Public appeals of Seattle Hearing Examiner Sue Tanner’s recommendation against the expansion of Seattle Children’s Hospital were due to the city clerk yesterday, and 11 groups went on the record with their opinions.
Seven organizations opposed the hearing examiner’s decision, arguing that the hospital’s expansion achieves a proper balance between benefit to the public and protection of the surrounding area. The groups supporting Children’s Hospital include the hospital itself, Friends of Children’s Hospital, Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) Project Chair Catherine Hennings, the Laurelon Terrace Condominium Association, Laurelhurst residents Steve and Dixie Wilson, the city’s Department of Planning and Development, and the Major Institution Coalition—which includes Harborview, North Seattle Community College, Northwest Hospital, Seattle Central Community College, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle University, South Seattle Community College, Swedish Medical Center, University of Washington and Virginia Mason Medical Center.
A number of arguments—on both legal and policy grounds—were put forth by the project’s supporters. Catherine Hennings argued that the hearing examiner’s recommendation against the findings of the citizen advisory committee “shows a complete disregard of the CAC process.” The major institutions argued that the hearing examiner’s decision gives “too little recognition of the reasons for and public benefits of institutional development,” offering the simple reminder that “hospitals save lives.”
Much was also made of the hearing examiner’s metaphor comparing Children’s expansion to fitting a square peg in a round hole. Laurelon Terrace, in its comments submitted by the Buck Law Group, a sponsor of Northwest Hub, argued that in Children’s case, “the size of the hole is plenty big to accommodate the peg, except under the most insular viewpoint.”
Four groups supported the decision, agreeing with the hearing examiner that the hospital’s expansion plan is inconsistent with the city’s urban village strategy. The groups agreeing with the decision include the Laurelhurst Community Club, the Hawthorne Hills Community Council, the Seattle Community Council Federation, and a joint appeal by the Seattle Displacement Coalition and the Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness. The displacement coalition, led by housing advocate John Fox, detailed its interpretation of the city code’s housing replacement mandate and derided the “plan to demolish one of the most attractive, desirable, largest, and affordable multifamily housing options in the Laurelhurst community, the 136-unit Laurelon Terrace Apartments.”
The project has generated a great deal of attention since the hearing examiner decision earlier this month. The council is expected to make a final ruling on the project later this year.
