The meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM.

Attending: Bonnie Zinn, Kate Lloyd, Susan Torrance, Jean Colley, Mimi Levin, Mark Holden, Jennifer Biely, Maggie Weissman, Heather Newman, John Clark, Joseph Herrin, Don Torrie, Jeannie Hale, Todd Cahill, Pat Wright, John Burge, Shahina Piyarali, Mark Trumbauer, Stan Sorscher

Excused: Ragee

Guests: Charles Chong, Geof Logan, Pike Place Market Constituency, Karen Ho (arrived at 8:30)

Charles Chong and Geof Logan led a discussion about a hotel planned to be built on the hillside below the Pike Market on the west side of Western Ave. The height of the development could obstruct views from the market. The City owns the property, but the Market Charter could be amended to permit sale of the land. Public Development Authority (PDA) would control some elements of the development. The discussion included means for mobilizing public involvement through the City Council and PDA. The goals included retaining strong public interest in the development.

Three options are currently being considered, but the message of public involvement would be to allow more time, and consider different plans that would preserve public ownership, and protect views from the Market.

Minutes: Minutes for the April 14, 2003 and May 12, 2003 meetings were reviewed. Motion: Lloyd moved that the April minutes be approved. Seconded by Holden. Motion passed unanimously. Motion: Cahill moved that the May minutes be approved. Seconded by Newman. Motion passed unanimously.

Dues Update/Treasurer’s Report: The current LCC balance is a little over $75,000. This year’s dues recorded to date have been about $35,000 – 777 checks. We could consider setting up a tax deductible organization as an incentive to neighbors who would deduct their dues for income tax purposes.

CALLS AND CONCERNS

Graffiti: Ragee reported that there has been an increased level of graffiti in the neighborhood. The wall behind the Spiger Building has been tagged. Newman has been in touch with Ron’s Texaco.

Batting Cage: LCC has received a number of emails on the Little League batting cage proposal for the Playfield. Copies of the emails and a letter from Doug Armintrout supporting the project as proposed are included in the packets. Wally Keyer from the Advisory Council called on 5/24/03 to alert LCC to potential noise impacts on nearby neighbors. Steve Davy emailed on 6/07/03 to express his support for LCC’s position on the batting case and sponsoring a Little League team.

ANNOUNCEMENTS (See NEDC announcement handout in the member organization packet.)

Absent: Ragee could not attend tonight’s meeting due to a conflict with a class she is taking.

Thank You! Thanks to Heather Newman and Kate Lloyd for assisting in distribution of this month’s trustee packets.

Thank You! Special thanks to Bonnie Zinn for drafting LCC’s letter on the Cornelian cherry tree issue.

REPORTS/ACTION

Colley: Colley announced she will not seek re-election to the Board. She has enjoyed serving on the Board; more as time has passed. She is pleased that the Board’s scope and perspective have matured and opened to include more city-wide issues. She believes that letters and statements have limited effect, and we might need to consider running candidates for elected positions. She is happy to help continue the work of the LCC, but the regular meetings have become too time-consuming.

Crime Prevention:

Wright reported that the North Precinct Advisory Committee will skip its July meeting. Police patrols at the park have been working well. Diane Horswell reported several false alarms from home security systems. These consume scarce police resources. School emphasis teams assigned to high schools have been successful, and communication with parents is improving. The noise ordinance is still under review. George Horzapfel is looking at the Police budget.

Renewal of Membership in the Friends of Laurelhurst Elementary School Foundation: The Spring School Friends newsletter is included in the packets. Renewal of membership costs $25, although LCC has contributed an additional sum in the past. Motion: Lloyd moved that LCC contribute $100 to the Friends of Laurelhurst Elementary School Foundation. Seconded by Clark. Motion passed with all in favor except Biely who abstained.

Annual Meeting Planning:

Sand Point Housing: The issue involving whether the next phase of housing at Magnuson Park for people with mental health problems includes resident managers has not been resolved. NEDC postponed a decision as to whether a letter should be written supporting funding until additional information is provided.

Clark reported that about $1 million has been allocated for the project, so far, principally from the City. The Community Psychiatric Council sponsors transitional housing in projects around the City. They will be active in the Sand Point project. Typically, transitional housing has a 2-year maximum. This group has had 100% success in housing placement. Skills training and drug monitoring are part of the program.

Hale suggested a letter of support on condition that resident manager be provided in the project. The Board indicated approval of such a letter.

Batting Cage Update: In March 2003, LCC endorsed the Little League proposal to install a batting cage at the third base side in the Playfield. The batting cage was supposed to be installed by the end of March, but as it turned out the Parks Department had not followed its public involvement process in seeking public input. About 33 neighbors attended a public meeting on the project on Thursday, May 29th. It was unanimous at the meeting that everyone supported installation of a batting cage.

An issue came up as to where the cage should be installed. Little League proposed the 3rd base area on the north side of the diamond as this is an optimal flat area. It was suggested at the meeting that the cage be relocated to the 1st base area to minimize noise impacts upon nearby neighbors. The problem with that location is that it is not a flat area and is shaded. The shading means that the area would be muddy the first part of the season.

Comments from neighbors on the project are included in the packets. All of the comments reflect support for the original Little League proposed location. We have heard comments about traffic and the pinging noise of bats hitting the balls. LCC has not heard from the Advisory Council. The Parks Department is expected to decide today on the project. The cage may be installed for the in time for the end of the season, or possibly in time for the All-Stars or playoffs.

Goose Kill: The Canada goose population in Seattle parks is down by about 75 percent from three years ago, when the City hired federal wildlife agents to round up and kill thousands of the birds to control their numbers. This practice has continued each year and is scheduled to resume in the next couple of weeks.

What happens is that during the molting season when Canada geese lose their flight feathers and are unable to fly, agents lure the geese and babies onto the backs of trucks where gas chambers have been installed.

The problem is what to do with the abundance of geese. Each goose leaves behind as much as three pounds of do-do each day, creating slippery and unsanitary areas and health risks. Opponents of the gassing—the Humane Society and PAWS—advocate more humane methods to control the goose population. These groups cite evidence that killing geese is both an ineffective and expensive method of controlling the population of Canada geese in Seattle parks and have offered the assistance of 60 trained volunteers to implement effective non-lethal solutions.

Possible alternatives include addling the eggs or letting the grass grow longer, which keeps the geese out of the area.

City officials are again proceeding with plans to round up and kill thousands of birds this summer.

A petition was circulated for interested trustees to sign.

UW Lease Lid: Councilmember Licata has come with a compromise on the UW lease lid. The compromise would provide a generous increase in allowable leasing square footage—from the current 550,000 square feet to 750,000 square feet. This would allow the UW sufficient growth for the next five year. To encourage much needed housing in the area, an exemption to the lease lid would be provided for new development projects that include a housing component of 30% floor area for the life of the building. To promote revitalization of The Ave, unlimited leasing would be allowed in the vacant upper floors of building. Finally, to protect existing affordable and low income housing, new leasing would not be permitted where it would result in the “demolition of structures with residential uses or change of use of those structures to non-residential uses unless comparable replacement is proposed to maintain the housing stock of the city,” a requirement imposed upon other major institutions. The UW remains unwilling to compromise in any way. Councilmembers Drago and Nicastro had also come up with a compromise, but caved into the demands of the University. The measure passed out of committee totally eliminates the lease lid, provides no protection to single-family neighbors and no safeguards to protect housing.

Some Council members are talking about a re-vote. Torrance reported that her impression from the CUCAC meetings is that UW is not interested in public accountability, and she hears similar sentiments from others involved in the process. University facilities will likely migrate westward toward I-5. Council members Pageler and Steinbrueck indicated that UW is able to drive outcomes. Dan Evans had spoken to the LCC Board, and we asked if he had acted on our request to seek compromise. Torrance was not aware of progress in that respect.

NEDC Renewal: It’s time for LCC to renew its membership in NEDC. A rep and alternate are needed. Newman expressed interest in attending NEDC meetings.

Community Summit: A program from the May 29th Community Summit is included in the agenda packets. Sorscher and Hale attended this highly successful event that attracted approximately 140 people. The event received widespread media attention and is available for viewing on the Seattle Channel.

The Board returned to the subject of the hotel development at the Pike Market.

Motion: Sorscher moved that the Board take a position in favor of an open public process, allowing time to consider alternatives that would preserve views from the Market. Further, the Board’s position favored a clear public process be defined and followed regarding the sale of property for the project. Seconded by Weissman. Motion passed unanimously.

Torrie: Five concerts plus the Salmon Bake are scheduled for the Park. These events are very popular and everyone is welcome.

Holden: What is the status of the appeal to the Growth Management Board? The City filed a motion to dismiss. A decision is possible by September.

Meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM

Minutes by Stan Sorscher