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Tall-building plan draws complaints and secret meetings
May 20, 2008
Seattle residents recently accepted that caps on downtown building heights might stifle growth and encourage sprawl. City council members cleared the way legally for more growth in 2006. However, the inhabitants of, and business owners in, South Lake Union, which sits next to the Denny Regrade, an area that Seattle growth advocates have been trying to make more urban for 100 years, are beginning to complain.
To everyone's surprise the Regrade area is finally growing taller and new proposals for 300- and 400-foot-tall buildings near Lake Union are creating a stir.
"It's scandalous, what's happening in South Lake Union," said Peter Buck, an attorney representing Pacific Retirement Services, a South Lake Union property owner concerned with increased heights. Buck was very upset when he spoke on the record with the Seattle Times. Of course his client is concerned about their views being blocked and presumably views are what a retirement services operation sells.
Buck's commentary obviously concerned some people because Tuesday's meeting was closed to the public and press when the issues became serious. The SLUFAN (South Lake Union Friends and Neighbors) board attempted to suppress open discussion through the use of the ubiquitous "executive session."
Members are expected to vote next month on which proposals will be included in an environmental impact statement, which would determine environmental, traffic, shading and other impacts of an upzone. Mayor Greg Nickels will choose the final proposal.
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