The Maple Leaf Community Council Executive Board, an elected body representing over 3,400 homes and businesses in north Seattle’s Maple Leaf neighborhood, announces today a successful outcome for their King County Superior Court case filed as part of an ongoing effort to positively affect development at the site of historic Waldo Hospital. Read the press release here.
The primary focus of both our Hearing Examiner appeal and our appeal to the King County Superior Court was the environmental health danger of the lead dust from demolition of Waldo Hospital. Peer-reviewed researched presented by our community experts at trial showed lead dust from demolition will reach the reservoir, the ballfields in the park, neighboring single-family homes, and school bus stops in the area.
The city placed no meaningful requirements on the demolition, and the judge agreed with our arguments that this was not enough protection under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). He remanded this section of the process back to the City, telling the Hearing Examiner that mitigation like placing the entire building inside a sealed tent before demolition was required before the project can move forward.
Separately, the Maple Leaf Community Council learned in May that Prescott Homes has dropped out and is not longer purchasing the property. We immediately contacted the many people who approached us since July 2006 expressing interest in the property. We had detailed conversations with some, referring them to Camp Fire and their real estate agent.
At this writing (June 2), we believe the leading bidders on the project both want to preserve the building and the trees. The court decision makes that more likely.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND that the lead in the building is not a risk unless the building is taken down. The lead is in the paint and can be sealed so there is no threat to the community or occupants. This kind of sealing has to be done by professionals, but is neither particularly complicated nor expensive. The exterior of the building is in surprisingly good shape, which makes sealing the lead paint much easier.
We have also offered to Camp Fire the help of Maple Leaf community volunteers to mow and weed on the property to make it more presentable to potential buyers. They haven't taken us up on our offer yet, but if they do expect to be hearing from us.
Finally, we have offered to meet with potential buyers and have had phone conversations with two already and Camp Fire's real estate agent. We are committed to keeping the lines of communication open this time so we can put the Waldo Hospital project behind both our organizations in the near future.
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On May 1, Mayor Nickels' Department of Planning and Development (DPD) issued a "Determination of Non-Significance" (DNS) for the proposed project at Waldo Hospital. In the DNS, there was no indication DPD seriously considers Waldo Woods important. They also don't consider the release of toxic demolition dust important. File documents obtained via Public Disclosure Request show the Mayor's DPD broke their own rules to issue the decision on the developer's timeline instead of taking the care necessary to make an intelligent decision. The Maple Leaf Community Council Executive Boards' appeal runs 35 pages. The first 8 pages of the appeal are notable in that they only deal with errors or omissions of fact. These nearly 60 items aren't disagreements or differences of interpretation -- they are factual mistakes and omissions made by DPD while rushing to meet the developer's timelines. Click here to see Maple Leaf's appeal document. This appeal took place in August 2008. The hearing examiner decided against the community, and her decision was appealed to King County Superior Court on March 13, 2009.
The Seattle Times published a guest editorial from the Maple Leaf Community Council about Waldo Woods. We point out that the Mayor has authored Agendas, Initiatives, and Plans. Despite this, we're not saving significant number of trees from the pressure of development. The editorial points out strong leadership will be required to start saving trees, and offers Waldo Woods as a test case to turn the best intentions into reality. You can help by emphasizing this message to the Mayor and City Council, as well as via a letter to the editor to your favorite news outlet. Click here to see some ideas to include in your letter.
Please click the red box to the right (or click here)and sign up for the e-mail list. We will be sending out important information on what you can do to help. The new toxin report mentioned above throws a wrinkle into the mix, but the next step in the City's process is to make a decision on whether to require an EIS.
The Maple Leaf Community Council Executive Board submitted formal comments concerning the proposal and the SEPA environmental checklist submitted by the developer. This document, running about 50 pages, has received high marks from our community, environmental groups, other neighborhoods, and the City. This letter joined over 130 letters written about this project since January 1, 2008 -- and over 150 letters about the project written in 2007. Click here to access this document.
Click here to for a page with links to electronic copies of documents in the DPD file. This includes some photos of the site plans, traffic studies, environmental studies, arborists report, etc. As more information becomes available in electronic format, we will include it here. (Thank you to Maple Leaf volunteers for acquiring the paper documents and scanning them for electronic distribution.)
Anyone can go to the DPD offices downtown and request to see the paper copies of these documents. Just go to the 20th Floor of the Municipal Building and give them the address (8511 15th Ave NE) and they will get you the file.
Updated documents will be posted as soon as we are able to retrieve and digitize the paper copies placed on file downtown. We will send out an e-mail to the e-mail list (click the red box to the right to sign up for the list) when the updates are posted on this web site. Or, you can just click here periodically and check the bottom of the page to see if anything has been added.
On March 10, the MLCC sponsored a meeting to discuss what traffic and pedestrian mitigations are required should this proposed development go through as planned. About 50 Maple Leaf neighbors attended and consensus was reached on several items. Click here to read more about what items did and did not achieve consensus. to read the developer's response.
We've compiled a page with facts about the development and its potential effects on the environment. Click here to get some ideas for letters or other comments.
Development will happen at the Waldo Hospital site. We’re working together to have a positive effect on the development plans. There are three easy things you can do to help:
Click here to e-mail Save Waldo committee head David Miller |