Let’s Talk About Tacoma’s Tideflats & Port Regulations with Melissa Malott (April 28, 2021)

Crossing Division

Melissa Malott, Executive Director of Citizens for a Health Bay, joins host Evelyn Lopez to discuss the current state of land use in the Tacoma tideflats and port area. This part of Tacoma has been a flashpoint of controversy over the direction and future of our city, especially since residents successfully derailed plans to build the world’s largest methanol refinery on these lands.

The Tacoma Planning Commission was charged with developing a special sub-area zoning plan for the tideflats and to take a closer look at how the lands were being used, and how they could be used to support Tacoma’s future. As part of that process, interim regulations were put in place, and have been reviewed and reinstated every six months. Now, the Planning Commission has proposed “non-interim regulations” that would be the working plans for the tideflats and port area through the rest of the sub-area plan development process.

Melissa explains the positive aspects of the proposed regulations, and where they fall short. These regulations are the critical next step in halting the development of more fossil fuel industry on our waterfront, and slowing the creation of more oil trains, fuel lines, and oil export. If we want a future that is open to new, clean technology, and if we want to commit to a real partnership with the Puyallup Tribe, then these “non-interim regulations” are the next necessary step.

You can still contact your city council member to share your thoughts about how the tideflats are regulated and developed! What is your vision for Tacoma?

You can find more information at www.healthbay.org, and you can email Melissa at [e-mail].

If you have thoughts on this program, or ideas for future episodes, please let us know!

Evelyn Lopez: [e-mail] @TrueTacoma