Letter to the Editor: Former opponents unite to support Richey and Scully for Shoreline City Council
Friday, October 23, 2015
To the Editor:
Many of you know that we, Patty Hale and Janet Way are two women who have been longtime Ridgecrest residents, observers of local politics, participants in our neighborhood, and at times opponents. We both served on the Shoreline Parks Board and Janet is a former councilmember.
But this year, we are united in agreement on a crucial issue for voters to consider. Which City Council candidates truly want to do the right thing to preserve our way of life, our quiet, residential neighborhoods and still look for innovative and traditional ideas to preserve the best of Shoreline, while moving forward?
We believe the two Shoreline City Council candidates who will stand up for our values best are, Lorn Richey and Keith Scully.
They understand that the huge rezone that Council adopted is completely out of scale for our City.
They understand that the Council did not listen to the community in that process.
They understand that in order to upzone areas such as Ridgecrest, North City, Parkwood or Richmond Beach, the city needed to do more preparation on how to pay for infrastructure, and on much better outreach to the public.
They understand that this community is already the FIFTH densest in the state and that we do NOT need to add 10 -20,000 more residents for Light Rail or Transit-Oriented Station areas.
They understand that in order to truly support our good schools, parks and small businesses, Shoreline needs to grow gradually and the Council needs to respect our neighborhoods and the people who live there.
Lorn Richey and Keith Scully are outstanding Council candidates. We urge your support and your vote for both of them by November 3rd. Please remember to sign your ballot and drop it in the mail to postmark by the November 3rd deadline.
Patty Hale
Janet Way
Shoreline
Posts
19 comments:
Yes to this!
Thank you for this clear explaination and good data!
Please note that Patty and Janet are both residents of rezone. They have been promoting do-nothing candidates Richey and Scully who oppose progress in our city. Please do not let Shoreline Council turn into the United States Congress. We want progress on issues like affordability, economic vitality, light rail and schools. We know after years of economic stagnation that more residents is the only way to pay for our progress. We do not want to become another Renton or Federal Way. Please do not let Scully and Richey derail our city's future.
Please also note that Shoreline was just awarded the State's best planning award for the rezone (the same rezone that the authors are oppozing) :
http://www.shorelineareanews.com/2015/10/city-receives-planning-award-for-185th.html
I have been a Shoreline resident for the last few years. I usually don't comment on politics but I am disturbed by the backward thinking folks like Janet and Patty and hope someone stand up to them.
Go Shorline!
Dave Landers
Neither Patty Hale or Janet Way live in the adopted 185th rezone. Unless there is additional acreage that hasn't been publicized yet. I want a city that finishes what it starts. A light rail station will impact the neighborhood surrounding it. 145th has a poor station design and no concerns for the commuters that use the surrounding 1/2 mile radius. I have seen no plans to add street lights or parking enforcement for personal safety, vehicle security or the ability to look at a windshield to see if the vehicle is parked in the right zone.
One of the first proposed multiunit structures in the 185th rezone will be from lot line to lot line, following Shor(e)line's inadequate parking requirements and still is asking for a reduction in parking spaces because the footprint of the building on a single lot doesn't allow enough parking spots. The developer is ignoring all the building science that allows you to build below the water table and is asking the city to just let them spill cars into the streets and neighborhood. Shoreline cares about sidewalks and bikeways but defaults to allowing more parking than it should. I am disturbed by shallow thinking and cheerleading and hope the community stands up against it.
My ShorEline!
Dave Lange
Mr. Landers couldn't be more wrong. Lorn Richey and Keith Scully both support growth — the difference between them and the current slim Council majority is that they support managed, responsible growth, using best practices and gearing that growth to areas where it makes sense.
Reagrding that "award," remember that the groups giving that award are fronts for developers, whose sole concern is massive construction projects leading to massive profits for their narrow special interest at the expense of people and neighborhoods.
Mr. Landers should learn that residential properties do not pay enough taxes to cover the cost to city services, unless those taxes are outrageously high. By contrast, commercial properties pay a far higher amount and cost less. That's yet another reason why the massive residential upzoning, without any reason to believe that there will be more than a token amount of retail, will be a colossal disaster for the city.
Did Richey and Scully's opponent pool their money for a "social media expert"? And a bad one at that?
I have been a resident of Shoreline for 40 years. I have read, I have listened and I know that after I looked at proposed commercial zones, I find myself in a sort of a dilemma. Why should I give up my property to be developed for someone else. Do I not have the right to say "no" without the guilt trips being thrown at me like darts?
When we, the people of this area, were fighting the transfer station bus barn, we were told in a public meeting by an arrogant woman from the west side of Shoreline, that if we were dumb enough to buy next to the freeway, then, we get what we deserve. Now you are saying that just because we don't want Shoreline to be consumed by developers, we are backward.
I am standing up to you Dave Landers and telling you emphatically, no. I am not backward, I have a good education, my ducks are all in a row and most of all I am not arrogant
Please, Shoreliners, stand up for Lorn Richey and Keith Scully, we need them.
I agree with Dave. Shoreline's future is with growth- managed of course. Shoreline is a 1st-tier suburb of Seattle and it needs to grow and act accordingly. The rezone is EXACTLY what Shoreline needs. It needs more space and buildings for local businesses, more dense housing, and more residents with diverse economic profiles. I understand it may be hard for some who live in the rezone but that is life in a city. I've lived here in North City for 10 years. My family and friends and I want places to walk to, where parking is not needed. If you want quite residential streets with no urban vitality there are plenty of farther out suburbs.
@ anon 6.32... If you're in North City, you do realize that there are plenty of places to walk to on 15th, right? Brewpub, coffee shops, restaurants, grocery store, pot shop, ethnic food stores. Need I go on?
Shoreline... being a 1st-tier suburb (way to parrot the City Hall's statements) of Seattle and it needs to grow and act accordingly. Growing and acting accordingly would actually mean upzoning appropriately, based on market studies, not the cluster we ended up with. Flipping a 99% SFR neighborhood to zoning that's on par with downtown Seattle is insane and yes, it is radical (and not in the "good way", sweetie).
Here's some "Urban Vitality" for you all... http://www.komonews.com/news/local/SPD-Mans-explosive-bowel-issues-lead-to-machete-melee--336443221.html
I don't know Dave Landers, do the long lists of endorsements by progressive senators, representatives, organizations, and individuals for both Scully and Richey say anything to you?
I'm not exactly sure how you came to the conclusion that Richey and Scully are do-nothing candidates who oppose progress in our city. They both support light rail and support upzoning, just not the hot mess express of an upzone we ended up with. If they were both anti light rail and against all upzoning, your statement would be true. But I hate, no actually... LOVE, to break it to you, that's you're 100% wrong.
It seems to me as if the "progress" you're speaking of, is the kind of progress that merely lines the pockets of developers in a progressively hard and fast manner, shrouded under a handful of shiny sounding buzzwords... affordability, economic vitality, livabilty... ooooh (wait for it) WALKability.... The affordability policies in this City and County and neighboring Seattle are a proven failure, and complete joke and meticulously catered to the wants and desires of the development industry. What the City has done with 185th is essentially turn on the pressure cooker without screwing the lid on all the way... a haphazard plan, which will displace and destroy existing affordable homes for families, seniors, and other vulnerable individuals.
Since I'm sure you're a steadfast "friend" of the environment, you are aware Janet Way helped daylight Thornton Creek, right? She's an activist and served on the City Council and has supported progressive policies since you were probably in diapers. So you can take your accusations of backwards thinking and go ask your mommy for a change.
As for the award, the American Planning Association protects their own. Because their own vitality and existence depends on membership, and if the turning over of property and churning of soil and creation of landfill and refuse isn't constantly occurring, then their association becomes obsolete.
Cheers!
@ Anon 8:51 Do you know the North City coffee shop closes at 4 pm? And the bar at 9 pm? For me and my family that's just not useful enough. Right now Shoreline and LFP are, at best, 3rd rate cities and we'd like to see them come into their own and become places people go to instead of just coming from. I see Shoreline's future as more than just a bedroom community.
If you live in North City and "can't walk" to an existing business, you don't really live in North City.
Something new that I've learned about Jesse Salomon comes as a surprise to me: because I oppose his promotion of and voting for the Radical Rezones as part of his vision for doubling the population of Shoreline - far exceeding the guidelines of even the Growth Management Act - and openly oppose his re-election, he has taken to attacking me personally. The mailer I sent was devoted to facts about the 185th Street Subarea rezone as a reason not to re-elect him. I did not expect him to like it.
Here is the text of that mailer, the side Jesse did not reproduce. To my knowledge, he has not refuted any of it but has chosen instead to attack the messenger.
JESSE SALOMON VOTED AGAINST SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES
Instead of sensible development, he voted for radical rezones in the 185th St. Station Subarea Plan that turned thousands of single-family homes into “non-conforming uses”, making them subject to decreased property values.
JESSE SALOMON VOTED AGAINST CURRENT RESIDENTS
Alternatives were offered to dramatically reduce the number of families affected and still provide for reasonable growth. He rejected them all. Then he gave 12-year tax-breaks to developers, who were not asked to pay for the expensive infrastructure needed to support this plan.
JESSE SALOMON VOTED AGAINST OUR ENVIRONMENT
Shoreline is an official ”tree city”, with all of the wonderful benefits that our protected tree canopy provides. This excessive, ill-conceived high-density Subarea plan will eliminate thousands of trees, no mitigation required.
JESSE SALOMON VOTED AGAINST US -
NOW WE MUST VOTE AGAINST JESSE SALOMON
Reply @ 11:45, the business hours are based on when the community uses those businesses. So if you want them to open later, ask them and b patronize the business. Sorry you hate our "3rd rate" city.
You are the type of self-important citizen th at Shoreline does not need.
North City Tavern is open all night. Oh, sorry, does it have too many 3rd-rate Shoreline citizens for you?
Of great concern to me is the fact that Jesse Solomon and Jessica McCaffery receive the bulk of their donations from locations outside of Shoreline and even outside of the State of Washington. This leads me to conclude that they have little local support.
Oh how Jesse Salomon has changed. Now he listens to developers instead of citizens:
http://www.shorelineareanews.com/2011/10/letter-to-editor-jesse-salomon-has.html
I think you need some input from Lake Forest Park. First and foremost? Future generations will wish you had ambitious, economicly sustaining development of the area in question. Many of us here in LFP wish we did have an opportunity to build a vibrant hub like that which could be built around the 185th Street Station. Potentially, from here in LFP, there is a chance that well managed development of the 185th Street, something that would make it an aesthetically pleasing and engaging place to visit, could change our focus from the Towne Center to North City/185th Street as a central destination of choice. Just my two bits. I know that's what I'd like to see at the Towne Center, but that won't be happening for quite some time. Glad there's a possibility in Shoreline.
Anonymous LFP @ 7:30 pm
Nice of you to share your thoughts......nice of you to admit you do take advantage of much in Shoreline....that you do not pay for. Here is how many citizens of Shoreline will pay for you to have a delightful place to visit.....we are losing out homes and way of life. I bet there are thousands of citizens of Shoreline that would be more than willing to trade their house for yours....then you han suffer the real consequences of your dream...Oh wait...you did qualify your comment by stating that something "esthetically pleasing and engaging" would be nice. That is exactly what is not going to happen. This is form based code...no one can tell the developers what to put into their shell of a building...just that it has to be very dense and so high with many exemptions to make it twice as high and also many tax exemptions for a few units of "affordable" housing, subsidized by the Citizens of Shoreline as well as the other renters in the non-affordable units who will have their rents jacked up to cover the "loss" It is business after all. . Oh and no worries, there will be no place for you to park...so please walk over...or bike.... Sure hope you plan to spend a lot of money in Shoreline as we will need the tax revenue to help pay for everything....Our City Council has a plan to plan. I am sure that is not how you run your financial life!
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