In early 2006, after three years discussing it internally, Camp Fire USA put historic Waldo Hospital up for sale. They contacted nobody in the community at the time. The community found out when their real estate agent placed a story in a July edition of the Puget Sound Business Journal. The Executive Board of the Maple Leaf Community Council met with Camp Fire's executive director in early August 2006, offering to help raise money for building repairs, find funding to buy the building, or find a developer who would treat the site with historic and environmental sensitivity. Camp Fire stated they were "interested only in making as much money as possible" from the sale. A second meeting with Camp Fire a few months later ended the same way.

Prescott Development submitted a bid believed to be above $7.5 million to purchase the property. Prescott planned 39 homes on the site and the destruction of Waldo Forest. Camp Fire turned down a $6.5 million dollar bid from a developer who committed to save Waldo Forest. Subsequently, a number of organizations and companies have approached the community interested in purchasing the property.

Community members participated in a City-mandated process to determine whether Waldo Hospital and the grounds were historically significant. Community members won a unanimous nomination. Camp Fire then spent, according to comments they made in the press, over $65,000 to hire lawyers and "experts". This expense, combined with improper meeting conduct by the Landmark Preservation Board, combined to manufacture a decision against designating Waldo Hospital as a landmark. Camp Fire incorrectly told their members a landmark designation would have prevented the sale of the property. To the contrary, landmark preservation would have unlocked significant tax benefits to responsible developers. Re-development of landmarks is a thriving business in the Puget Sound area.

The process then moved to Early Design Review, where Prescott development presented initial plans to the Design Review Committee. There were three of these meetings, each attended by better than 50 interested citizens. Public testimony was provided at each. As a result of the public testimony and Design Review Committee members discomfort with their plans, Prescott exited Early Design Review with no endorsement or permission for building code departures, as was their goal.

Prescott essentially ignored nearly all of the important design review guidance. The homes are huge (30-35' tall) and not especially inventive architecturally (particularly where facing the future reservoir park). Over half the trees on the site will be removed and 20% of what is left will be permanently harmed by the location of 8 of the townhomes. The refuse situation is inadequate and does not account for recycling. No plans exist for mitigating increased traffic, parking, or pedestrian safety. No special plans exist for protecting the reservoir during demolition and construction.

Prescott subsequently entered the Design Guidance phase of the design review process. At the first Design Guidance meeting, the Design Review Board addressed most of the same issues outstanding since the second design guidance meeting. Prescott simply hadn't resolved most of them. Among specific requests, the Board asked Prescott to remove all the unit garages from 85th and 86th to address the height, bulk, and scale issues identified at the first design guidance meeting. They requested the single units be moved to the outside of the property and the duplex units moved inside for the same reasons. A number of other concerns, all left over from the early design guidance process, were addressed. This resulted in Prescott being asked to come back for a second Design Guidance meeting.

At the beginning of the second meeting one month later, the head of Design Review for the city (Vince Lyons) and the city permit planner assigned to the project (Scott Kemp) stood up prior to any comment or any presentation by either Prescott or the community, and declared this was to be the last design review meeting. This is odd since the Design Review Board was created to be an independent body. Despite the fact Prescott did not remove all the unit garages, and did not move duplex units to the exterior, and did not address many of the issues outstanding since the second design guidance meeting, the Board followed the instructions of Mr. Lyons and Mr. Kemp and voted the development out of design review.

We now await the City's determination of whether to require a full environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project.

(Click here for a complete timeline of events)

Listed below are some of the issues raised by community members during the Design Review Process:

Prevent destruction of Maple Leaf’s Waldo Forest
Waldo Forest is a contiguous urban forest containing over 60 trees. Waldo Forest contains nearly two dozen trees over two feet in diameter and a pair of trees 100 feet high which are nearly three feet in diameter. According to surveys done by our arborists and experienced community volunteers, Waldo Forest is in excellent shape. Bald eagles and other wildlife regularly visit this beautiful site. Prescott's current claim is they save over 50% of trees in Waldo Forest, but they do not. They are not counting many of the trees because their hired "arborist" said they were not healthy (a common tactic by developers). Additionally, excavation for foundations and basements of houses placed within or near Waldo Forest will permanently damage the health of the trees. Many will die, even if they survive the construction process.

Will our air and drinking water be safe?
Dust and debris from the demolition of Historic Waldo Hospital and subsequent construction could find their way into the reservoir. Airborne particles will include lead paint dust, asbestos, and molds. A full “Environmental Impact Statement” (EIS) should be required before construction starts so alternatives can be considered and precautions taken to avoid adverse effects on our health.

Where will they all park?
The proposed 39 townhomes on the site will, at our neighborhood averages, come with at least 80 cars. There is parking proposed for just over 50. The development will eliminate street parking. There is no parking for visitors.

35' townhomes six feet apart is not neighborhood scale
The community spent hours documenting, even using the developer's own "example properties", how the proposed development was completely out of scale with the surrounding neighborhood. Modifications to design and location of the units on the site could help this problem, but Prescott never seemed interested. The Design Review Board would have been willing to force the issue, but City officials told them they had to pass the project out of design review prematurely.

Pedestrian safety issues
Traffic external to the site is not the purview of design review, but there are traffic issues on the site that are. The exit from the underground garage is not safe since the vehicles do not come to a level point before crossing the sidewalk. Three units will have to back out of their garages at a significant incline before crossing the sidewalk -- which is a major pedestrian route to Maple Leaf Park. Despite promises this would be dealt with in Design Review, City officials cut the process short by requiring the Board pass the project out of design review.

Questions? Contact us at information@SaveWaldo.org