May 16, 2002

After reading a great deal of material on the proposed changes to the downtown Olympia height limits and hearing testimony at the Planning Commission public hearing, it seems to me that we need to take a step back and create a process that allows citizens to develop a vision for downtown that would be the basis for how the downtown is zoned and how it will be developed.

Decisions that are being made will have an impact on the downtown for the next 75 or more years. While there has been some opportunity for citizen input to both the Planning Commission and soon the City Council, public testimony really provides only sound bites of opinion.

What I'd like to see is a more deliberative process that allows more citizens the chance to say how they want the downtown to look and then develop the policies and ordinances that get us there.

Surely this issue is important enough to warrant a measured look at our future.

Jeanne L. Koenings, Olympia