(Editor's Note: This letter was sent to Fleets and Facilities Department of the City of Seattle with a copy to this newspaper.)

I wish to voice my support for converting the vacant City Light "Sunset Substation" to a multi-use public pocket park. This is an exciting opportunity to preserve rare open space in our neighborhoods and to increase Seattle City Light's production of renewable solar energy.

This fall I had the opportunity to tour the "Sunset Substation," a 6,300 square foot Seattle City Light property located within my King County Council district at 3209 NW 65th street in Ballard. I understand that this property, along with six other Seattle City Light substations in the Ballard neighborhood, is slated for surplus and auction. The Sunset Substation Steering Committee, a group of neighborhood citizens, called my attention to a proposal whereby Seattle City Light would retain these properties, convert them to open space for public use, and install on-site solar modules for energy generation. The (steering group) envisions a translucent photovoltaic rain screen overhead with a multipurpose civic plaza beneath.

Given passage of statewide Initiative 937 in 2006, which requires that large utilities obtain 15 percent of their electricity from renewable resources such as solar and wind by 2020, it appears that installing solar modules on these surplus properties may be a promising option toward fulfilling I-937 requirements. In addition, the Ballard neighborhood has long suffered from a lack of public open space, and converting these surplus properties into public areas would also help to "green up" this important urban neighborhood. I understand that sixty similar Seattle City Light properties across the city are also slated for surplus, and these properties may also be good candidates for similar conversions.

Thank you in advance for considering this exciting idea.

Larry Phillips

Councilmember

King County Council