Shoreline Community College officials invited community members to a public forum Tuesday, July 29, to gather input concerning the recently released Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) of the Campus Master Plan.
What officials heard was nothing new; the same two concerns, traffic and parking, were voiced by community members throughout the meeting.
“I am strongly opposed to the proposal as it stands,” one Shoreline resident said. “I’m tired of picking up the litter and the noise from loud tape decks … I do believe the college is an asset, but I wish it would live up to its name which has something to do with ‘community.’”
The DEIS, as required by the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges and by the city of Shoreline, outlines proposed changes to the college’s 78-acre campus that could be made within the next 10 years. Those changes include adding a 700-car multi-level garage to reduce the amount of street parking within the neighborhoods surrounding the college, and “spreading out” the traffic near the intersection of 160th and Greenwood Avenue near Innis Arden Way to better control the peak flow times of traffic.
“Traffic traveling west to Innis Arden Way from the intersection would access it directly from Greenwood Avenue, and eastbound traffic would be diverted onto 160th immediately west of Greenwood,” explained Mike Reed, principal engineer at Traffic Engineering Northwest. “This would split the flows and demands associated with the college and peak traffic hours.”
The DEIS also includes plans for an outdoor amphitheater, NCAA-sized baseball diamond, soccer field and improved water retention and detention systems.
However, community members feel their “calm, quiet neighborhood” will be greatly impacted if the college continues to grow in size and numbers.
“The amphitheater and the sports field do not support education, and it will draw in even more traffic,” one Shoreline resident said. “And the noise at night will be directed into the neighborhood.”
Another resident said of the proposed intersection change, “I think it’s just another band-aid, and there needs to be another solution for the college’s traffic.”
Bob Barta, who has lived in Shoreline since 1970 and serves as block watch captain and representative for the Highland Terrace Neighborhood Association, said he feels “the college has simply reached it’s saturation point.”
“The college has impacted our neighborhood since the beginning, and it was supposed to be a community college, not a regional college,” Barta said. “They need to limit their attendance, whether it’s through online courses or figuring out some way that students don’t have to be on campus to take classes.”
Currently, the college is in the process of collecting and adding the public’s comments to the DEIS, and will use them in creating the Final EIS by mid-August. The Final EIS will then be taken to Shoreline City Council for final approval in November.
To make comments on SCC’s DEIS, write, fax or email Beverly Brandt, VP of administrative services, at 16101 Greenwood Ave. N., Shoreline, WA, 98133, fax: 206-546-5855, e-mail: bbrandt@shore.ctc.edu. Deadline for all public comment is August 14, 2003.
Copies of the EIS can be viewed in SCC’s library and at the Shoreline and Richmond Beach libraries. They also can be purchased through the SCC Administrative Services Office, 16101 Greenwood Ave. N. for the cost of reproduction.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
