A rendering of SU’s future plans for 12th and Madison
Two members of a Citizen Advisory Committee that worked for more than five years to help shape Seattle University’s new Major Institution Master Plan went before the Seattle City Council’s planning and land use committee October 26 (see video below) to argue that the plan will allow the school to build too high, will eliminate too much non-university housing and does not do enough to concentrate future growth of the campus.
The appeal brought by Squire Park residents William Zosel and Ellen Sollod seeks to turn back approved rezones for portions of the plan, curtail expansion of the SU campus along 12th and 13th Ave and require the school to be responsible for developing non-university housing to replace any residential structures removed in future school developments:
CHS reported on the sprawling plan for the 6,000-student campus at the southern edge of Capitol Hill here: What Seattle U will look like in 2028: School brings its future plans before City Council
The MIMP outlines an expansion of the school’s boundaries by 2.4 acres by 2028, with 2 million square feet added to the campus for new development.
Some of the planned long-term additions to the school include:
- Underground parking lots
- Pedestrian paths along 12th
- A more defined school border on Madison St
- A new academic/housing building incorporating a new structure combined with the 12th and Madison Self-Storage building
- A new building at 1313 E Columbia
- A new mixed use building on 13th Ave
The City Council committee session comes after the Hearing Examiner upheld the Department of Planning and Development’s approval of the plan.
We will update this post as the appeal plays out. You can watch the proceedings live via. Documents from the appeal process have been posted on the city web site:
Supporting Documents:
b. SU Response to Zosel Appeal
d. Seattle University Citizens Advisory Committee (SUCAC)Letter
e. October 15, 2012 Notice to SUCAC
f. Central Staff Table of Appeal Issues
Here’s video of the October 26 committee meeting (Seattle U discussion starts at 114:00):
This story was originally published on our sister site Capitol Hill Seattle.