Update on the condo conquest of our isthmus

author : Janet Blanding topic : waterfront | Triway

by Janet Blanding

As the folly of unwise overextension in the housing market is becoming alarmingly apparent to the rest of the world, the City Council of Olympia is blithely moving ahead with its plan to gentrify downtown Olympia. With its customary disregard for the will of the public, on Sept. 30, the Council voted five to two to proceed with a rezone that would enable Triway Enterprises to construct high-end condominiums on the isthmus between Budd Bay and Capitol Lake.

The community has really pulled together in opposition to the rezone; although some people call it a divisive issue, the truth is that a huge array of Olympians have joined forces to preserve what they love about their city, bringing together people who usually occupy different social niches. It’s no longer uncommon to see 20-something anarchists in leather pants gathering signatures for the park initiative alongside retirees in their 70’s or 80’s. In just one month, the city initiative that would require the city of Olympia to conduct a feasibility study of turning the unoccupied portions of the isthmus into a park was signed by nearly 5000 voters in the city of Olympia. As Capitol Park Foundation Chair Jerry Reilly remarked, “As evidenced by the rapid gathering of sufficient signatures to validate this Petition, many people believe that the option of developing the Isthmus as a park needs to be seriously explored.”

Roger Polzin, aged 70, went from door to door in several west Olympia neighborhoods, talking to people about the isthmus rezone issue and gathering approximately 350 signatures for the initiative. According to Polzin, most people were already familiar with the issue and enthusiastically signed the petition. “My biggest challenge was finding people at home,” he said. “Once I found them at home, the vast majority signed the initiative.”

The initiative was delivered to the City Clerk’s office on September 18th. During the process of signature verification by the County Auditor’s office, a number of signatures were found to be invalid, leaving the initiative 166 signatures short of the required 3819. Many voters with an Olympia address are nonetheless outside of the city itself and are therefore ineligible to vote in city elections, and sign city initiatives. By September 30, over 500 additional signatures had been gathered in just four days, putting the initiative back on track.

On Sept. 16, a public hearing was held at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. City spokesperson Cathie Butler, estimated that there were about 500 individuals in attendance. Of these, 287 signed in as opposed to the rezone, while 15 signed in as being in support of it. Unlike the Planning Commission hearing on this rezone, speakers were not taken alternately between pro and con, but randomly; a large majority spoke in opposition. Because so many members of the public signed up to speak against the rezone, a second hearing was held on Sunday, Sept. 21. At that time, 15 speakers were opposed to the rezone, while 3 spoke in favor of it. All told, 83 spoke in opposition to the proposed amendment to raise height limits on the isthmus, while 28 spoke in favor, a ratio of 3 to 1. Of those favoring the rezone, it should be noted that all but a few identified themselves as either Triway employees, downtown business owners, or members of local business associations, such as the ODA (Olympia Downtown Association), Master Builders, or economic development groups.

Opponents to the rezone spoke to a number of objections to the project: the co-opting of the views, the dangers of sea level rise, the questionable legality of what appears to be a spot rezone, the disregard for the homeless and other low income people in favor of the interests of the rich, the questionable likelihood of success for such a project in today’s economic climate, the public’s preference for a park, and many others.

Triway principal Tri Vo once again reassured the crowd that he was speaking from his heart when he asserted that the Larida Passage project “is the change that will make it possible to finally bring people to live downtown,” a statement that no doubt prompted the many downtown residents in attendance to wonder just exactly who Tri Vo considers to be people. Later, when speaker Karen Veldheer described the problems she and other residents of Cooper Crest had experienced as a result of Triway’s failure to comply with low impact development practices and audience members turned to see how Tri Vo was reacting to this public discussion of Triway’s shortcomings, he was observed to be asleep.

Triway’s boosters did their best to discredit the clear evidence of overwhelming public opposition to the project. Rezone advocate Peter Stroble of Oly2012 inflamed the generally courteous crowd at the hearing when he insisted that the majority of Olympians actually supported the Larida Passage project, but their busy lives prevented them from being present at the hearing. Quoting Matthew Kiefer, whom he described as a “Harvard professor,” Stroble stated that “Public hearings become forums for those who oppose development; in an increasingly fragmented culture they are what pass for community.” Subsequent investigation showed that not only was Kiefer misquoted, but that rather than being a Harvard professor, he is actually a pro-development land use attorney in Boston, who works to overcome public opposition to development projects; Kiefer has guest-lectured at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

This credentials inflation and inaccuracy, the reliance on the magical thinking of trickle-down economics and the presumption that if housing development doesn’t happen soon in this exact spot, it would never, ever happen were typical of the hollow arguments put forth in favor of the rezone. Recent events have underscored the disastrous results of trickle-down economics and greedy governments that are unresponsive to the will and interests of the people. Olympia isn’t the kind of place where the powers that be can pull that kind of stunt with the acquiescence of a passive populace. We will continue to organize, to resist, and to protect the integrity of our city.

Along with the majority of Olympia’s voters, Janet Blanding opposes the rezone of the isthmus