Figure: Hanbu
The Sound Transit Commission held a special workshop last week to discuss the multibillion-dollar project that plans to provide a light rail connection between West Seattle and Ballard. These routes will travel to and from numerous Seattle neighborhoods, including the Chinatown-International District (CID).
A final decision on the project is expected next year. But CID residents and businesses fear it’s happening too quickly.
Uwajimaya sent a 10-page letter — signed by Denise and Miye Moriguchi and Kenneth Louie — asking Sound Transit to extend the deadline and spend more time working with community stakeholders to study the impact.
It pointed to insufficient environmental impact analysis in terms of connectivity, property acquisition and relocation, air quality, noise, and impact on historical and cultural resources.
“The CID station area is the only station area in the West Seattle and Ballard Connectivity Expansion (WSBLE) project corridor that is densely populated by communities of color,” said Uwajimaya. The majority of CID residents are Chinese, but there are also a sizable Vietnamese, Korean and Filipino Resident Community.
“Sound Transit should choose an alternative that considers and addresses these equity concerns, and avoids choosing an alternative that would create greater disparities and further harm this historically underresourced community.
Sound Transit’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) proposes two alternatives – the Fourth Avenue Alternative, the Shallow (CID-1a) and Deeper Alternatives (CID-1b), and the Fifth Avenue Alternative Scheme, shallow (CID-2a), shallow diagonal (CID 2a) and deep options (CID-2b).
Uwajimaya wrote: “Although DEIS did not identify a preferred alternative, environmental analysis indicated that Sound Transit did not explicitly favor the shallow Fifth Avenue alternative, particularly the CID-2a diagonal alternative. Skewed analysis confirms this, the The analysis underestimates the relative benefits of the Fourth Avenue alternative while downplaying the adverse effects of the Fifth Avenue alternative. Although we believe DEIS has not adequately analyzed the environmental impact of any CID alternative, the information provided to date confirms that Fifth Avenue The Avenue Alternative would once again marginalize this important minority community.”
Here are other excerpts from Uwashimaya’s letter:
Property Acquisition and Relocation
DEIS failed to adequately assess property acquisition and relocation impacts. DEIS noted that the 5th Avenue Shoals alternative would result in the acquisition of 16-19 properties. But it did not clarify or take into account that some of these properties are located in CID’s cultural center and are owned by people of color.
During construction of the CID station, the historic Chinatown gate will be covered for protection. The symbolism of Sound Transit to literally cover up the historic Chinatown gate so that it could acquire CID property from people of color and strip this unique community of its historic identity would be a major misstep and our historic public A repeat of the project bug urges Sound Transit not to do it.
air quality
DEIS failed to analyze the impact of air quality on CID as required by federal regulations.
A 2020 CID Healthy Communities Action Plan study shows that people living and working in CID are less healthy than those in other neighborhoods in Seattle and King County and live an average of seven years shorter than most affluent neighborhoods.
With this unfair shot, we expect Sound Transit to exceed the requirements to study the air quality of this vulnerable population already experiencing significant health disparities.
noise
DEIS also failed to adequately assess the impact of noise on CID communities. DEIS lists analyzed Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Category 1 and Special Building Noise Sensitive Receivers.
This listing does not include any properties within the CID, but the entire “Seattle Chinatown Historic District” is considered a special use worthy of “special consideration.”
According to the FTA Transit Noise and Vibration Impact Assessment Manual, “Historic Sites” require “special consideration”. A “Historic Site” is defined to include any historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. The “Seattle Historic Chinatown” was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 and includes much of what is commonly referred to today as the CID.
Therefore, it is necessary to specifically analyze the impact of noise on the “Seattle Historic Chinatown”.
historical and cultural resources
DEIS notes that the CID is listed as a National Historic District, with many historic buildings and spaces. DEIS then acknowledged in a few short paragraphs that all CID alternatives would adversely affect CID’s historical resources, and that acknowledgment was the scope of the analysis. DEIS has not assessed the nature of these impacts on the historical vitality of the CID community or any other meaningful questions that should have been addressed in this context. This omission is especially concerning when dealing with historically unique and marginalized communities.
required course of action
Therefore, we are asking Sound Transit to defer the selection of the preferred alternative and work with key community stakeholders to conduct a more comprehensive assessment of the impact of the CID alternative and provide more meaningful and specific mitigations.
Additionally, we urge Sound Transit to incorporate more coordinated and inclusive planning into the CID alternative. Specifically, Sound Transit should address the community’s vision for the Jackson Hub. The Jackson Hub concept plan was finalized in March 2019 through a coordinated effort by the Pioneer Square Alliance, the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority, and Historic South Downtown. The coalition sought input from a number of government agencies, including Sound Transit. Based on community input and feedback, the coalition developed a vision for the Jackson Junction as an active and popular pedestrian transit center, providing the missing link between the CID, Pioneer Square and the numerous transit corridors scattered throughout the area.
Similar to WSBLE, the purpose of the Jackson Hub is to provide connectivity and enhance community vitality. Yet DEIS has been surprisingly silent about coordinated planning to realize the Jackson Hub vision.
CID is a unique and precious community that deserves special consideration. We thank Sound Transit for continually expanding and listening to this community, as it is only through a deep understanding and meaningful engagement with this community that Sound Transit can make the right decisions.
