Laurelhurst
Community Club
Serving 2800 Households in
Public Forum on UW Lease Lid Restrictions
and Noise Ordinance Changes
April 8, 2003
Good evening. My name is Jeannie Hale. I am president of the Laurelhurst Community
Club which represents 2800 households in a neighborhood located in the
University’s primary and secondary impact zones. We are here to oppose elimination of the UW
lease lid and to support the proposed changes to the noise ordinance.
The proposed elimination of the UW
lease lid has been characterized as a means to revitalize The Ave. This is a laudable goal and our community
agrees that it is important to improve public safety and stimulate private
investment in The Ave. But, there is no
assurance that eliminating the longstanding lease lid will accomplish its
intended purposes. We see the following
problems with the proposal:
1.
Elimination
of the UW lease lid will allow University leasing in ALL of the surrounding
communities—Laurelhurst,
2.
The
lease lid proposal eliminates the role of CUCAC in reviewing University leasing.
It would do this in two ways:
Under the proposal, CUCAC would no longer have the authority to review
leasing proposals through the major amendment process outlined in the
City-University Agreement. In addition,
each year, CUCAC reviews the University’s annual report which must include
proposed leasing activities. This
requirement to disclose proposed leasing would be eliminated under the Mayor’s
proposal. The lease lid proposal thus
essentially eliminates any citizen oversight of University expansion into the
surrounding communities.
3.
The
lease lid proposal eliminates a current provision that restricts UW leasing at
street level in commercial zones to certain customer-oriented uses.
A requirement that the University comply with the underlying zoning will
not protect or promote the rich diverseness of The Ave. It will merely serve to displace these uses in
favor of institutional uses.
4.
Blanket
removal of the lease lid will result in piecemeal development:
Northeast Seattle communities have experienced the piecemeal development
that has taken place at
5.
There
is no assurance that eliminating the lease lid would revitalize The Ave.
As noted, the University’s property office has indicated that it intends
to pursue new construction projects and that these projects would not be built
on The Ave. The City’s economic analysis
of the lease lid proposal has not been completed and there is no way of knowing
how the area would be impacted. The only
information that we do know at this time is that there is a critical need for
housing in the University District and an imbalance between jobs and housing in
terms of meeting growth management targets.
It is premature to consider eliminating the lease lid at this time.
6.
The
Council should wait until the current appeal of the UW Master Plan is competed
prior to acting on the lease lid proposal. The petition on
this matter, filed by Laurelhurst and joined by Northeast District Council, the
University District Community Council, University Park Community Club and
Friends of Brooklyn, will address many issues relating to the recently adopted
UW Master Plan. The petitioners have
asked that the University’s land acquisition policies and issues related to the
lease lid, among other issues be included in this review.
We
have outlined only a few concerns with the proposal to eliminate the UW lease
lid. We urge you to work with us to
develop a compromise.
Jeannie Hale, President
525-5135 / fax 525-9631