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May 9, 2002 Dear Olympia City Council: I am shocked to learn that the Planning Commission is recommending a change in zoning for the Waterfront Area. This precious resource to our community and the state should be preserved as open space, to be enjoyed by all citizens. The city has a commitment to sustainability and livability. Walling off the waterfront with five to seven story buildings is counter to all previous planning. We all love Percival Landing because we can see and enjoy the water and the dome and the Olympics. Please don't make our new gateway as congested as an inner city. Look at the example of Portland, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Victoria. They all have extensive waterfronts lined with parkland, running and bicycle paths, and other enjoyable public areas. They have not ruined their waterfront by selling out to developers, and neither should Olympia. Before any decision is made, the public must be allowed a visioning process. What happened to the precedent of a charette as used in planning for the bridge or the citizen advisory used for the West Bay area? We need a similar process for public input for this area. When I show the proposed plans to friends and neighbors, I am consistently met with looks of shock and disgust. No one wants the Waterfront destroyed by high-rise buildings. Downtown housing is an excellent goal; it just doesn't belong on 4th and 5th Avenue between Columbia and the bridge.
Dorothy Gist |