Two state legislators gave hundreds a reason to cheer at anti-Airport City Hall in Graham on Friday night.

Rep. Jake Faye, a Tacoma Democrat who chairs the House Transportation Committee, told the crowd that he was impressed by the participants in the crowded common area of ​​Graham Kapowcin High School. Over 500 people have signed the visitor log.

“I don’t think I need to be here tonight,” he said.

Faced with the prospect that any of three Greenfield sites (two in Pierce County and one in Thurston County) could potentially house the region’s next major airport, a myriad of issues Faye reveals that she is against having facilities near people who have been organizing. She opposed the state-led site selection process for months.

He cited concerns detailed by others on Friday, including potential impacts on the Nisqually River Basin, air pollution, infrastructure issues and conflicts with land use policies on growth management. This event was organized by the Coalition Against Graham and Eatonville-Roy Airports.

“I can’t find a good reason to pursue this any further with these three sites,” said Fey, garnering one of the loudest cheers of the night.

He and Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, were among several lawmakers in attendance working on Dent’s bill, due to be introduced by the end of next week, which he said would restart the site selection process. I’m in. It has been the mandate of the state-created Commercial Aviation Coordinating Committee since 2019.

“What happened here is wrong,” Dent said, adding that his law would add various parameters to the process.

Fey said the commission’s current timeline of recommending one site by June will be voided and will take effect immediately.

Outside City Hall, activists and others detailed strong concerns about the airport’s impact on flooding, salmon and wetlands, and described potential trade killers related to federal restrictions on conflicting development near military installations. People said they were encouraged by what they heard.

Roy resident Bruce Leonard, 68, recalls similar waves of opposition, meetings and commitments in the mid-1990s when the community rallied against a proposal for a nearby landfill. That final green light put him on pause as to what would happen at the airport deliberations.

“I’ve heard the same thing about garbage dumps, but this one is much bigger than a garbage dump,” he said.

Mark and Renee Fisher said they were somewhat hopeful because they saw engagement not only from the community, but from the wider coalition. I said I only heard about it months ago.

“I had no idea it was here,” said Renee Fisher.