How will 43 acres of excess property on the Fircrest Campus be used? Shoreline City Council members will ultimately decide once a permit application is submitted by the Department of Social and Health Services, or DSHS. But first, the council must determine whether new uses of the site can be included in a Fircrest Master Plan.
Under the direction of the Legislature, DSHS began creation of the plan for a portion of the Fircrest campus that is not used by the Fircrest School or by the Washington State Department of Health Labortatory. The Fircrest campus is located on 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 150th Street.
The two-phrase process began in Fall 2007 with work by DSHS to identify the excess property, Ed Valbert, DSHS project manager, told councilmembers during a study session on Aug. 18. Comments received through the project’s Web site and during two public meetings helped lead to the creation of a hybrid plan, according to Valbert.
“The (state) Legislature said to use the hybrid option to secure a permit from the City of Shoreline,” Valbert said. “The Legislature demonstrated their support by funding phase two, a master plan permit.”
The hybrid plan, Valbert explained, includes mixed-used residential, public service and governmental office uses along 15th Avenue Northeast. A system of trails and open space is also part of the plan to help define campus boundaries, he said.
“We’re trying to define what is the Fircrest campus,” Valbert said. “Our goal is to actually come out with a stronger Fircrest campus.”
The Plan also hints at a possible relocation of six aging buildings, known as the Y buildings into one, new building. Although funding to move the buildings does not currently exist, according to Valbert, DSHS has made a request to study the efficiency of the buildings.
Relocating the Y buildings and consolidating them into one building will upset a vulnerable population, some individuals who attended the meeting said.
“I care for these people,” Rev. Kristin Ellison-Oslin, a chaplain at Fircrest, said. “We have one of the top ten (nursing facilities) in the nation. These small groups (of buildings) are desirable because they allow people to develop relationships with a very stable staff and with the other residences.”
The Y buildings provide a way to separate residents who don’t get along, according to Jim Hardman, a guardian for several Fircrest residents.
“The Y buildings are an important part of Fircrest,” Hardman said. “It’s important to have ways to separate people … the Y buildings accomplish this and a single building would not.”
Excess property should not be created by destroying the Y Buildings, Maria Walsh, member of the organization Friends of Fircrest said.
“We believe in retaining the Y nursing homes until funding can be retained for their replacement in the same land space,” she said.
The Fircrest Master Plan does not include the state’s health laboratory but will take into consideration some information from the laboratory’s own master plan process, according to Valbert. Once the city receives an application from DSHS, a quasi-judicial process will occur and end in a decision on whether to approve the Master Plan by the city council.
Valbert expects two more public meetings throughout phase two. A report on the Fircrest Master Plan is due by December 2010, he said.
“I do appreciate that this is going to be a continued open discussion with the community,” councilwoman Doris McConnell said. “I think the public needs to continually let you know what they want and the end result will be a compromise.”
The council will continue to discuss the Fircrest Master Plan during a study session at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 2 at the Shoreline Center. Additional information about the Fircrest Master Plan process can be found at www.cityofshoreline.com/cityhall/projects/fircrest/index.cfm.
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