185th Street Station Subarea Planned Action Ordinance stands
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Statement from the City of Shoreline
On March 18, the Superior Court of King County granted the City’s Motion for Summary Judgment in Shoreline Preservation Society’s (SPS) challenge to the City’s planned action ordinance (Ordinance 707) and the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 185th Street Station Subarea Plan. The Court granted the City’s motion on all counts.
One of SPS’s primary arguments was its belief that in addition to the EIS completed for the Subarea Plan, the City should have also completed a separate EIS for adoption of the planned action ordinance. SPS also argued in the alternative that if a separate EIS was not required, they should be able to challenge the EIS prepared by the City for the 185th Street Station Subarea Plan in the Superior Court proceeding. The Court held that not only was a separate EIS not required but that the proper forum for SPS to challenge the Subarea Plan EIS was before the Growth Management Hearings Board. SPS did challenge the EIS before the Growth Board, and in December 2015, the Growth Board ruled in favor of the City and dismissed SPS’s case in this regard.
In addition, in its Summary Judgment ruling, the Superior Court found that the City provided adequate public notice and opportunities for comment as required by SEPA and the Shoreline Municipal Code when adopting Ordinance 707. The Court stated, “Defendant provided adequate notice of not only its intent to adopt a planned action ordinance, but allowed ample opportunity for public comment and involvement which included, among other things, visionary workshops, walking tours, design dialog workshops, environmental review, social media, mailings, community event forums, planning commission meetings, public hearings and city council meetings as well as postings on the City’s website, on social media and in the newspaper.”
“The City engaged the public in a robust planning process for the 185th Street Station Subarea Plan spanning almost two years,” stated City Manager Debbie Tarry. “We are pleased by the Court’s decision and will continue to engage the public in the planning process as we continue planning for the 145th Street Station Subarea.”
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1 comments:
Thanks for all your hard work, S.P.S.! Yes, this decision is disappointing, but onward and upward to the next phases of strategy.
A new family that moved in down the street ("millennials", no less! GASP! in an SFR? What!?!) had no idea about what was happening with the subareas, upzone, and City Hall's thirsty agenda for urban density redevelopment before they bought their home. They had no idea that our City Council and Planning Commission ignored the majority of citizen voices over, and over, and over again... meeting after meeting. They had no idea how the City made a concerted effort to paint anyone opposed to the preferred alternative as anti-density, shiveringly afraid of change, anti-rail, and anti-progress when what most people would have supported is upzoning that was inline with the market study. They're now in the know and already disgusted about what's been shared with them. How's that for a welcome wagon?
As our neighborhoods change, which, yes, they will change, mega-upzone or not, you can count on this happening over and over again. You can count on recent home sale records being reviewed to send a new neighbor a flyer, refer them to a few websites, or someone who lives on their street striking up a friendly conversation about how we got to this point and who, specifically, got us here.
Don't count on that 'public fatigue' happening anytime soon. It's still here, and it's not going away. Cheers!
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