I must take issue with a statement made in your article titled "Simon decision expected soon on Northgate" in the Maven December issue. The statement is "they (meaning Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund and Citizens for a Liveable Northgate) would agree not to litigate, but only if Security Properties would agree to use a design that the citizens groups had come up with that called for approximately one-third fewer housing units and more space for an open space buffer."

 There are several inaccuracies in this statement. First, the citizens groups did not come up with the design. TCLDF and CLFN were charged by Security Properties in August to work collaboratively with Security's two architect firms, Bumgardner and Mithun, to develop a creek and corridor design that used no more than 4 acres of property.

 Security's architects developed the collaborative design in about three weeks with significant input from TCLDF and CFLN. This design used something over 3 acres of the 12.8-acre south parking lot site. In the collaborative design TCLDF and CFLN compromised on the 50-foot buffer width on either side of the creek that is called for in Seattle's Critical Areas Ordinance.

 Despite the compromise on the buffer width and the total creek area being less than Security's 4-acre maximum, Security is apparently not supporting the collaborative design that their own architects created.

 The statement that the collaborative design would result in approximately one-third fewer housing units has no factual foundation. Security, to my knowledge, has not conducted a "massing study" of the collaborative design to determine how much housing or other development could occur on the nine-plus acres of the property not occupied by the creek and corridor in the collaborative design. If collaborative design massing has been done, it has not been presented to TCLDF and CFLN.

 Another inaccuracy in the article is the statement that it will cost $15 million to daylight Thornton Creek through the South Lot. The $15 million figure is the compensation Security wanted to allow incorporation of the collaborative design into their project. The $15 million included the cost of a 3-acre corridor for the creek ($8,276,400) at $63 per square foot. This is substantially more than the square foot price at the $25 million reported asking price for the 12.8-acre south lot, or just under $45 per square foot. Also included in the $15 million figure is $300,000 for pedestrian promenade/connections and $800,000 for construction of two elevated roadway bridges. The estimate for soil excavation and hauling, and creek corridor construction is $2.8 million. This figure is nearly identical to estimates in the TCLDF funded report Conceptual Design and Feasibility Study, Thornton Creek Daylighting. This report is available at the Lake City Library.

 - ROBERT VREELAND (Thornton Creek Legal Defense Fund), Meadowbrook