project? This project is industrial and utilitarian in nature, and being designed and built in an era of shoe string budgets, yet the expanded site also sits uphill from Gas Works Park, on a street that links Fremont to Wallingford to the University District, and borders several residential neighborhood blocks.  Previous neighborhood planning efforts had envisioned future development in the area to encourage community oriented facilities, as well as active, pedestrian oriented residential and commercial development. This project is slated to be Design-Build.  Can we/should we expect the enlarged facility to fit in with the kind of development that was envisioned for the area?

Additionally, neighbors are concerned about increased impacts on the neighborhood.  SPU has already said that if they expand the facility into the land use zones where transfer stations and accessory recycling are not currently allowed – as they propose to do – that the City will have to pursue additional environmental review for the project.   Neighbors are concerned about traffic, environmental safety, noise, and odor from both the recycling and disposal/transfer station, etc.

Furthermore, the meeting on Tuesday will also provide an opportunity to identify up to five other configurations for the facility in addition to
the 7 being presented.”