First Light Condominium at 2000-3rd Ave. boasts a rooftop pool and some of the best sunset views in the Pacific Northwest. Its problems come on the ground, where it is not a functional design.  As home to an anticipated 1,600 condo dwellers and office workers, this small village is requesting fewer and smaller loading berths than required by code. Most trucks won't be able to access the berths because the project's narrow alley is lined with dumpsters from neighboring older buildings, home to some of Seattle's most popular restaurants. And ingress and egress from its parking garage will be challenging, if not impossible.

At its Design Review Recommendation meeting in October 2018, members of the public spoke out about this congestion disaster in the making.  The project architect was so moved that he stood up to say he'd like to take the public's suggestions and create a more functional loading design--until the developer's attorney interrupted him to say they should talk about that later.  No word on the latest plans.

First Light is a perfect example of a rush to approval that would cause irreparable damage to our downtown as it dominates shared public right-of-ways, and adversely affects downtown traffic, livability, and mobility for first responders.

Click here to read one of the comment letters.

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