With two big meetings at City Hall coming up in the next week regarding the plan for Fort Lawton, the Magnolia Neighborhood Planning Council is attempting to slow down or stop the process.
They have submitted a request to the City of Seattle, the Mayor and the City Council seeking an extension of the proceedings, along with a request for a stay in the legislative process the City Council is engaged in to approve a plan for the Army base.
They claim there are a number of problems with the plan being considered and the City ignored the directives of the Discovery Park Master Plan which designates that all former Fort Lawton property becomes part of the park. They also accuse the sity of conducting an “anti-NIMBY campaign” against citizens concerned about the fate of the property.
The Army Reserve Center at the corner of 36th Ave. West and West Government Way will be closing by 2011. Under the plan being considered, Fort Lawton could be redeveloped with existing buildings on site converted to a outpatient Veterans Administration Mental Health Clinic, 55 senior units for chronically homeless Native Americans, 30 townhomes for homeless Native American families, 6 units for Habitat for Humanity and 125 market rate single family homes and townhomes for a total of 216 new units of housing.
Here is part of the note we received today:
Dear Friends of Magnolia,
I’d like to personally ask you to contact the Mayor and City Council and tell them that you support an extension and a stay in the proceedings. There is to be a first city council vote on this matter this Thursday (9/18), at noon when the housing committee is voting to pass the redevelopment plan to the full city council, so it is important to get send notes of support prior to that time, and then again next week, prior to September 22nd.
Elizabeth Campbell/Magnolia Neighborhood Planning Council
You can contact Elizabeth at 206-769-8459 or via email at info2@magnolianpc.com. If you want to share your opinions on this prior to the meetings, email Council President Richard Conlin at Richard.Conlin@seattle.gov.
