Children’s Hospital Expansion: Neighborhood Concerns
A bulletin from Children’s Action, September 14, 2007Scope of the Hospital’s Proposal
Children’s Hospital intends to nearly triple its size within a quiet, residential neighborhood.
The Hospital plans to:
Add 1.5 million square feet. Total space would grow from 900,000 to 2.4 million square feet. The hospital’s existing master plan allows an increase of only 250,000 square feet.
Increase building heights to 240 feet. Existing heights range from 37 to 90 feet.
Add two new entrances/exits. These would empty onto residential streets, NE 45th Street and NE 50th Street.
Expand across Sand Point Way. Hospital boundaries would grow to include the Hartmann Building, which would also grow.
Provide 4,000 square feet per bed. 300 sq is the national average for hospitals, as stated by Ruth Benfield, Vice President for Facilities, at the 7/21 Citizens Advisory Council meeting.
Perform 13 continuous years of construction (2009 to 2022)
Absence of Precedents
The Hospital’s proposal is contrary to City policies and inconsistent with height limits for other major institutions.
There are no precedents for such a proposal.
Exceptional zoning. No other institution has proposed an expansion in a single-family zone of the magnitude proposed by Children’s.
Exceptional height. The highest height approved by the City for major institutions in locations similar to Laurelhurst is 105 feet—less than half the 240 feet proposed by Children’s.
Exceptional location. The only institutions allowed a 240 foot height limit are in the First Hill Urban Center Village—an area targeted for increased growth with high-rise and commercial zoning.
Impacts
The Hospital’s growth proposal is not site-appropriate. It would permanently change the character of the Laurelhurst and surrounding communities. Impacts are so severe as to be unmitigatable.
Traffic
2,000 new parking spots will be filled with 2,000 additional cars, many of which will trave; through today’s choke points on Montlake Boulevard and 45th Street in the U-District.
Hospital patients, nurses and parents (not just neighbors) will all face significant hurdles in reaching the hospital due to these traffic bottlenecks and others on nearby highways (520 and I-5).
Construction will coincide with construction on the 45th street viaduct, Husky Stadium Light Rail and likely 520/Montlake/Pacific as well.
New entrances on NE 45th and NE 50th Streets will direct high-volume traffic onto residential streets close to two schools, churches and several pre-schools.
Surrounding roads throughout Sandpoint, Ravenna, View Ridge, Bryant and Sand Point will experience increased congestion.
Safety
Laurelhurst elementary school, three churches, and Laurelhurst Park all extremely close to the hospital. The increased traffic on NE 45th street will be a significant safety hazard to the many children who walk to and from school and catch their school buses on our street.
Air quality, Noise, Light
Many of the adjoining neighborhoods, nearly all of which are residential, will suffer significant degradation in these areas.
Character
Expansion is out-of-scale for the surrounding neighborhoods, including Laurelhurst, Bryant, View Ridge, Ravenna, Sand Point and Wedgwood.
The intensity and building heights proposed are grossly incompatible and out of scale with the low density, low heights and residential character of surrounding neighborhoods.
The inclusion of Hartmann Building in the Overlay would leapfrog the Laurelon Terrace condominiums and other residential properties along 40th Avenue NE, and could put all housing in that section of Laurelhurst and other properties along Sand Point Way at risk of eventually being transferred to the Major Institution Overlay as well.
Lack of Good-Faith
The Hospital has not presented growth plans in a good-faith manner.
The Hospital has:
Offered two proposals of virtually identical scope. These “alternatives” differ in merely the distribution of building heights and the extent of hospital expansion across Sandpoint Way (Hartmann Building).
Rebuffed requests from the community to present moderate alternatives. The LCC asked to present its alternatives at the 9/26 Citizen’s Advisory Committee meeting. The Committee Chair, Karen Wolf, a Bryant resident, unilaterally decided LCC would have 15 minutes. The hospital has presented its plans, for close to an hour, at each of the five previous meetings and the two community-wide meetings. The 9/26 meeting will be the only opportunity for the advisory committee to weigh in on additional alternatives to be reviewed in the environmental impact statement before the October 1st deadline dictated by the Department of Planning and Development.
Broke pre-existing promises about hospital entrances. For over 50 years, the hospital administration has consistently promised that a secondary entrance on NE 45th would never be considered. The new administration team has disregarded this promise and has turned away from a long history of productive partnerships with surrounding neighborhoods.
Failed to update the public record in a timely manner. Specifically, the hospital and the city failed to update public information sources after significant inaccuracies in its proposals were identified by community members. The persistence of these inaccuracies made it difficult to get accurate information out to neighbors within the time permitted for responses to the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) Scope. The extension of this comment period was itself shortened by the City and Hospital’s failures to quickly and publicly announce the extension in a timely fashion. The concept plan incorrectly showed that the existing hospital structure had a height of 90 feet. The actual pre-existing heights should have been listed as much lower: 37, 50, 70 and 90 feet. See http://www.laurelhurstcc.com/issues/CHMC/TH090507.htm
Rebuffed requests for greater public openness. The Laurelhurst Community Club requested that the hospital display its scale model at community center and also meetings be held at neutral location; i.e. Laurelhurst Community Center. The hospital responded that the model could be available on certain dates and times with a hospital representative present. No response from Hospital regarding neutral location. See http://www.laurelhurstcc.com/issues/CHMC/TH082407.htm
Upcoming “240” Event:
Join Neighbors at the 240 Event! Just how high is 240 feet? This is the height of the towers Children's Hospital has proposed for its massive expansion. On Saturday (9/15) at 5:10 pm sharp, a helicopter chartered by a Laurelhurst resident, will fly at 240 feet above the hospital. Its hover height will demonstrate the height of the future hospital towers. Check it out from your house OR join neighbors at the NE 45th Street bus stop and turn-around. This is one of the additional entrances to the hospital Children's is proposing. Media may also be on hand on to witness this fly-over. You don't want to miss this one-time opportunity! Mingle with your neighbors and discuss your concerns. This event is sponsored by the Children's Action: http://childrensaction.blogspot.com/
Informational Web Sites:
Children’s Hospital Proposal:
http://masterplan.seattlechildrens.org/documents/Childrens_Concept_Plan.pdf
Laurelhurst Community Club EIS Scoping Comments:
http://www.laurelhurstcc.com/issues/CHMC/LCC3472ChildrensEychanerScopingComments.pdf
Community Club’s correspondence with the City and Children’s Hospital:
http://www.laurelhurstcc.com/issues/CHMC/CHMC.html
Children’s Action:
http://childrensaction.blogspot.com/
Entities Critical of the Existing Hospital Proposal:
Northeast Community Council
Ravenna-Bryant Community Council
Laurelhurst PTA
Laurelon Condo Association
Numerous individuals who have sent their letters to Scott Ringgold, Land Use Planner for the City’s Department of Planning and Development. Letters are public record.
Contacts:
Children’s Action Coalition: http://childrensaction.blogspot.com/
Contact: coalitioninfo@gmail.com
Laurelhurst Community Club: http://www.laurelhurstcc.com/
President: Jeannie Hale
Department of Neighborhoods:
Steve Sheppard Steve.Sheppard@Seattle.Gov phone 206-684-0302
Department of Planning and Development
Scott Ringgold Scott.Ringgold@Seattle.Gov phone: (206) 233-3856
Children’s Hospital:
Desiree Leigh desiree.leigh@seattlechildrens.org phone 206-987-5269
