Yesterday we reported that the city is considering upping the building heights to allow for towers up to 300 feet tall in our neighboring community of South Lake Union. The Lake Union Opportunity Alliance held a meeting last night to rally support for their alternative proposal and hopefully push the city to add this plan to the pool of neighborhood growth programs for City Council to vote on (one of the main issues with this proposal concerns the rezoning of UW’s Phase III Medical Center, which City Council will be voting on on Monday, January 11). LUOA board member Diane Masson, who is hoping to gain support from the Queen Anne community, reported that the meeting, which was advertised little in advance, had 90 attendees, including three City Council members and one representative for another member who couldn’t make it. She wrote,

Sally Clarke said LUOA is well respected and the City wants to connect with us whenever they have questions in the neighborhood.  Tom Rasmussen announced a compromise is on the table for UW Phase III text amendment that we oppose (it will upzone potentially 6 blocks to 125 right next to the lake).  If a compromise goes through it will be a victory for LUOA, we are waiting to hear what it is.

The city’s three Environmental Impact Study reports were presented at the meeting, however LUOA hopes to get their plan on the docket, as many residents believe 300 foot towers would not be conducive to vibrant pedestrian experience next to Lake Union at the base of Queen Anne hill. Masson wrote,

I asked the City two simple questions. First, “Your utopia of SLU sounds great and we all want to live there, but I don’t see families gathering and people jogging down the street next to 300 ft buildings. There will be no sunlight on the street.” Second, “If 85% of the public through oral and written comments supported the LUOA alternative, why did the City not include the LUOA alternative as one of the three alternatives?” Jim Holmes for the City said, “that is a good question.”

The Department of Planning and Development will be holding another public meeting on Tuesday, January 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Seattle Unity Church Fellowship Hall, 200 8^th Ave N, to review and comment on the draft framework and learn about the revised EIS alternatives. LUOA is encouraging anyone invested in Lower Queen Anne and South Lake Union to attend and give their opinion.

“We have our foot in the door and need to push it open all the way with emails, emails and emails.  LUOA will post next steps to take with emails in the next week,” Masson said. “Be there to voice your concerns. The City counts how many people attend.”