LCC Comments on UW Plans for Laurel Village

 

The Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC) posted this information in a recent newsletter:

LCC Comments on UW Plans for Laurel Village:

Recently, the UW outlined its plans for renovation and additional student housing and child care at its Laurel Village site for undergraduate housing (4200 Mary Gates Memorial Drive N.E.). 

LCC shared its comments on the plans at CUCAC (a UW/City Department of Neighborhoods committee) in an effort to inform a good outcome for more housing, as well as a desirable transition to the residential neighborhood. 

LCC comment highlights include: 1) Save the mature trees that surround the housing structures and enhance the livability of the site. Trees provide a green buffer to the village residents and to the adjacent neighborhoods, providing shade and vegetation for families to enjoy. (Seattle has lost 3% of its canopy (as opposed to the City’s stated policy to grow it 5% by 2030, and large projects such as this should be built in ways that preserve the trees that clean the air, provide urban habitat and shade on increasingly hot days) 2) Use simple uncluttered architecture and Northwest neutral color palettes and natural materials, not reflective facades. 3) Design site so taller buildings are next to the higher topography on NE 45th Street, which will help scale the transition to the adjacent low-rise detached houses along Mary Gates Memorial Drive. 4) Preserve open space for families and daycare use. 5) Reduce single occupancy vehicle (SOV) transportation impacts that will be created by adding four times the number of current housing units (from 80 to 320) and tripling the day care “round trips” on this site from 77 to 200. The increase in trip generation will create more congestion at the busy five-corner intersection. LCC suggested potentially using NE 45th St. access to ease pressure at the five-way intersection. 6) Improve pedestrian safety at the hazardous crossing from Laurel Village to Clark Road. 

LCC met with the City’s Chief Safety Engineer in March 2022 to request safety improvements for student families and bicyclists who use that road to connect to the Light Rail station and campus. 

LCC requests that UW also advocate with SDOT to protect the safety of its 640 Laurel Village residents, which will include the new day care children and more cyclists. n The “fronts” of the new residential buildings should face Mary Gates Memorial Dr., and the back yards should face the interior of the site (unlike today) to transition to adjacent residences. 

LCC expressed its willingness to partner with UW and CUCAC to refine the new buildings siting, tree retention, traffic circulation, and materials palette as the Laurel Village plans progress. 

(photo courtesy of UW)