Seattle Interbay Industrial Plan Is Dead

Ray Dubicki reflects on the Ballard Interbay Northend Manufacturing Industrial Center plan, which he says is outdated and essentially dead.

"The plan has failed. Its underlying assumptions are no longer viable, the many basis for its proposals changed, and its sunset passed. But since no new plan has replaced it and several parallel processes have referenced it, the BINMIC remains in place like the rusting hulk of a derelict boat polluting the Ship Canal," he writes.

Dubicki says that the mobility recommendations in the plan clearly highlight how it is no longer relevant. While other city and regional planning documents still reference the BINMIC, he argues that the time has come to let go of the "zombie plan."

"If a plan does not work, is not working, and has not worked, it’s our job to recognize that. Dragging along the carcass of a failed plan does real harm to the health of the city by impairing the function of institutions that manage growth and by overwhelming neighborhoods and infrastructure that have prepared for growth," concludes Dubicki.