Regards,



   -Jonathan

Dear Neighbors, As many of you know, over the past couple of years, the City of Bellevue has been working on a project called the Downtown Livability Initiative. The report from the first phase of this work can be found at http://www.bellevuewa.gov/pdf/PCD/CAC_Final_Report(1).pdf. It is now before the Planning Commission, and some parts are under review by the City Council. As I have noted in earlier updates, this project has many potential impacts to Vuecrest, as the proposed changes affect the area immediately east of our neighborhood. Based on discussions at the Annual Meeting and subsequent Monthly Directors' Meetings, the Vuecrest Directors decided to take actions opposing some of these changes. Our goals are to minimize negative impacts to Vuecrest and increase neighborhood involvement when new projects are proposed. The Vuecrest Board is especially concerned about changes to the height limits. The first proposed change is to the "2d" area (the first half-block east of 100th, about where the condos in the QVC parking lot are). Here the maximum height would increase from 55 feet to 70 feet, plus an additional 15 feet for mechanical or architectural features. The second change, to the "2c" area (about where QFC is located), would raise the maximum building height from 90 feet to 240 feet, plus 15% for mechanical or architectural features. This would yield a maximum height of 276 feet, slightly taller than the Bellevue Place buildings. Recently, Vuecrest Directors have been attending Planning Commission meetings to discuss our neighborhood concerns The reaction from many of the commissioners has been positive and provoked significant discussion; you can see some of my comments in the minutes here: http://www.ci.bellevue.wa.us/pdf/PlanningCommission/01-13-2016.pdf. To share current thinking and hear community feedback, City of Bellevue planning managers Patti Wilma and Emil King will be attending the next Vuecrest Directors' Meeting, this Thursday, March 3rd. To accommodate this discussion (along with many Architecture Committee items), we have changed the meeting start time to 6:30pm. The meeting will be held at the Bathische home at 9428 Vineyard Crest, as noted in this month's Vuecrest View, and as always, all Vuecrest Community Association members are invited to attend. In addition, the city Planning Commission is holding an Open House on the proposed changes at City Hall on Wednesday March 9 at 5:30pm. We encourage all community members to attend this event. If you are unable to attend these events, but want to share your views with the Planning Commission, you can email them at planningcommission@bellevuewa.gov <mailto:planningcommission@bellevuewa.gov> . Regards, -Jonathan Jonathan Kagle President Vuecrest Community Association <about:blank> www.vuecrest.net