What’s the Olympia Regional Airport Master Plan Update, and Why Are So Many Concerned?

Feb. 16—Olympia Regional Airport in Tumwater, which has been operated by the Port of Olympia since the early 1960s, is under scrutiny again as residents raise concerns about future growth at the airport as the Port works on a master plan update.

Residents have shown up to port meetings, including about 15 people on Feb. 10, while others have turned to social media, including on the site known as NextDoor, which prompted Port Commissioner Jasmine Vasavada to jump in and respond to some of the comments.

Olympia resident Anita Thompson was among those residents who spoke Feb. 10.

"I'm concerned about the people who will be impacted by expanding the airport, because I would think that there will be planes flying over their homes, and a lot of them are low-income people, as I see it," she said. "There's a lot of mobile home parks between the Pioneer Park area and where the airport is, and so I think they will be impacted."

The word "expand" is often used by residents. But what does that mean exactly?

The Olympian reached out to port officials to iron out some of the confusion. While there is some misunderstanding, some are raising longstanding concerns about increased noise and pollution generated by aircraft at the airport.

What is a master plan?

An airport master plan is updated every seven to 10 years for the Federal Aviation Administration, said Chris Paolini, the airport senior manager at Olympia Regional Airport.

The airport last updated its master plan in 2013 and continues to work on updating its 2021 plan. The port commission is set to vote on the 2021 update in March.

"The FAA has us go through a master plan process and it says 'Your goals are to meet aviation forecast demand for a 20-year period,'" he said. "And then how are you going to, as an airport, meet that demand: what development projects are needed and what infrastructure improvements are needed, so that you can meet that forecast growth."

"It gives us a road map to achieve those FAA-required goals," Paolini added.

Why are we still talking about a 2021 update?

The port began working on the 2021 update that year as well as in 2022, a process then that included five public meetings, Paolini said. But following that period, work on the update fell dormant because of port staff turnover. That prompted the port to reopen a 30-day comment period on the plan that ended Feb. 12, Paolini said.

The number of comments received was about 250, although several were from the same people and a number of them had the same copy-and-pasted comment, he said Friday. The Olympian has filed a records request to see those comments.

Despite the renewed chance to comment during those 30 days, Paolini acknowledged that the comments will have little effect on the overall document.

"People think, 'Oh, the airport is doing a master plan,' but it's very different than, say, a port peninsula master plan or a city's master plan where it's local and the public has a chance to really steer some of the decision-making," he said. "With this one, the FAA says you have to stay in these lanes: You can comment in this lane, but this is the direction you need to go."

However, public comments of all kinds will be memorialized in the final master plan update document, he said.

So, is the airport expanding?

The physical footprint of the airport is not expanding, port operations director Warren Hendrickson says. In fact, the port is shortening a cross-wind runway to make it safer, he said.

However, the number of operations — both takeoffs and landings at the airport — are expected to increase — but not nearly at the rate some fear. On this point, the master plan update does not help itself: There is a paragraph that says the maximum capacity at the airport is 630 operations per day — 315 landings and 315 takeoffs.

That figure was shared on NextDoor and Commissioner Vasavada jumped in to explain.

"The 630 number is the theoretical maximum runway capacity for any single runway airport in the entire country based on 24/7 operations at the minimum safe separation distance," she wrote. "The 630 number therefore also shows up as part of the FAA-directed methodology in the Port of Olympia's 2013 master plan, and the master plan for any single runway airport."

She goes on to write: "There is no plan for Olympia Regional Airport to turn into a second Sea-Tac."

The airport currently hosts 215 operations, a number that is expected to grow to 232 operations per day by 2040, Hendrickson said.

What about commercial air service?

There currently is no commercial airline service at the airport, although there has been in the past. The last such service, provided by Big Sky Airlines, ended service in 2004, The Olympian previously reported.

Port officials say if they were approached by an airline, they would have to entertain that business as required by the FAA, but it's entirely up to the airline to determine whether they can make money in this market. So far that hasn't happened in two decades.

Hendrickson also pointed out the port dropped a special certification for commercial air service years ago.

"It's called 'part 139' and it's a section of the regulations that says if you're a commercial airport, here's a whole laundry list of things you have to do," Hendrickson said. "We decided not to adhere to that list once Big Sky left in 2004."

It would take about a year to re-establish the certificate, he said.

Commissioner Vasavada said on NextDoor that there are some in the community who would like to see small plane regional air service come to the airport.

"I'm not clear yet on whether that is viable — but I look forward to further discussions and understanding how unleaded fuel, electric aviation and other innovations can mitigate any impacts to surrounding communities," she wrote.

Why not do an environmental impact statement?

The port has issued a mitigated determination of non-significance for the airport master plan under the state Environmental Policy Act, although some residents have called on the port to do an environmental impact statement, the highest level of environmental review.

Shawn Gilbertson, the port's director of environmental planning and programs, explained the process.

"I think it's important to note that the environmental analysis for the airport master plan is really an analysis of what the adoption of the airport master plan does to the environment," he said. "So it's a comparison between what is happening there now and what the airport master plan proposes. It's not a comparison to the airport if it wasn't there."

Still, the port is prepared to do environmental analysis of any new project that comes to the airport.

"That's probably not going to trigger an environmental impact statement," he said about the plan to shorten the cross-wind runway, but a larger project could.

"Adding a 100,000-foot warehouse, and depending on what infrastructure and what they're doing there, yeah," he said.

Still not satisfied by the port's answers?

There's still time to comment and ask questions before the port commission votes in March.

— The comment period for the airport master plan SEPA determination runs through Feb. 20. Send your comments to [email protected].

— A question and answer session on the airport master plan is set for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Percival Plaza Olympics Room, 626 Columbia St. NW, Suite 1B, Olympia.

— The port commission is set to vote on the plan March 24.

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