136 Laurelon Condos: Hospital's "Long-Term Play"

Puget Sound Business Journal, on 9/27/07:

"Laurelon, Melzer said, 'is a long-term play.'"

Now the cat comes out of the bag. The hospital’s “long-term play” is to eliminate a vital piece of our community: 136 of the most affordable housing units in the neighborhood.

According to SMC 23.69.032, the Master Planning Process is designed to ensure "livability and vitality of adjacent neighborhoods," while allowing some atypical growth of the institution.

Gobbling up 136 condos does not maintain livability by any stretch of the imagination.

The article just missed the Hospital’s in-process purchase of house #2 across the street. This is not a "super mitigation strategy," as Melzer claims. It is a way to silence dissent and avoid dealing with "livability and vitality.”

Excerpts, with emphasis added:

Children's high-rise plans worry its neighbors

by Peter Neurath

To meet the health-care needs of the growing number of children in this region, Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center plans to add up to 400 more beds and thrust upward to some 14 floors, 240 feet above ground level.…

Does this planned expansion presage a time when the hospital will burst beyond its boundaries and buy up residential properties?

In a limited way, that process has already begun.

Bordering Children's Hospital on the west is the Laurelon Terrace, a 5.5-acre parcel with trees, shrubs and 20 garden-style buildings, mostly two stories, filled with 136 condominiums. (One is owned by this reporter.)

For now, Children's has indicated it will offer to buy Laurelon condos once the Laurelon's board has had time to consider its options and present a proposal. The board has hired The Buck Law Group to devise a plan and approach Children's with a proposal protecting the interests of the condo owners.

But 20 or 30 years from now, if the hospital owns enough Laurelon buildings, it might site its next facility there, said Dr. Sanford Melzer, senior vice president in charge of Children's' strategic planning and business development.

Laurelon, Melzer said, "is a long-term play."

...The hospital recently purchased one Laurelhurst home across the street from its Northeast 45th Street entrance.

Melzer said that as "a super mitigation strategy" for adjacent residents who are so unhappy with the hospital, Children's is willing to buy their homes.

"We bought one house in July and have talked to a couple other people," he said.

Building Questions

Amended Statement to the Citizen's Advisory Committee, Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center.
Prepared and Presented by a Concerned Neighbor, Published With Permission
September 26, 2007

At the August 23 scoping meeting, hospital administrators showed the projected need for more beds over the next 20 years. However, they failed to discuss the key question that should concern us most:

**WHERE should these beds be located TO BEST SERVE THE CHILDREN of the entire region?

There are compelling reasons why development of a second hospital campus outside of Seattle would better serve the region's children and their families:

1. The cost of constructing new buildings on the site of, in fact right on top of, existing buildings is substantially greater than the cost of building on an unoccupied site - the cost could be tripled. How many more needy patients could be served with better equipment and personnel by using the hundreds of millions of dollars thereby saved?

2. What is to happen to the existing hospital buildings during the 20-year construction? Will these be demolished, resulting in an actual loss of beds during the construction period? Or will the existing beds be relocated to another site? - if such a relocation is deemed satisfactory for the next 20 years, surely it should be satisfactory on a permanent basis. Or, if the existing buildings will remain open during construction, what will be the health impacts of the construction noise and dust on the young patients and their families?

3. Also, has anyone thought seriously about the tremendous stress that 20 years of almost continuous major construction will place on the hospital staff itself? Place yourself in the shoes of a doctor, nurse, or other hospital employee trying to deliver delicate health care on a major construction site - perhaps battle-hardened Army medics will be needed? In addition to the dust and noise, think of the already-long working hours made longer by a grid-locked commute to a major construction site - does the Hospital really want to create an overtired, overstressed medical staff that already does its best to care for the most critically ill young patients? Certainly recruitment and retention of first-rate medical personnel will be much more difficult under these circumstances, compounded by the demand-driven inflation of their housing costs in the tight Seattle housing market. Furthermore, patients' families will think twice before sending their needy young children to such an unfavorable construction environment, so from a purely business viewpoint, what will this do to the Hospital's crucial bottom line? Once again, logic dictates that construction of a second campus, which will leave the present campus untouched and tranquil, is in the best interests of both the patients and the medical staff.

4. It is well known that young patients do best when their families and friends can be constantly present at their bedside, so why site new beds in this overcrowded, often grid-locked corner of Seattle, seriously compromising the access of these families to their children? Put the new beds where the new patients will be, such as the East Side, Snohomish, Everett, Marysville. (Just today the University of Washington announced that it has narrowed consideration for the site of its new campus to Snohomish County, the area of greatest projected growth.) This will benefit those who matter most – the young patients their families, and the hospital medical personnel and staff.

(At the scoping meeting we heard that children's hospitals in other cities, faced with similar population growth, have chosen to decentralize and build second campuses in the areas of most rapid growth - so why should this region not do the same?)

Surely these and other critical questions should be discussed and evaluated by an impartial panel of experts in a public forum before any final decision is made.

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A few reasons why construction cost may triple if building occurs on top of the existing hospital buildings:

1) Complexity of integrating new structure with existing structure.
2) Upgrading existing structures to meet new building codes, seismic requirements, etc.
3) Working off hours - weekends, evening. Overtime.
4) Limited access to the site (difficulty of craning around existing buildings)
5) Remodel is ALWAYS more expensive thatn new construction.
6) Strict air quality and noise control requirements due to continuing hospital operations
7) Transportation costs to bring workers to current site (no parking available for them).

97 Concerned Neighbors Stacked to the Rafters

How many land use experts receive a raucous STANDING-O from a bunch of mild-mannered parents? Last night, Carol Eychaner, a well-respected planning expert, brought down the house with her blistering review of the Hospital’s “Towering” plan.

Community Alternative. At the end of the day, the Citizen’s Advisory Committee finally put community concerns on the table. It voted unanimously in favor of evaluating the Community’s Proposed Alternative in the Hospital’s EIS. We sincerely hope it isn’t so hard for community ideas to get on the agenda (and into the room) in the future.

Hospital’s Real Needs Revealed. Carol Eychner’s testimony brought down the house. Jaws dropped when she reported the position of the State Department of Health, the entity responsible for forecasting and regulating hospital beds. The DOH has ruled that Children’s Hospital needs only 65 additional beds over the time period under debate. The hospital’s proposal says it needs 250-300 more. Carol gave solid figures for how 65 beds could be added to the current site using the existing growth space already approved under the existing Master Plan (250,000 additional square feet).

“Equitable Distribution.” Recently, Children’s Hospital actually filed a complaint that the DOH has unwisely approved another hospital’s request for Too Many Beds in One Place. So 175 new beds for the rapidly-growing Eastside is unreasonable? Huh? Why does Children’s Hospital object to expansion of care throughout our region? Is the hospital looking out for its patients or its ego?

Packed House. 97 neighbors + over 25 Committee Members & Staff made for one tight fit in the Hospital’s preferred meeting “room” (a.k.a. sardine can). Kudos to the 40+ folks who survived the meeting on their feet. A frustrated pack of neighbors never even made it into the room or onto our head count-- the hospital staff turned them away. One man reportedly waited for 2 hours in the hallway until he was finally permitted into the meeting. Community pleas for a larger, accessible venue (the new Community Center or the Elementary School) had been turned down by the City, Hospital and CAC Board Chair.

Carol’s words followed a long series of thoughtful, well-researched comments by community members. Commentators were unanimously supportive of the hospital’s mission and aghast at the hospital’s short-sighted proposal.

We are heartened by the exceptional community involvement and growing receptiveness of the CAC to community concerns.

Meeting Today: Represent Your Concerns!

Next Steps: Share your views during the public comment period at the September 26^th Citizens Advisory Committee meeting. The meeting is from 6-8 p.m. in Room W3747 of the Whale Building at Children’s Hospital TODAY. Support study of the LCC alternatives.

Background: Children’s is proposing to add 1.5 million square feet of development, increase building heights from terraces of 37, 50, 70 and 90 feet to 240 feet, expand its boundaries across Sand Point Way and add two new entrances on NE 45^th and NE 50^th Streets.

Where we are in the process: The City has now completed its “Scoping Report” on Children’s proposed expansion plans. This is where the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) considered comments from the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), several community organizations, including the Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC), and over 250 individuals and households about other alternatives that deserve study in the environmental impact statement (EIS) and what environmental impacts need to be mitigated. The next step is preparation of the preliminary draft EIS and draft master plan.

Will other alternatives be considered? In its Scoping Report, DPD has requested that Children’s prepare one or more additional alternatives with lower building heights. This is good news, but few specifics are provided. There are no recommendations regarding the contested new entrances on NE 45^th and NE 50^th.

Where is the CAC on alternatives and other matters? In its comments, the CAC has recommended a greater range of alternatives for evaluation in the environmental impact statement (EIS). The CAC also recommended greater attention to evaluating the effects of the two new proposed entrances on NE 45^th and NE 50^th Streets, including consideration of internal circulation patterns that might eliminate the need for the two proposed new entrances. There have been issues with the CAC regarding meeting location, agenda preparation and availability of Children’s model at the Laurelhurst Community Center.

Speak up at the September 26^th CAC meeting

The CAC is required to participate directly in the formulation of the master plan to ensure that the concerns of the community and the institution are considered. Please urge the CAC to:

1. Support study of the LCC alternatives in the EIS: Ask the CAC to write a follow-up letter to DPD and the Department of Neighborhoods (DON) requesting that LCC’s alternatives be studied. LCC has proposed three alternatives. One would retain existing building heights as Children’s has not developed fully under the current height limits. The other two would limit building heights to 90 feet. Square footage expansion would be limited to 250,000 square feet, but exploring greater square footage within the height limits would be allowed. There would be no expansion of institution boundaries across Sand Point Way and no new access points to the hospital on Laurelhurst residential streets.

2. Hold future CAC meetings at the Laurelhurst Community Center: On August 24, LCC requested that future CAC meetings and public meetings relating to Children’s expansion be held in a neutral setting—at the Laurelhurst Community Center. Neighbors would be more likely to attend meetings in more familiar surroundings and this would address one of the major goals of the Code to “encourage significant community involvement.”

3. Ensure an open and transparent process: Agendas must be prepared under the direction of the DON to ensure responsiveness to both the community and the hospital. As the major stakeholder in the process, the CAC should be encouraged to allot agenda time to LCC periodically at key phases in the process to ensure a balance.

Hiatus

Our message of broad community concerns hasn't been getting across successfully. As a result, we're putting this site on a brief hiatus. We'll start posting again soon.

Further correction/comment on the Stranger article

A spokeswoman for our group added this comment:
http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/09/dont_do_it_for_the_children#c806237

Hi Dominic,

Traffic near the elementary school is not the "make-it-or-brake-it" part of the hospital proposal. It was never my intention to imply that it was.

The impacts of this proposal are bigger than the impacts of the new entrances. 240 foot towers in a residential neighborhood? Constructed continuously over 13 years? As others have said, what precedents do we want to set for future city growth?

But back to the traffic impacts. I actually highlighted traffic impacts primarily because of their broad reach, not their closeness to schools. Adding 240 foot towers and 2,000 parking stalls in an already-congested area will not have a good impact.

Unless we build out our infrastructure (wishful thinking, alas), we’ll all wind up stuck in the same traffic jam at Montlake. Hospital staff, patients, neighbors, buses, carpools. Everyone. We’re in this together.

Also, you asked for detailed alternatives, so I'm sending a link to those. A professional land-use planner wrote up a range of alternatives beyond the two proposed by the hospital: http://www.laurelhurstcc.com/issues/CHMC/LCC3472ChildrensEychanerScopingComments.pdf. Note that these alternatives only address the existing location.

I regret that my words have offended many folks commenting here. I am speaking out about this issue because I care about it. I have all the grace and tact and savy of an amateur. I wish I'd managed to get across how this project affects all of us. Clearly I did a lousy job. That's my fault.

Correction to the Stranger Article

Thanks to Dominic for bringing the hospital issue to light in his article in the Stranger. The comments are currently leaning towards a roast. We can take the heat along with (we hope) good suggestions for us and for the hospital.

We would like to clarify one item from that article. This article says that Elizabeth "suggests" the hospital should move.

Elizabeth and our group absolutely do not advocate moving the hospital. We love having Children's in our backyard (who wouldn't?) and of course we want it to stay.

The moving alternative has only been raised in the context of the projected, linear increase in hospital needs. This increase extends far beyond the construction planned through 2022. If the hospital is genuinely outgrowing its site and feels it absolutely must keep all in-patient services in one place, it may eventually have to consider this possibility. It makes no sense to grow now in one place only to have to move later. That's the point that should have been made. It doesn't condense to a soundbite well, unfortunately.

We firmly believe that my neighbors would fight just as hard for the hospital to stay as they're fighting the construction of 240 foot towers over a span of 13 years.

What Should the Hospital Do? One Opinion

The Stranger asked what Children's Action thinks the hospital should do. That's easy-- the Coalition asks the Hospital to consider additional alternatives. But which alternatives? Certainly the ones the Community Club has proposed (see this post).

Beyond these, I personally advocate a farsighted, creative approach:

The Hospital’s leaders must think broadly and inclusively about how to meet the needs of kids across its entire service area. While it plans for growth, the hospital needs to figure out how to make top-notch, inpatient facilities accessible to kids beyond NE Seattle. Perhaps this means partnering with one or two existing hospitals and opening pediatric wings? Perhaps it means opening a second campus? The hospital expects demand to increase linearly beyond even the planned build-out, so it must be pro-active.

If our region needs to increase pediatric capacity, it should take advantage of a golden opportunity to simultaneously broaden access to pediatric care. We should make this an opportunity, not a crisis.

Personally, I believe the hospital’s focus on a single site will prove even more harmful to the broader Puget Sound community than to my immediate community.

Worst case for me under this plan is pretty darn bad. I move away from the block I’ve called home for my entire life and away from my folks across the alley. Neighbors with families will face more difficult paths.

Worst case for Children's patients is even worse. Many families do not and will not have the time or resources to travel to a specialized pediatric facility. Their kids won't receive the right care at the right time. This is the real and grave consequence of the Hospital’s single-track thinking. This is the story in this mess, not just 240' towers in Laurelhurst.

Location of Entrances, Schools, Churches and Wetlands

This map shows the proximity of the new hospital entrances to 2 schools and a few other gathering places of young people and wildlife. The schools appear as yellow markers and the roads into the hospital are marked in red. These markers are too close together. The two churches within 2 blocks of the hospital are marked with blue. The wildlife/wetland areas are marked in green. I recommend zooming in once to see all the markers.

View Larger Map

Helicopter View SouthTowards Husky Stadium

One last shot from the helicopter. The wetlands at the Talaris site and the UW Wildlife Preserve provide wildlife habitat all the way from the Hospital to Husky Stadium (upper right in the photo).

This picture is fuzzy when small, so click on it to see it full size. Look closely and you'll see the fleet of boats out for the Husky game.

Heights of City Landmarks & the Hospital's Towers-To-Be

Several of the planned hospital towers will rise to the height of Amazon.com's headquarters (look east of the I-5/I-90 junction for Amazon's building).

The space added will be roughly equivalent to the total space in the Columbia Tower-- 1.5 million square feet.

The graphic below was kindly contributed by a concerned neighbor. Click on the graphic to see it full-size. For additional landmark heights, see this site.

"240" Event Turns into Rally!

This photo shows the early part of the rally, before the real crowd (125+ people!) arrived and made their voices heard:
What an incredible turn-out on a Husky game day. Neighbors turned out in force to watch the helicopter fly at 240 feet (the height of the future towers). Kids in bike helmets waved signs. Neighbors led chants to warn about 240 foot towers-- and the kids regrouped and make up chants amongst themselves!

We had about 125+ people gathered at the bus stop (the future location of a hospital entrance, a block from the elementary school). Others (20-30 more?) were gathered on the hill at the park, and more at the school playground and on the 45th Street overpass.

Three TV stations showed up - Fox 13, King 5 and Kiro 7 and did interviews and filmed the helicopter. Stories should ran on the evening and morning news.

Nicole Sanchez at Fox 13 News did a terrific job of capturing the helicopter, the crowd and the enthusiasm. Her report captured the neighborhood's support for the hospital's mission. You can read a transcript here. Note that the building heights, not just helicopter height, should have been reported as 240 feet. Thanks go to Nicole and her assistant for staying late at Children's to broadcast live for the 10pm newscast.

I'm still looking for better photos (we were all so busy rallying, we forgot to capture the real crowd, just those who arrived early!). Please send me yours!

Helicopter View South across the Hospital

This lovely view of our city and neighborhood shows a relict of another land-use fight. The apartment tower seen in the center of the photo, on the horizon, near the Madison Park Beach, was built before our city leaders passed neighborhood-aware zoning laws. We have zoning regulations to prevent just this sort of out-of-scale development

Helicopter View Towards Bryant, Ravenna and View Ridge

This shot shows the residential neighborhoods on the Northeast, North and Northwest sides of the hospital. It looks northwest from the southeast corner of the hospital.

Helicopter View Towards View Ridge, Wedgewood

This shot looks Northeast from the Hospital's Southwest corner. You can see the small condo community of Laurelon in the lower left. The picture doesn't capture it, but this community is built around green spaces and its gardens are a haven for many of its retired residents. These folks would be under the new towers' shadows for much of the day.

Helicopter View of Elementary School & Proposed Entrances

This shot looks from West to East across the Hospital towards Laurelhurst Elementary school. The two proposed access roads to the hospital would empty out onto residential streets near the school. The school is only one block from the proposed entrance on 45th.

Two churches, one school and a large park (Laurelhurst Park) are all located within two short blocks. I walked to this elementary school, right past the proposed entrance, all through elementary school. It was "safer" than walking through the park. A second elementary school is located a few blocks further up the hill.

Children’s Hospital Expansion: Our Message

A bulletin from the Children’s Action Coalition, September 15, 2007

• Large-scale growth at the Hospital’s current location would be site-inappropriate. The hospital has a history of growing too big for its sites and seeking additional facilities where its growth can be accommodated (See here for history).

• The hospital needs to consider a range of alternative growth plans, not two nearly-identical proposals.

• The hospital does not meet the distributed needs of its four-state service area with either of its plans. These plans concentrate in-patient services at a single location whose access routes are gridlocked.

• The scope of growth (nearly tripling in size) would permanently change the character of quiet, single-family neighborhoods. Specifically, it would impact:

• The safety of kids walking to two nearby schools, past two planned hospital access points on residential streets.

• The peace and quiet of a neighborhood packed with young children. 13 years of construction, not to mention the resulting towers, would project noise (and air pollutants) into the neighborhood.

• The viability of the 2-story condo community in the shadow of the new hospital. This community is built around green open spaces that would be shaded for much of the day by the new, 240-foot towers.

• The ability of all NE Seattle residents, workers and visitors to navigate city streets.

• City transportation infrastructure cannot currently accommodate major hospital growth at this location. Specific issues:

  • The hospital plans to add 2000 parking spaces. This adds 2000 cars to the hours of backups on Montlake Blvd and in the U-district, the two major routes from this area to freeways.

  • Hospital construction from 2009-2022 will coincide with decades of road/transit construction on 520, the Husky Lightrail station and the 45th Street viaduct.

  • Hospital growth and construction will make it even harder for hospital workers, patients and NE Seattle residents to reach their workplaces.

• The Hospital’s proposal is contrary to City policies and inconsistent with height limits for other major institutions. No other institution has proposed an expansion of this magnitude in a single-family zone.

• The hospital has not matched the neighborhood’s good-faith efforts to communicate and negotiate constructively as part of the growth planning process.

• Neighbors support an increase pediatric in-patient services across the hospital’s 4-state service area. Neighbors have long supported the hospital’s mission by serving as board members, volunteers and donors.

Community Club's Proposed Alternatives

Excerpted and condensed from the Community Club Newsletter...

Community Club's Position
The Community Club is appreciative of Children’s mission and all of the wonderful work it has done over the years in serving families in the area. That is not in question here. What is in question is whether the scope of this proposal is appropriate at this particular location, and whether other alternatives should be explored as well as or instead of the ones provided by Children’s. The intensity and building heights Children’s has proposed are grossly incompatible with the low density, low heights and residential character of the Laurelhurst neighborhood. They are contrary with City policies and inconsistent with other major institutions. The highest heights 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. 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.

Community Club's Proposed Alternatives
The Laurelhurst Community Club has submitted detailed comments to the Department of Planning and Development prepared by an independent and well-respected land use consultant, Carol Eychaner. These comments can be read on the LCC website. In its comment letter, the LCC requests that the hospital’s alternatives be tabled and offers three new alternatives based on less square footage and more reasonable building heights

One alternative would retain existing building heights as Children’s has not developed fully under the current height limits. The other two would limit building heights to 90 feet. Square footage expansion would be limited to 250,000 square feet, but exploring greater square footage within the height limits would be allowed. There would be no expansion of institution boundaries across Sand Point Way and no new access points to the hospital on Laurelhurst residential streets.

The Seattle Community Council Federation; a coalition of community groups throughout Seattle; and the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association have endorsed the Laurelhurst alternatives. In addition, the Northeast District Council, representing 20 community and business groups in northeast Seattle opposes the two alternatives Children’s has proposed for expansion and has asked that the environmental impact statement study alternatives with far less square footage expansion and height limits. The Laurelhurst PTA also recently voted to write a letter opposing Children’s alternatives for expansion.

Two Ways to Get Involved:

1. Submit Scoping Comments: The deadline to submit comments is 10 a.m., September 17. Send comments to: Scott Ringgold, Land Use Planner, Department of Planning and Development, 700 5^th Avenue, Suite 2000, P.O. Box 34019, Seattle, Washington 98124-4019, Email: scott.ringgold@seattle.gov, Fax: 206-233-7902
2. Attend the September 26^th Children’s Advisory Committee Meeting: The meeting is from 6-8 p.m. at Children’s, 4800 Sand Point Way, in Room W3747A of the Whale Building. There will be an opportunity for public comment at the meeting. The committee will provide its recommendations regarding alternatives to include in the EIS. They need to hear from you.

Contact Steve Sheppard from the Department of Neighborhoods at 206-684-0302 or steve.sheppard@seattle.gov to be added to the list to receive notices of upcoming meetings and Children’s updates.

Information Provided to Media for 240 Event

Children’s Hospital Expansion: Neighborhood Concerns

A bulletin from the Children’s Action Coalition, September 14, 2007

Scope 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 45^th Street and NE 50^th 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 45^th 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 45^th 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 45^th 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 40^th 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 1^st 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 45^th 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 the Children's Action Coalition: 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 Coalition:

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

See the Helicopter at the 204 Event: Saturday Sept 15th, 5:10 pm

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 the Children's Action Coalition: http://childrensaction.blogspot.com/

Upcoming Events: Helicopter Flyover, EIS Scope Deadline & CAC Meeting

Saturday September 15, 5:10pm: Helicopter Fly-Over to Visualize Height of New Towers.

One of our neighbors has chartered a helicopter to hover briefly over Children’s and take pictures from the proposed height of the new towers. Here’s how this helps:

• He’ll take pictures from 240 feet high. If you can see your house in these photos, you’ll be able to see the new towers from home.
• You'll be able to see the helicopter at 240 feet at about 5:10 Saturday. The towers will rise to the height the helicopter hovers.

No permit is required for this flight; however, our neighbor understands the impact of helicopter noise on nearby residents, so he will make the flight as brief as possible.

If you would like to help support this flight, contact info@childrensaction.com. Please wait a day or so until our new account becomes active. Thanks to our neighbor for his initiative!

September 17, 10am. New Deadline for Commenting on the EIS Scope

The deadline has been extended because the Hospital’s Concept Plan reported incorrect height increments. The proposed increase in height is from 37 feet to 240 feet in certain areas of the site. The concept plan showed heights increasing from 90 to 240 feet, never from 37 to 240 feet.

For further information on the hospital’s Concept Plan, see the links in the right-hand side bar. In particular, see the Community’s Response.

Written comments may be sent to:
Department of Planning and Development
Attn: Scott Ringgold, Land Use Planner
700 5th Avenue, Suite 2000
PO Box 34019
Seattle, Washington
98124-4019
Email: scott.ringgold@seattle.gov
Fax: (206) 233-7902

September 26, 6pm: Citizens Advisory Committee Meeting at the Hospital

Please help us express neighborhood concerns. You are encouraged to speak during the community comment period.

September 26, 2007, 6 to 8 p.m.
Children’s Hospital, 4800 Sand Point Way NE
Directions and map of campus
Directions to meeting room:

• Park in the Whale Garage
• Enter the building on either level 4 or 5
• Turn left in the lobby and take the Whale elevators to the 3rd floor
• Follow the map and/or signs to the meeting room