Choppers to Land on Bellevue Rooftops

Bellevue skyline, looking east. The former John Danz theater, later Bellevue Bowl, is in the foreground.

The State Supreme Court upheld a decision last week to permit a light rail line on the Interstate 90 bridge. Bellevue developer Kemper Freeman, Jr., concerned (perhaps) about the arrival by the trainload of unwashed Seattlites, opposed the plan, and vows to appeal. In the meantime, however, he's making getaway plans.

Freeman's escape pod is an old-fashioned helicopter with a twist: it won't have to land in Bellevue proper but will be allowed to touch down on the roof of his highrise. The Bellevue City Council approved his application for five takeoffs a week from the roof of the 19-story Bellevue Place / Bank of America building at NE 8th and Bellevue Way. A hearing examiner had twice denied perfmission for safety and noise reasons; the council, as councils are wont to do, overruled.