Fighting Over Fort Lawton

fort%20lawton%20city%20map.JPG In 1964, most of Fort Lawton's land on the Magnolia Bluff was declared surplus by the U.S. military. That's when locals first banded together to voice their concerns over the future use of the area, forming a group called Citizens For a Fort Lawton Park and ultimately attracting the attention and support of a U.S. Senator in their efforts to prevent the government from turning the land into an ABM base. By 1971, the land was in the hands of the City of Seattle, and Discovery Park was formed.

Now, another group of citizens--this time, the Magnolia Neighborhood Planning Council--is gathering their resources in order to prevent the remaining Fort Lawton land contained within Discovery Park's grounds from being developed by the city into housing units for the homeless. Opponents of the development plan say the fort was meant to be reabsorbed as park land when the military was finally done with it, not to be turned into housing for the homeless or anyone else. They're also citing environmental concerns. According to to city officials, the plan follows federal law and would be a net positive effort towards addressing Seattle's homelessness problem. On October 13, the MNPC sued the City of Seattle, and the fight is not even close to over.

Tonight, the MNPC invites concerned hearts and their wallets to a fundraiser for the cause at Serendipity Cafe; the lawyer representing the case will give a presentation, and there's rumors about a silent auction to raise more money. Tickets are $50-$70 a head. Before you fork over your money, though, we suggest you carefully consider what you'd be paying for. This time around, it's not supporting parks over an ABM base; it's supporting parks over what sounds like a more-than-decent plan from the city.

According to the City of Seattle's website, the plans for the Fort Lawton developments are for a mixed-income community that "will balance several priorities, including open space, heron habitat, market-rate homes and housing for formerly homeless individuals and families." The City Council voted 8-0 for the plan in September; here is the full proposal [pdf]. We'll be keeping our money for now, thank you, concerned citizens of Magnolia, though we're applauding your community organization efforts. Mixed-income communities that even take the herons into account? Yes, please.

Map of Discovery Park and Fort Lawton courtesy of the City of Seattle.

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By Katelyn in News on December 2, 2008 9:00 AM

Comments [rss]

robinbudd

Just to clarify a few fact. First, the land in question is NOT outside Discovery Park, according to the Master Plan, which for decades has guided the City's planning and management of the park. In fact, the City's website for DP clearly shows the property in question inside park boundaries.

Second, BRAC rules DO NOT REQUIRE that homeless housing be built. That is one of many uses that qualify the land to be transferred at discounted price (parks use is allowed, too).

We oppose any non-parks use of land inside DP, period. We have little enough green space as it is, and using parks for residential development doesn't serve us well.

Unknown user

That Thriftway is not exactly, uh, thrifty. It caters to a certain clientele--presumably those who are willing to purchase the $9 boxes of cereal on its shelves. Although they do have tons of free samples at the deli, and free coffee.

MvB

Still not exactly spoiled for choice, Katelyn. And yes, you're being overly charitable towards Metro.

Katelyn

There is a Thriftway right there, for grocery shopping... And this might be overly charitable towards Metro, but I would hope they would adjust their routes to suit the changing needs of that community. I don't know, I think it could work -- apparently federal law requires them to turn it into housing? (Still trying to find the specific wording of that rule, but I've read two articles that mentioned it.)

MvB

The first thing I gotta wonder about is why you want to maroon homeless people on Magnolia. The three bus routes in the proposal have waits of 30 min. to 1 hr. off-peak, and mainly run downtown. And I can't imagine there's a lot of nearby employment and grocery shopping. It seems like this location creates additional expenses for people who have the least disposable income.

Troy Morris

Scratch that, I finally got to the map on page 17 of section 3. It's right on the outside of the park, so all it's going to do is upset the Sargents' wives that currently inhabit that area.

Troy Morris

There is nothing wrong with wanting to really help the homelessness issue in this city. But mixed-income? In the middle of the largest city park? The most natural and un-touched park?

Really? I can see this exploding into pure dung in 7 years when funding bottoms out and the city stops caring to funnel the huge resources into maintenance.

Moreover, what's that going to alter in the surrounding area as far as services go? I just sense an overall feeling of "too little benefit for too much headache."