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Battleground

Nickels vs. City Council at Northgate

In his budget speech last September, Mayor Greg Nickels demanded that the city council approve the deal he'd banged out in March with Northgate Mall owner Simon Property Group. (The deal allows Simon to double the mall's size by 2015 without going through the neighborhood's overarching "General Development Plan" regulatory process. In exchange, Simon would give the city 2.6 acres for free to develop a drainage pond.) "Nothing happens until you approve the plan we sent down," Nickels scolded. "Unlock Northgate."

The council was taken aback by Nickels' brazen demand. (His Northgate deal wasn't a budget item, and it'd been hammered out behind closed doors without council or neighborhood input. And the deal didn't include the improved pedestrian drag that neighbors want along Fifth Avenue Northeast.)

Last week, at a midday press conference along Fifth Avenue Northeast, five council members, flanked by neighborhood groups like the Maple Leaf Community Council, Citizens for a Livable Northgate, and the Thornton Creek Alliance, responded to Nickels by unveiling their own plan. The council members, including Richard Conlin (the main architect of the council's counterproposal), talked about developing Northgate with neighbors. Instead of simply axing the General Development Plan (GDP) process, as the mayor demanded, the council unveiled three alternatives to GDPs, giving property owners flexibility on their plans for six-acre-plus properties, but ensuring that development meets the neighborhood's long-range standards.

Here's what the council put on the table: GDPs remain an option for bigger developments, so outsiders can watchdog developers' big Northgate picture, not just piecemeal projects (the GDP process mandates long-term planning). But the council fixed the flawed process by making the developers' plans amendable--as it stands now, once developers get a GDP approved for their property they're essentially stuck with it. But developers can skip the GDP process altogether if they lay out their long-term plans another way, like in a developer agreement with the city, or a simpler "Master Use" permit. The council also unveiled a slate of smaller proposals, including "green" building requirements and pedestrian improvements. Moreover, they called for community involvement in planning. As for the mall, the council's plan would require the mayor to tweak his proposed agreement with Simon and send it back to the council in 60 days.

At the council's press conference, cheers ensued--with one exception. Team Nickels had infiltrated the press event. After handing out a stern statement from Nickels ("If this council won't act [on the mayor's original proposal], I will work with a new council in January") and passing around a letter from Simon's executive vice president denouncing Conlin's plan, Nickels' press secretary said the mayor's office would hold its own press conference in an hour.

Sure enough, back at the mayor's office, Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis held court, ridiculing the council. Ceis argued that Conlin's plan prioritized process over progress and said it would scuttle developer interest in Northgate--which, he points out, has already been stagnant for years under the GDP. Ceis called Conlin's proposal "GDP-plus."

Conlin balked, saying defiantly the following day, "Our proposal will pass."

The next Monday, November 17, the stage was set for a standoff during the council's Northgate committee meeting--but weirdly, all present were on their best behavior. Ceis was invited to give the "executive response" to the council's proposal, but the exchange was painfully civil. Ceis outlined "points of agreement" with the council. Then Steinbrueck and Conlin countered with passive-aggressive lectures on the council's relationship with the mayor's office, calling it "very constrained," and "stifling." With that, the two sides agreed to work out their differences constructively, and quickly, to come up with yet another plan. "Time is of the essence, and I think there is a willingness to work together," Steinbrueck said.

amy@thestranger.com