JET CITY MAVEN - VOL. 3, ISSUE 11, NOVEMBER 1999

Copyright 1999 Park Projects. Please feel free to use the article and photos below in your research. Be sure to quote the Jet City Maven as your source.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Playfield plan is cause for concern

The neighbors adjacent to the Nathan Hale High School and track area have just found out about the School District's plan to redevelop the track on NE 110th and 35th NE with NO notice by mail or signs. A large board was recently placed on 30th NE with the notice to move 11,000 square feet of dirt in an environmentally fragile area, and construct a 1,500-seat stadium with ticket booths, concession, bathrooms and out buildings with NO off street parking plans for the expansion.

I spoke with a City of Seattle DCLU planner ... who claims notices were placed on the fences surrounding the area and notices sent to neighbors. We walk that area on a regular basis, and have not seen any notices, big or small, and none of our neighbors have received any written information on it. There are 220 off-street parking spaces provided in the surrounding area, which include the Meadowbrook Pool and community Center, which is already inadequate for those uses. The parking area for the school, and under the school parking for facilty are included in the 220 spaces.

We live off NE 110th and 30th NE, and already are deeply impacted with parking up our block from the Nathan Hale students during the day, and also in the evening from the night school programs. Whenever there is an athletic event now, even in a scaled down measure, we get cars parking on our street and around the paremeter of the school.

I spoke to Neal Lessenger from the Meadowbrook Community Council recently and he said the School District already addressed this issue and it was a done deal. Who did they address this to? Not the neighbors most affected by this expansion.

I smell a rat somewhere. We would like to address this, but were not given any notice or opportunity to do so. The extra traffic and noise is going to drive us out of our homes. I would appreciate it if the Jet City Maven could address this issues for other community people to be aware of this problem in our area. We feel totally helpless in our own neighborhoods today and feel the quality of our lives are being eroded without any consideration to us the tax payers and supporters of the pubic schools.

-BETTY JENNINGS, Meadowbrook