In todays Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an article entitled: New Church Center Planned, Jehovah's Witnesses draw critics.
New church center planned
Jehovah's Witnesses draw critics
Wednesday, August 7, 2002
By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
ISSAQUAH -- Jehovah's Witnesses church members here soon may be praying in a new one-story center.
The Issaquah Development Commission tonight will consider whether to issue a permit so the church can build a new Kingdom Hall on an empty lot at Southeast Newport Way and 12th Avenue Northwest.
The project, which some community members have questioned, calls for building a 3,990-square-foot hall and a 54-car parking lot.
The church needs more space in the Seattle area because it wants to keep congregations to about 100 members, said John Baumann, a Jehovah's Witnesses representative.
That number is important to maintain a sense of community, he said.
On the Eastside, the church has halls in Bellevue and Renton.
Baumann estimates the church has about 3,600 members in the Seattle area and said the Issaquah building will not harm the neighborhood.
"The impact would be pretty equivalent to a single-family home," he said. "As church members, we make a sincere effort to be good neighbors."
But Klaus Lankeit, an Issaquah resident, said the hall would lead to more traffic and environmental problems, such as water runoff.
"You have a playing field across the street. It's just loaded with cars," said Lankeit, who lives at the base of Squak Mountain.
Lankeit was referring to Tibbetts Valley Park. Other residents who live in the Squak Mountain area also use Southeast Newport Way and 12th Avenue Northwest, he said.
Lankeit said he harbors no ill will against the church. But he would like to see the new center built in a non-hilly area. If the proposed site remains vacant, he believes it could help absorb water.
The city's planning department has stated the project, located in a single-family and suburban zone, will not have a "significant adverse impact on the environment."
The department has received 35 e-mails and letters questioning the hall construction. One public comment referred to privacy.
"We are concerned that the proximity of the proposed Kingdom Hall will provide easy access to our neighborhood," the message read. "We do not want to have any more unsolicited calls."
If the commission approves the permit, construction could start as early as spring.
Materials for the parking lot, water system, landscaping and hall, which would seat 175 people, are expected to cost $300,000, Baumann said.
Area church members will donate their labor to build the hall. He expects the hall to serve 85 people.
GETTING INVOLVED
Issaquah's Development Commission meets at 7 p.m. today in Council Chambers at City Hall, 135 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah.
Here is the link. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/81628_issaquah07.shtml
I hope they don't approve the permit.
Edited by - mulan on 7 August 2002 16:46:38
Edited by - mulan on 7 August 2002 16:55:37
