Tideflats Subarea Plan Nears Adoption

• Email comments to: cityclerk@tacoma.gov with the subject line “Tideflats Subarea Plan Public Comment”
• Mail comments to: City Clerk’s Office, 733 Market Street, Room 11, Tacoma, WA 98402
• Provide verbal comments at the Public Hearing on October 28, 2025

• Join virtually over Zoom
  • Link to join: https://www.zoom.us/j/85025022611
  • Webinar ID: 850 2502 2611
• Dial to join
  • Call: (253) 215-8782

• Join in person
  • Council Chambers, 747 Market Street, Tacoma, WA 98402
• Join virtually over Zoom
  • Link to join: www.zoom.us/j/89496171192
  • Passcode: 896569
• Dial to join
  • Call: (253) 215-8782
  • Passcode: 896569

Resources for Comment Drafting

• New Habitat Protections: The plan adds long-term protection for critical habitat areas. For example, the “Little Marsh” restoration site (qʷiqʷəlut) will be rezoned into a Seaport Conservancy zone, giving it an extra layer of protection from development. This means more vital wetland area safeguarded for salmon, birds, and future generations. It’s a direct result of public comments pushing to conserve vital ecosystems – a win for biodiversity!
• Preventing New Heavy Polluters: The draft plan cements the hard-fought restrictions on dirty industries. New fossil fuel facilities are banned, and existing ones won’t be able to expand to increase fossil fuel throughput. Likewise, new smelters, coal terminals, mines, and quarries are not allowed in the Tideflats. These disallowed uses mean Tacoma is saying “no thanks” to any new sources of massive pollution. We didn’t get everything (LNG expansion and greenwashed fuels might still pose problems), but the overall direction is firmly toward cleaner industry. This is an environmental and climate win that wouldn’t have happened without community pressure.
• Industrial Buffer Zones: The plan supports creating better buffers between heavy industry and nearby residential areas by establishing “transition zones.” These are areas where existing heavy industrial facilities (which become non-conforming uses) cannot expand if it would increase pollution or hazards. So if a heavy industry sits near a neighborhood, it won’t be allowed to sprawl any further or boost its toxic emissions. This change directly reflects neighbors’ long-standing concerns about industrial sprawl and underregulated emission sources.
• Climate and Restoration Commitments: The Subarea Plan also calls for coordinated investments to restore ecosystems, improve water quality, and protect biodiversity while facilitating industrial development. There are policies for climate resilience (like addressing sea-level rise and flooding) and support for cleaner industries (like green manufacturing and clean energy jobs). We won’t know exactly how effective these commitments will be just yet, but we hope they set the stage for major improvements in our response to local water quality issues.