Proposed Steinbrueck Seattle Center Resolution – 9/16/2003
RESOLUTION __________________
A RESOLUTION stating that the City Council does not support the Seattle Monorail Project’s (“SMP”) preferred alternative through the Seattle Center (known as the Seattle Center/Republican alignment or “Northwest Route”) and encourages the SMP to eliminate this route from consideration and focus their planning efforts on route alternatives that would avoid crossing the Seattle Center campus.
WHEREAS, the Seattle Center campus is a centerpiece of the City’s urban landscape, containing some of the urban core’s most significant green space and most recognizable cultural gathering places, which attracts more than ten million visitors a year; and
WHEREAS, on July 23, 1990, the City Council adopted Resolution 28210 establishing the Seattle Center 2000 Master Plan to guide the redevelopment of the Seattle Center, and updated the Master Plan in 1997, 1998 and 2000 by Resolutions 29635, 29711 and 30244; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Center Master Plan, and subsequent amendments, established a vision for the Seattle Center that places a premium on creating a premier gathering place for the citizens of Seattle, characterized by indoor and outdoor performance spaces that are pedestrian in nature, and where parking and vehicular circulation are kept on the periphery of the campus; and
WHEREAS, the City of Seattle has invested significant time, energy, and funding to realize the vision of the Center’s Master Plan and in developing the Seattle Center’s green space and the venues for the performing arts, among these the recently completed Fisher Pavilion and McCaw Hall; and
WHEREAS, the planning principles guiding the development of the Seattle Center Master Plan identified the International Fountain as a feature of the campus that should be enhanced, and further stated, with respect to the campus, that “vehicular access should not segment the site or undermine the primary pedestrian nature of the site;” and
WHEREAS, on March 24, 2003, Councilmembers Richard Conlin, Nick Licata, and Peter Steinbrueck sent the SMP a letter indicating their concerns regarding the potential impacts of the Northwest Route on the Seattle Center, and requested that the SMP consider analysis of a fourth “southern” route in their environmental analysis of the SMP’s proposed Green Line; and
WHEREAS, on April 29, 2003, Councilmembers Nick Licata and Peter Steinbrueck sent the SMP a letter expressing their concerns about “the impact of an elevated system crossing the (Seattle) Center grounds” and requested that the SMP develop a physical representation of the monorail during one of the summer festivals; and
WHEREAS, the SMP elected not to construct a physical representation, but to rely on scale models and visual representations to convey the impact of the proposed monorail on the Center grounds; and
WHEREAS, citizens, stakeholders, and the organizers of many of the summer festivals, particularly Folklife, Bumbershoot, and Bite of Seattle, have expressed concerns that the proposed Northwest Route will adversely affect the heart of Seattle Center, block stages, diminish the overall experience for visitors and festival goers, and otherwise disrupt festival operations; and
WHEREAS, the International Fountain, and the green space surrounding it, have served as a place of quiet remembrance, used by the citizens of Seattle to memorialize days of historical significance such as the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; and
WHEREAS, the intrusion of a mass transit system into a place that many citizens of Seattle view as a sacred place for quiet remembrance and reflection is an incompatible and inappropriate use; and
WHEREAS, the proposed Northwest Route does not enhance public and pedestrian access to the Center grounds, and the current Fifth and Broad Street (Southeast) station location proposed for the Northwest Route is poorly situated relative to the Seattle Center; and
WHEREAS, on August 20, 2003, the SMP issued their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“DEIS”); and
WHEREAS, the DEIS found that the Northwest Route would have significant impacts to the Seattle Center, including loss of 60 to 70 mature street trees and the trimming of 24 more along Republican Street, and would have significant visual impacts on Republican Street and the surrounding area; and
WHEREAS, the DEIS also found that the Northwest Route would displace 121 to 137 parking spaces (78 on-street and 43 to 59 off-street), require the acquisition of 24 properties (12 full and 12 partial acquisitions), displace 29 residents and 12 to 13 businesses with 197 workers (the largest number of properties, businesses, and workers affected of any of the options) and would also adversely affect 6 significant historic structures either through demolition or visual impacts (again, the largest number of any of the options); and
WHEREAS, the DEIS found that both the Mercer Street and Denny Way alignments have fewer significant adverse visual impacts, impacts on historic structures, and displaced fewer trees, businesses and workers; and
WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes that the SMP is currently engaged in a stakeholder process intended to develop a consensus around an appropriate route to serve the Seattle Center and the Queen Anne/Uptown neighborhood; and
WHEREAS, the City Council respects that process, but believes that the adverse impacts of constructing a monorail line through the Seattle Center outweigh the benefits, including the loss of trees, loss of views, disruption of festivals and other traditional Center events and activities, and the intrusion of an urban mass transit system into one of the City’s few large community green spaces; and
WHEREAS, the Council has received an overwhelming amount of constituent correspondence opposing the Northwest Route; and
WHEREAS, the Council believes that there are alternative routes that would better serve the Center, with fewer adverse impacts on the public and civic domain; and
WHEREAS, the SMP has made clear its desire to expedite the decision-making process and establish certainty in planning for the Green Line; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to RCW 35.95A.050(1), the SMP will have to obtain the consent of the City of Seattle to use City property, including the Seattle Center, for the proposed Green Line.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THAT:
Section 1. The City Council does not support the Seattle Center/Republican “Northwest Route” alignment, which bisects the Seattle Center campus, and urges the SMP to eliminate any such route from further consideration. Furthermore, the City Council urges the SMP to focus its planning efforts on alternative alignments, which have fewer adverse impacts and incorporate station locations preferred by Seattle Center stakeholder groups.
Adopted by the City
Council the _____ day of _______________,
________________________________________
President of the City Council
Filed by me this _____
day of _______________,
________________________________________
City Clerk
(Seal)