Shoreline City Council Denies Appeal to Shorewood High School Plan

Correction: At the Feb. 28 meeting of the Shoreline Landmarks Commission three of the seven of the members were present, Lauren McCroskey, Stephen Day and Tom Hitzroth.

In a victory for the Shoreline School District, the city council voted unanimously Monday to deny an appeal to a plan that would allow the district to build a new Shorewood High School at the site of the Ronald School building.

The move was a blow to the Shoreline Preservation Society, a group of community activists who filed the appeal to halt the process on grounds that the Shoreline Landmarks Commission had made procedural errors and acted in poor judgment when it approved the plan in November.

The city council was expected to vote on the appropriateness of the plan at the February 28 meeting, but delayed action so council members and city staff could investigate allegations that the Landmarks Commission did not follow proper parliamentary procedure.

At the February 28 meeting, most of the discussion centered around whether the Landmarks Commission had a quorum when it voted on a certificate of appropriateness for the plan. At that meeting, five of the seven commissioners were present, but two recused themselves saying they had a conflict of interest. Parliamentary procedure usually requires at least half the members of a voting body to be present to constitute a quorum.

During Monday’s discussion, Councilmember Chris Roberts said he felt the school district had not been entirely inclusive during earlier stages and that the Landmarks Commission indeed did not have a quorum, but nonetheless supported the plan, saying the attorney representing the Preservation Society had not brought up the quorum issue in appeals documents. He said the decision came down to whether the commission had acted in good faith.

“The community is divided,” Roberts said. “We, as a council, are forced to adjudicate the decision of the Landmarks Commission.”

Councilmember Chris Eggen agreed with the school district, saying he thought the commission did nothing wrong.

“I’ve looked at this long and hard, and I’m not convinced there was any error in the decision the Landmarks Commission made,” Eggen said. “I think they deliberated fairly, and I don’t see anything that would make me overturn my decision.”

Mayor Keith McGlashan said he fully supported the plan as a way to preserve the major features of the old school building and allow it to stay in use as a school.

“I’m excited about it,” McGlashan said. “I think this helps preserve it—in a way. And it falls into the maintenance budget of the school district, which means it will be maintained.”

The plan would allow the school district to build a new Shorewood High School on the Ronald School property. One of the buildings would attach to the back of the Ronald School building.

The building had been marked with a historic landmark designation, meaning it must be preserved. The Landmarks Commission, a body of county appointees, was changed with determining the appropriateness of the new school, based on historic preservation criteria set forth by the Department of the Interior.

The commission voted unanimously to grant the plan a certificate of appropriateness.

The school district hoped to get the plan through the commission and the council quickly because the state promised $17 million in matching grants if the project begins by the end of June.

Members of the school district and parents of Shoreline students applauded the council's vote at the meeting.