I believe in Property Rights. I also believe in the right of a business owner, no matter the size of his/her business, to maximize the business's profit in any legal manner. However, Northgate Mall's proposed expansion will have a large impact not only on the surrounding neighborhoods, but also on business districts and neighborhoods further away. Therefore, I am mostly commenting on issues not addressed in Northgate's General Development Plan (GDP).

Evironmental consequences as a result of permanently burying Thornton Creek have been ably articulated elsewhere. These previously listed environmental consequences regard not only the effect on wildlife such as salmon, cutthroat trout, many bird and amphibian species, but also mammals - including humans and their habitations. Downstream flooding is one primary example.

However, there are other environmental effects of the proposed GDP. For example, the possible effect on the atmosphere due to increased gasoline use has not been voiced. It is clear that most customers and office workers will continue to use their automobiles. But they will travel further to reach Northgate Mall than they currently travel to a nearby business, especially as their local retailers, movie screens and motels, unable to compete, go out of business. Even if the customers and workers were to travel by transit, more transit - therefore more fossil fuel use - would be required to travel the greater distances from their homes to Northgate as well as to provide more frequent transit service. Walking and bicycling are not options for everyone nor are they likely to be chosen by as large a group as seems to be expected. For example, the bicycle facilities required to be built by Windermere Realty are virtually unused.

The social consequences of the development (to expand Northgate Mall) as now proposed are my greatest concern. In my opinion, the social consequences will be massive. To begin with, several types of North End neighborhood businesses will not be able to compete. New community-based business will have difficulty forming. Locally-based businesses provide an important community function. Business owners or managers feel part of the community and therefore contribute to neighborhood events. Neighbors meet each other as they shop or recreate. When businesses which are used on regular basis such as movies are small and community-based, traffic impacts are of manageable scale, people frequently see familiar people, and therefore community interaction and strength is increased. In my opinion, the anonymity and isolation fostered by large-scale development leads to a lot of social ills including but not limited to out-of-control teenagers. When travel time to shop or recreate is increased that also reduces the time one has to spend with family and friends, leading not only to increased isolation but also to reduced time that children have with their families. Recent research has shown how important a caring and attentive caretaker is to a child's development. What kind of citizens will we be raising?

A word about the city's tax revenue: 6,000 movie seats at Northgate Mall or 6,000 movie seats scattered about North End neighborhoods should result in the same B&O (business and occupation) tax revenue and the same sales tax revenue. Ditto for retail businesses and hotel rooms. True, development of what is now a parking lot will increase property value and therefore Real Estate Tax revenue and the City of Seattle bonding capacity, but development elsewhere should do the same thing.

Maybe Northgate can instead lease the vacant space to Seattle for the purpose of building a library, a recreation center, a live theater, and a park with a natural area and a naturally-flowing creek. Simon Property Group (the owners of Northgate Mall) might consider a new way of maximizing profit, perhaps by investing in businesses in local neighborhoods.

- DOROTHY DOUGLAS

Victory Heights