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Olympia, Washington 98501 May 15, 2002
The Olympia City Council Honorable Mayor Biles and City Council Members, Here is a community VISION FOR THE WATERFRONT which I hope you will take to heart: We should keep the zoning we have. The simple reason: Three story building are shorter than five, six and seven story buildings. The complex reason: The open feeling of the waterfront with low buildings is appropriate on a human scale and is most enjoyable. PARKING / PUBLIC ACCESS Surface parking can be available on evenings and weekends. When Heritage Park and Capitol Lake plans are completed—and the population grows—the recreational demand will be greater than ever. We should not foreclose public access. Parking lots protect views because people can see over them to the mountains, the Capitol, the water, the sailboats, and the trees on the hillsides of Budd Inlet, the southernmost tip of Puget Sound. Even the sky overhead gives a sense of place, of linkage as you cross the water. If the parking could be landscaped like the beautiful community center parking lot which we fought so hard to save, it will be a welcoming asset. Cherry trees, planter boxes, hanging baskets along 4th and 5th streets would create a beautiful gateway to historic downtown Olympia. TRAFFIC / OFFICE BUILDINGS / ALTERNATIVES Office buildings may not be great, but they will not generate nearly as much traffic as housing in the most congested area in town. Places to rent bicycles, paddle boats, kites and kayaks would be nice. A Saturday market like Portland’s would be even nicer. NEIGHBORS / DOWNTOWN HOUSING What we DO NOT want is a neighborhood of massive condos built sidewalk to sidewalk. These could be legally built up to 70 feet tall with no landscaped edging as a transition to Heritage Park. Everyone favors downtown housing, but the vast majority want it to be in locations away from the waterfront we all share. We DO NOT want a neighborhood with all the concerns neighborhoods have where We now have Common Ground. PUBLIC EVENTS We DO NOT want Lakefair to be driven out. The parade marchers disburse into existing parking lots, leaving their regalia in vehicles parked to receive it, after the parade. As for food booths, the community’s loss and the loss of community working together will be incomparable. We DO NOT want to schedule performances and concerts to end at 9 p.m. in the amphitheater planned for Heritage Park in order not to disturb the neighbors. We DO NOT want to schedule events only on certain days. Nor do we want private events on condo balconies to compete with public events. THREAT TO HERITAGE PARK FUNDING Large scale public events—and we have quite a few already—will be infinitely harder to put on if a neighborhood is dropped into the middle of Heritage Park. And, future funding could be jeopardized. Legislators from other districts argue that it’s just another park for Olympia. The counter argument has been "No, it’s a venue for statewide events." But if this goes through, they will say, "We told you so." Something to think very seriously about if a convention center is built. TOURISM / VIEW-SHED / STANLEY PARK Other cities like Kent and Redmond resort to hiring publicists to come up with promotional slogans like "Connecting for Success" and "Ahead of the Curve." We don’t have to; we have a veritable wildlife refuge with both fresh and salt water right downtown, not to mention the monumental state capitol and views of not one, but two national parks. We have world class public waterfront of the caliber of Vancouver B.C.’s Stanley Park. We should be planning for view-shed protection and a city scenic drive. We should not squander what we have. PROPERTY TAX WAIVER And lastly, we DO NOT want to cover the property taxes that will be waived for condo owners for 10 years. Indignant? Yes, we are. We’ve made a huge public investment in the area. It is in the public interest to retain what view protections we have with 35 foot height limits and to assure maximum public access at all hours of the day and night. I thoroughly understand the goals and reasoning of the planners, but I do not find their arguments persuasive. It will not be easy to choose between the voices of many good people who care deeply about this community, but the general public DOES NOT WANT urban waterfront housing. It will override the public interest. I hope you will rethink this important housing question and reject this rezone request. Respectfully submitted, Sue Lean |