The City of Seattle is considering development restrictions near South Lake Union to preserve floatplane operations, according to a story in the April 13-19 issue of Puget Sound Business Journal. Kenmore Air operates as many as 100 flights a day, in the busy summer season. Proposed requirements include:
- Establishing a flight corridor southwest of the lake, with buffer zones.
- Setting building heights on a case-by-case basis for properties that are either in or near the flight corridor.
- Making developers perform expensive wind-tunnel tests on models to determine the turbulence their buildings generate on blustery days.
- Limiting the number of new towers along and near the shoreline to reduce the risk of wind turbulence.
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