After several years of legal deliberation, rewritten church proposals, public comment and hours of meetings we feel it is important for the public to know the ongoing issues surrounding the proposed demolition and possible new construction of the St. Francis of Assisi church in Hamilton.
While a majority of the City of Hamilton Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) members want to push this project forward at the request of the church applicants at any legal cost, we have to consider the question – why?
Why does the zoning administrator continue to assist the applicant in revising its proposal and then recommending approval of the amended application? Why is the zoning administrator not focused on protecting the character and safety of the neighborhood and helping the church achieve needed improvements through comprehensive renovation?
In an effort to comply with city municipal code the church has now once again downsized its declared seating capacity in its latest submission while keeping the overall new construction of the church the same. To say you are going to reduce seating by 25% in order to advance the project to suit parking requirements but change nothing else is dishonest. If the church really intends not to add those seats back in the future, then why not propose a smaller structure and capture the savings? Does anyone believe that they will spend $8 million to tear down a renowned historic structure only to increase capacity by 50 people?
In the latest ploy to duck the city’s off-street parking requirements and avoid the need for a variance, the zoning administrator recommends the ZBA approve a new revised Joint Use Parking Agreement, which he helped the church to write, even though the ZBA has no authority to approve this under current municipal code. No enforcement is mentioned or envisioned, nor does the city have resources to monitor such a parking agreement as verified and documented in previous meetings. This is especially troublesome in view of the fact the church remains in violation of the Conditional Use Permit granted in 2005 for its parish center. Why would the church conform to a new parking agreement when they have been in violation of their ongoing parking obligations for 16 years? To this day their own parking lot goes mostly unused while they park on city streets in front of neighbors’ homes.
A further issue raised by the church’s most recent submission to the city is granting the church use of city property to achieve its parking targets. The city planning staff along with the ZBA have no authority to issue any such thing. That authority may lie with the city council, but why would the City of Hamilton agree to give away tax payers’ property to ensure the success of the church’s joint use parking agreement application?
The historic value of the 125 year old St. Francis of Assisi Church has been dismissed by the church, the zoning administrator and a majority of the ZBA members. Of all the issues surrounding this misguided project from the start, the destruction of this church may have the most significant impact on the city, its residents and the congregation itself. There would be no Hamilton without Marcus Daly. St. Francis was his church. The church is a gem, designed by Seattle architect August F. Heide, one of Seattle area’s architectural godfathers. It is not likely that that architectural quality will be built again, and certainly not in the church’s proposal. It is a story by itself. No other building in Hamilton except for a few Victorian era homes in the same Southside Historic District shows this kind of form and detail. And by all evidence, it remains structurally sound.
Perhaps the most frustrating and confusing issue is why the city staff along with the majority of ZBA members are not simply following the laws as laid out in the City of Hamilton Municipal Code or honoring the principles of the Hamilton Growth Policy, adopted after much public involvement. Legal rights and neighborly voices have been ignored both by the St. Francis building committee and the City of Hamilton Planning Department from the inception of the church application regardless of the laws in place to protect the neighborhood. Why? It is past time for the ZBA and the city staff to tell the Church Applicant “Enough is enough.” Tell them to stop the subterfuge of ever-shifting capacity, unenforcible Joint Use Parking Agreeements, variances necessitated by self-imposed hardships, encroachments on city property and their denial of responsibility to maintain and improve this treasure of a church. It is time to respect the residents and begin the process of healing the deep divisions this ill-conceived proposal has created both within the congregation and throughout the neighborhood.
Sincerely,
The Southside Historic Preservation Committee (“Neighbors”)
Alex Shaffer
Alene and Tom Tunny
Ty Capelle
Deidre and Jack Engelman
Joan and David Bryan
Nansu Roddy