The Magnolia Community Club held a general meeting on April 17 at Catharine Blaine School exclusively on the issue of the fate of Fort Lawton after the Army Reserves move out in 2009 and it is declared surplus property.
According to the federal law controlling this process (BRAC), the city of Seattle is the Local Reuse Authority (LRA) for the departments of Defense and Housing and Urban Development. When MCC planned this meeting, city staff assigned to LRA duties expected to present the first draft of the reuse plan to the Magnolia community, but it didn't happen. Why?
In the interim, the Army changed its mind and wanted to reevaluate the Fort Lawton property to see if it could sell off as much of the property as possible to high-end real estate developers, so as to gain as much profit as possible. With budgets tight for all government agencies, this could be called the "duh" motivation. So we still don't know when that first draft will be presented.
Undoubtedly when that plan is hoisted by the LRA city staff, it will instantly become a partisan piñata with every interest group within 50 miles taking a whack at it.
So here's mine: There should be no "homeless housing" at this site.
After the military leaves, the Fort Lawton property essentially becomes part of Discovery Park, and as every-one knows - including the police - there are too many homeless living in the park as it is.
The most frustrating part of the April 17 meeting for me was the declaration by a couple of city staff during the Q&A that Fort Lawton would be a "good place for homeless housing." That simply defies logic. This site is unique: it is on the tip of a peninsula, is far from needed services, has one bus line serving it, is closely surrounded by single-family neigh-borhoods and has a forestful of hiding places. And there is only one police car covering all of Queen Anne and Magnolia at night.
Anyone who would deny that an influx of unrestricted homeless population into Magnolia would cause an increase in crime has never walked through Pioneer Square after dark. Before you call me a NIMBY, show me a community that embraces drugs, alcohol and burglaries.
Again, with the "duh."
Since the deadline for the process is only a few months away, there will be little time to react to the draft re-use plan. But react we must. This site does not fit into the typical BRAC box, but it is very unlikely Congress will grant Fort Lawton an exemption to the homeless housing requirement.
So our best-case scenario is to limit any low-income housing for the formerly homeless to families, and exclude anyone with a criminal record. Banning alcohol and drugs in the leases is a must. The lead developer should have a track record of strong financial resources and good stewardship of this type of transitional housing. The number of units should meet the very minimum of the federal BRAC law, and the green space added to Discovery Park should be the very maximum.
Worse-case scenario? Local resi-dents revolt against an unreasonable first-draft reuse plan for the Fort Law-ton property. Neighborhood groups taking legal action against downtown "do-gooders" on land use issues is certainly not unprecedented in this city's history. It is to be hoped this BRAC process will not come to that, and we can all agree on a reuse plan that properly serves all stakeholders, especially those most impacted.
Vic Barry, D.D.S., is a past president of Magnolia Community Club, in whose monthly newsletter this column appeared in a slightly different form.
[[In-content Ad]]
