OnTrack, a citywide group of Seattle citizens and businesspeople concerned about accountability on the monorail, recently filed an appeal of the Monorail Project's Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the grounds that it inadequately describes and addresses the impacts of the Green Line on Seattle's neighborhoods.
In addition to spotlighting inadequacies in the analysis, OnTrack's appeal cites haste in Monorail decision-making process that has prevented the EIS from serving the purpose intended under state law. The project already is suffering a 30-percent shortfall in revenue. OnTrack is concerned that haste and an inadequate environmental analysis could lead to other similar or more far-reaching problems.
"We are using the appeals process set up by the Monorail Authority because it is important to have an impact statement that decision-makers like the city council can use to make sound decisions," said Don Wise, co-chair of OnTrack. "The current EIS has very serious shortcomings and can't serve this purpose. While it is obvious that a lot of time and effort went into the EIS, it still sidesteps many of the difficult issues."
According to Wise, critical issues lacking sufficient analysis include parking in the neighborhoods, station design as well as the impact of the monorail on Metro and Metro bus riders. There are no plans for parking lots or garages around stations, he added, meaning that monorail riders choosing to drive to Ballard or West Seattle will have to park on congested residential streets.
Wise said that the organization also is concerned that station design is left entirely up to contractors and there is no requirement for promised neighborhood input. There is also no agreement with Metro on fares or feeder bus service, he added, which could take service away from other neighborhoods.
"The EIS is more than a formality," Wise said. "It's a crucial document that should help protect Seattle citizens and businesses from harmful impacts. Or if they are unavoidable, it should tell how the monorail will pay for them. If the monorail doesn't pay the costs, Seattle taxpayers will have to pay."
In addition to holding the Seattle Monorail Project accountable, the EIS is intended to guide the city as it considers the monorail's right-of-way. The city council soon will take up this issue and has pledged to ensure that the monorail has enough money to be built and to pay for the full costs of the project. The Monorail's EIS is insufficient to provide this guidance, making further environmental analysis essential before decisions are finally made, OnTrack's appeal states.
OnTrack's appeal also identifies what OnTrack sees as serious flaws in the decision-making process.
"The Monorail staff made their final recommendations on route and stations before they even had the final EIS and could consider all the impacts," Wise said. "Those of us who wanted to comment on these recom-mendations had our opportunity at a corridor hearing fully a month before we could look at the EIS. Now the Monorail Board is scheduled to approve the project with just over two weeks for the board and the public to look at the six-volume EIS."
If the appeal should succeed, a new environmental impact statement would be required, along with another chance for public comment, Wise said.
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