Sunset Hill Community Association objects to gas station plan

Editor, Regarding: Project #3004189 - Safeway gas station at 15th Avenue NW and NW 83rd Street

The Sunset Hill Community Association objects to the project referenced above in its entirety, and we maintain that no mitigation that the applicant has or could propose would make this an appropriate project for our community.

The project is contrary to the goals and policies of the Crown Hill/Ballard Neighborhood Plan. This plan, the result of five years' work by the community was, by Resolution 29775 and Ordinance 11911, adopted as an amendment to the Seattle Comprehensive Plan on August 17, 1998.

Among the goals of the plan were:

1) "...to improve the 15th [Avenue NW]'s contribution to the visual character of Crown Hill..." A gas station cannot achieve this goal. Please note that Safeway's proposed mitigation along 15th Avenue is landscaping, which is not in keeping with the commercial character of this street.

2) "Prevent cut through traffic on [NW] 83rd [Street] east and west of 15th [Avenue NW]." Again, the proposed landscape mitigation can neither conceal nor mitigate the significant traffic added to the residential 83rd St. By Safeway's own estimate, traffic volume will increase by 41,400 vehicle trips per month, nearly 1,400 per day.

Note that this area of Crown Hill was designated, on July 25, 1994, as a Residential Urban Village, as distinct from a Hub Urban Village. The Neighborhood Plan recognizes the importance of 15th Avenue NW as a commercial arterial but emphasizes that the local and national businesses along this street must contribute to the success of the residential neighborhood. A gas station does not serve local residential needs. Also, please note that there are already several gas stations within a few blocks of this location, sufficient to serve the needs of the neighborhood.

The City Council's recently authorized Pedestrian Overlay for this area is an indication of the clear intent of the City of Seattle to prohibit projects of this type (Council Bill 115513, passed March 27, 2006). Safeway's application, made during the short interval before the effective date of the Overlay, is a cynical abuse of our government and the community it represents.

Because we understand that a public hearing will be scheduled, please enter our Association's objections to this project as part of the testimony at that hearing.

Sincerely,

Robert Drucker

Chair, Land Use and Neighborhood Planning Committee

Sunset Hill Community Association