Strapping rugby players and kids in Little League caps won't be the only folks crowding council chambers that Wednesday night. They'll be met by neighbors--mostly people who live on nearby View Ridge--and environmentalists who oppose the plan. That group, organized as Friends of Magnuson Park (you may have seen FOMP's yellow "Save Magnuson Park" yard signs all over town recently), says the Magnuson Park plan will result in light and noise pollution, plus wildlife disturbance. Its members' goal is to "protect the natural habitat and beauty" of the park; to that end, they've had a lighting expert check out the plans, and they claim the lit fields will be twice as bright as Safeco Field and visible across Lake Washington, impacting everyone from nearby residents to migratory birds.
The public hearing is sure to be a showdown: Both groups have been debating the park plan for years, attending meetings with city staffers since 1999. More recently, the two sides dumped e-mail on the city council (council staff reportedly asked for a cease-fire, after getting around 1,300 messages), and flooded the city with "expert" analysis. Field proponents have spreadsheets on the "Projected Unmet Needs" of athletic space while FOMP has a computer rendition of the fully-lit complex displayed on its website. While the pro-fields folks seem to have the upper hand--the plan has passed the parks department's vetting process, and the mayor supports it--the neighbors and enviros can't be underestimated: FOMP members are backed by a dozen North Seattle groups ranging from the 46th District Democrats to the View Ridge Community Council, they've already appealed earlier environmental impact statements on the plan, and they've considered a lawsuit. Moreover, city staffers say the council seems sympathetic toward the people opposed to the project.