Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 7, July 2003

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Merchants back mall expansion

By JAMES BUSH

The boosters of redevelopment and reduced regulation in the Northgate area showed up in force for the City Council's June 10 public hearing.

More than 30 speakers touted the economic benefits of allowing large-scale property development without the requirement of a General Development Plan (GDP) at the meeting, held at Nathan Hale High School. Most previous Northgate forums and hearings have been dominated by critics of Mayor Greg Nickels' proposal to drop the GDP requirement.

Jim Potter, chair of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce land use committee, told City Council members that the GDP has blocked necessary redevelopment in the Northgate neighborhood. "It's broken. It doesn't work," says Potter. "It's been in place for 10 years [and] nothing has been built."

Bret Stewart, owner of the Northgate mall store Auntie Anne's Pretzels, said the shopping center should be allowed to react to marketplace forces, not be held back by unfair regulations. Dropping the GDP, he said, "could create more jobs and more pretzel-eaters."

But, the mayor's critics not only didn't stay home, they brought along jokes of their own. Broadview resident Gloria Butts mocked the City's plan to build a retention pond on the mall's south parking lot while keeping a long-buried section of Thornton Creek in an underground pipe, calling Northgate "the future site of the West Nile Virus drainage ponds."

Even those with little to say proved popular. Gerald Wik got an impressive round of applause for this 15-word contribution: "We just came here in support of the mayor, and I didn't bring a speech."

While the supporters of the process dominated the first half of the June 10 hearing, critics took charge of the last half. Despite a crowd of more than 120 people, some 70 speakers, and City Council President Peter Steinbrueck's firm admonition that the meeting would be adjourned promptly at 10 p.m., the hearing wound down almost an hour earlier than expected, to the surprise of three of the five council members who slipped out early. (Steinbruck and Council Land Use Chair Judy Nicastro stayed through the entire meeting.)

Observers of the Northgate process will have plenty more process to observe, as three appeals of a City environmental determination should delay a final City Council vote until at least September. Citizens for a Liveable Northgate, the Thornton Creek Defense Fund, and the Creekside Owners Protective Association each filed appeals of a determination that the removal of the GDP requirement will have no significant adverse environmental impacts. They will plead their case before the City's Hearing Examiner later this summer.

But, in the midst of this "jobs vs. environment" battle, there were a few reassuring signs that future compromise might be possible. "We all agree on the problems," said Chuck Dolan. The mall is run down, job growth is needed, and uncontrolled storm water is damaging the fragile Thornton Creek ecosystem. Dolan endorsed a past proposal by City Council member Richard Conlin to amend the GDP process, rather than eliminating it altogether.

Others noted that Conlin's proposal was the result of a public process with community participation, rather than the mayor's negotiated agreement with the Simon Property Group, the owners of Northgate Mall. "The mayor's process of cutting a deal with a developer behind closed doors and then trying to engineer consent is the wrong way," said longtime Thornton Creek advocate Bob Vreeland.

Two weeks earlier, on May 27, about 200 people packed the auditorium of Olympic View Elementary School to address council members and hear representatives of the shopping center, developers, and community group leaders comment on the Northgate situation. Mall supporters were in such short supply that Gary Weber, regional leasing manager for Simon, tried to balance the situation by talking for well more than his allotted five minutes. But he did give a passionate presentation arguing that the GDP requirement is "a virtual straightjacket" on the mall and that, as a result of city regulation, the aging facility "is stuck in time." He said that millions of dollars in tax revenues are going to Southcenter and Alderwood Mall's home cities, rather than into Seattle's coffers. "We are not asking for a handout," said Weber. "We are asked to be treated fairly."

Developer John Mullally, whose company owns the Northgate Apartments (located across Northgate Way from the mall), noted that the GDP requirement applies to his property as well. "We'd love to [build] a beautiful community there north of the mall, but as long as this GDP is there, we're not going to do it."

But much of the testimony was from residents critical of the mayor's closed-door negotiations with Simon. "[Nickels] has totally bypassed the people he represents to engage in secret negotiations with private developers," said Maple Leaf resident Pamela Jensen. "On whose authority does he do this?"

Olympic Hills resident Skip Knox told council members that community members won't be defeated by the mall ownership's continuing efforts to eliminate the GDP. "We will wait as long as they will," he said, "and we will wait longer, if necessary."