Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Fred King, a retired architect who is the Chair of the Capitol Campus Design Advisory Committee regarding the proposed rezone of the Fourth Avenue isthmus, for the upcoming issue of Works In Progress. Here is a sneak preview:

Works In Progress: I understand that there were two presentations regarding the rezone proposal made by City of Olympia staff to the Capitol Campus Design Advisory Committee (CCDAC)?

Fred King: The first time we were just told there was a rezone proposal, and CCDAC members said we don’t know what the effect of this will be, give us some graphic illustrations of how this will affect views. The second time, the city staff came back with some building block type illustrations that purported to show how it would affect views from several locations on campus, although it wasn’t entirely clear at which locations. At that meeting, CCDAC expressed some concerns. We still felt that we didn’t have adequate evidence that the views on campus wouldn’t be adversely affected, especially by the taller buildings. From the beginning we have been opposed to any buildings in the fountain block. The reason for that is that during the several years when we were planning Heritage Park, there were discussions between the city and state about the overall park grouping, with Heritage Park on state land and the city park on city land, and there were agreements about how this would proceed, which included that block being entirely park.

I see that the Olympian isn't as quick to their usual rush to judgment when one of their own -- an award-winning photographer -- is accused of assaulting a police officer. I hope this incident serves as an eye-opener for some people.

As I mentioned in another thread, I signed up on the Oly2012 mailing list. I love downtown Olympia, and care about how it evolves. As I mentioned in that other thread, no one at Oly2012 asked me what my opinion was, but I did get emails from them. The first email encouraged me to contact the city council and urge them to approve the new Children's Museum location. The second alerted me that they had taken a position on downtown housing development and linked me to their website where they made their case for rezoning the parcels on the isthmus that Tri Vo owns and would like to develop. Here is the text of the third email:

CALL TO ACTION!

The first of many opportunities to show your support for the overall OLY 2012 vision is the proposed Urban Waterfront Rezone. An amendment to the City's Comprehensive Plan has been proposed that would rezone nine parcels of property on the isthmus from Urban Waterfront to Urban Waterfront Housing.

As described in our larger vision for downtown, OLY 2012 proposes a compromise approach that supports a contingent rezone for two of the nine parcels. If you have any questions about our proposal please send them to oly2012@oly2012.org.

The first step in considering the rezone amendment is a hearing before the Olympia Planning Commission. The Commission will then make a recommendation to the City Council for action in October.

BE THERE! SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR OLY 2012!

Olympia Planning Commission Public Hearing

Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Time: 6:30 pm

Place: Olympia Center, 222 Columbia Street NW

Please arrive by 5:30 to sign in.

Get your OLY 2012 sticker at the door.

Sign in to testify if possible, and bring your testimony in writing.

Didn't I read somewhere recently that there are no current plans to construct housing downtown? Someone had better let the City Council know, because they are running around doing foolish things like getting rid of alleys, all because of this hare-brained fantasy that there will be housing built downtown. And local business owners are up in arms, fearing their customers won't have a place to park when housing construction consumes what are now city-owned parking lots. They'd probably feel a lot better if they knew that this housing project is not actually planned. We all know the City Council cares deeply about parking and downtown businesses, and would never sell us out to developers!

The Friends of the Waterfront have a website that gives some information about the proposed rezone of the isthmus, as well as suggestions on how concerned citizens can act in opposition to the rezone. There are lots of graphics and media links and other good stuff as well. Don't miss the Power Point presentation that shows how the views will be affected!

These images, which were created by the City of Olympia and a consultant in San Francisco to show what a rezone could do to the appearance of the isthmus, are not available online. Nor have they been published by the Olympian. So I had to scan the wrinkled old hard copy I got at the public forum at the Olympia Center of March 22, where maybe 100 very dismayed Olympians got a glimpse of the isthmus' future. I tried to get them from the City of Olympia -- at first they said they would post them when they got them from the consultant, then later they changed their minds and decided not to post them. Gee, I wonder why?

(click on a picture to see a larger image)

Part II

Just before Works In Progress went to press, we were given the following account of the events that followed the downtown Olympia May Day rally. The May issue of Works In Progress, which includes this and other articles of local interest, is now available at the usual locations around town, and will soon be posted to the Works In Progress website.

May 1: Eyewitness Report of May Day Melée

Most people know what to expect from May Day in Olympia. Music, dancing, marching (usually without a permit). Food Not Bombs serving from a big tub of soup. A festival, both to celebrate Beltane, and in honor of those who died so we could have a weekend, overtime pay, and an end to child labor. In recent years, this has been complimented with May Day’s additional focus as an immigrant rights day, and with it a focus on multilingualism and the ongoing ICE raids.

All went as expected for most of the day. Indeed, there was music. There was dancing. There was marching (with a legal permit, this year). There were invited speakers, talking about things ranging from the Longshore work stoppage, to the proposal before the Olympia City Council to establish Olympia as a Sanctuary City for war resisters and immigrants.

As the mother of a teenage girl, I am quite concerned about the two sexual assaults that have occurred recently in our neighborhood. (Statistically, females are more likely to be raped during their teen years than any other time in their lives.) It seems to me that the Olympian is moving kind of slowly in reporting on this event, especially since there is now a sketch available of the suspect. The sketch is shown on video on the KIRO-TV news website. <p>

The rape which occurred Wednesday near the St. Martin's University campus is not that far from the sexual assault which occurred on March 17 at Indian Springs Country Club (Olympian story here). I haven't heard anyone mention that the crimes may be connected, but I'm sure the thought has occurred to other nervous people who live near these two locales.

I emailed the Lacey PD, requesting the police sketch of the suspect to post to Olyblog, but haven't had a response from them yet. I can't believe that although this sketch is available, the Olympian hasn't posted it yet.

It's March, right?