Cynthia Liggitt shares her story, and tells how she was helped by the YWCA, during the July 7 grand opening of Passage Point’s transitional housing. By Greg Farrar

Cynthia Liggitt is a single mother, the former wife of a minister and a former inmate at the Washington Corrections Center for Women.

“It still pains me to say that, but I’m learning to tell the truth about my life so that I don’t go down that wrong route again, and I hope that my story might help others,” said Liggitt, who was charged with felony theft and forgery and served four and a half years in prison.

With the help of YWCA’s Passage Point program, Liggitt has finished her incarceration, earned a degree, and received parenting classes and counseling that have helped both her and her 2-year-old daughter, Jayden Wyrick.

Liggitt and local dignitaries, including King County Executive Dow Constantine, spoke at the grand opening of Passage Point in Maple Valley on July 7.

Located next to the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill, the six buildings have 46 housing units for men and women recently released from incarceration who wish to reunite with their children. The residents of Passage Point will have access to housing, employment and counseling services.

Residents must be homeless at the time of intake. Violent offenders or people convicted of crimes against children will not be allowed to stay at Passage Point.

The facility is already in high demand.

Tiffany Bradley, from Tacoma, was incarcerated after being charged with 19 counts of identity theft. She was also addicted to methamphetamine, she said.

In October, “I’ll be two years clean,” she said.

Bradley is completing her work-release program at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, and she will exit the system in October. She finished her screening for Passage Point on July 6, and attended the grand opening with her case manager so she could see the campus.

If accepted, “it would be a lot to me,” Bradley said. “I have four kids and they’re all going to come back home to me, and I don’t have a place to go.”

She said she hopes to get to stay in one of Passage Point’s dormlike buildings.

The residences have sitting rooms connected to kitchens and bedrooms, some with bunk beds.

Various benefactors, including Evergreen Community Church, Seattle-based HomeStreet Bank and Maple Hills residents donated supplies, such as pans and utensils, shower curtains and laundry baskets to future residents. Quilts from the Heart donated about 100 handmade quilts, enough for each parent and child.

Passage Point “sounds like a marvelous program,” said quilter Laila Adams, a Seattle resident. “I’m a retired educator, and I know all too well the problems children have in school. People who don’t have the traditional family and support network have to develop a new one. Any boost we can give them is good.”

The grand opening

A boarded-up dormitory at the King County-run Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Center in 2002. By Greg Farrar

Leaders from the YWCA, King County and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spoke at the opening ceremony before more than 130 guests toured the Passage Point campus of apartments, classrooms, offices and meeting halls.

Evergreen Community Church Pastor Don Burnett thanked all involved, including “the residents and their children who will become a community in this context, many experiencing fear and apprehension as they leave incarceration and embrace freedom.”

Passage Point fills a need for homeless parents leaving correctional facilities, Constantine said.

“In a county named in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., equity and social justice must be at the core of our vision for our county’s future,” he said. “We wanted to create a program that would support both the parents and the children, and help the family together to succeed.”

Residents can stay at Passage Point for up to three years. The first Passage Point residents are expected to arrive Aug. 1, YWCA spokeswoman Gestin Suttle said.

The YWCA hopes to decrease recidivism, former inmates re-entering the corrections system, YWCA Homeless Initiatives Director Linda Rasmussen said.

In 2007, the state’s rate of recidivism was high, with 53 percent of women and 65 percent of men returning to prison. For people in the Passage Point program, which was scattered throughout King County before the grand opening of the new campus, the recidivism rate was 22 percent for men and women, Rasmussen said.

Kathy Lewis, of the county Veterans Levy Citizens Oversight Board, urged voters to pass the veterans-and-human-services levy, King County Proposition 1, because the levy helps pay for programs such as Passage Point.

Homeowners pay 5 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property value, with a house assessed at $340,000 paying $17 per year.

The former alcohol treatment center was remodeled into apartments for the YWCA Passage Point community. By Greg Farrar

The levy has already paid for about $2.5 million in services to Passage Point.

The past and the future

The facility has been a long time in the making.

The former Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Center on the site closed in 2002 when the county ran out of money to run the facility.

When the county awarded the YWCA the bid to run the newly proposed Passage Point, some community members formed the Cedar Hills Rural Preservation Alliance, saying that the county didn’t have the right permits to operate the center.

Though the alliance won a lawsuit against the county in Snohomish County Superior Court, it was unable to afford another lawsuit when the county appealed the decision. The two settled out of court in 2010, and many alliance members serve on the Passage Point Community Advisory Committee, which has helped create the facility’s management plan.

As of July 7, Passage Point has a rough draft of the management plan, but has yet to finalize it. The plan is a living document, and can be modified to better serve Passage Point in the future, Rasmussen said.

Rod Case, a community advisory committee member, attended the grand opening.

“It’s nice to see it happen,” he said. “There’s been a lot of trials and tribulations throughout the years.”

How to help

Passage Point still needs supplies for its residents’ homes, offices and recreation. Learn what supplies are needed or donate by calling YWCA Community Engagement Director Liz Mills at 206-461-4450, or email her at lmills@ywcaworks.org.

Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext, 241, or lgeggel@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

Cynthia Liggitt is a single mother, the former wife of a minister and a former inmate at the Washington Corrections Center for Women.

“It still pains me to say that, but I’m learning to tell the truth about my life so that I don’t go down that wrong route again, and I hope that my story might help others,” said Liggitt, who was charged with felony theft and forgery and served 4.5 years in prison.

With the help of YWCA’s Passage Point program, Liggitt has finished her incarceration, earned a degree and received parenting classes and counseling that have helped both her and her 2-year-old daughter, Jayden Wyrick.

Liggitt and local dignitaries, including King County Executive Dow Constantine, spoke at the grand opening of Passage Point in Maple Valley on Thursday.

Located next to the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill, the six buildings have 46 housing units for men and women recently released from incarceration who wish to reunite with their children. The residents of Passage Point will have access to housing, employment and counseling services.

Residents must also be homeless at the time of intake. Violent offenders or people convicted of crimes against children will not be allowed to stay at Passage Point.

The facility is already in high demand.

Tiffany Bradley, from Tacoma, was incarcerated after being charged with 19 counts of identity theft. She was also addicted to methamphetamine, she said.

In October, “I’ll be two years clean,” she said.

Bradley is completing her work release program at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, and she will exit the system in October. She finished her screening for Passage Point on Wednesday, and attended the grand opening with her case manager so she could see the campus.

If accepted, “it would be a lot to me,” Bradley said. “I have four kids and they’re all going to come back home to me, and I don’t have a place to go.”

She said she hopes to get stay in one of Passage Point’s dormlike buildings.

The residences have sitting rooms connected to kitchens and bedrooms, some with bunk beds.

Various benefactors, including Evergreen Community Church, Seattle-based HomeStreet Bank and Maple Hills residents donated supplies, such as pans and utensils, shower curtains and laundry baskets to the future residents of Passage Point. Quilts from the Heart donated about 100 handmade quilts, enough for each parent and child.

Passage Point “sounds like a marvelous program,” said quilter Laila Adams, a Seattle resident. “I’m a retired educator, and I know all to well the problems children have in school. People who don’t have the traditional family and support network have to develop a new one. Any boost we can give them is good.”

The grand opening

Leaders from the YWCA, King County and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spoke at the opening ceremony before more than 130 guests toured the Passage Point campus of apartments, classrooms, offices and meeting halls.

Evergreen Community Church Pastor Don Burnett thanked all involved, including “the residents and their children who will become a community in this context, many experiencing fear and apprehension as they leave incarceration and embrace freedom.”

Passage Point fills a need for homeless parents leaving correctional facilities, Constantine said.

“In a county named in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., equity and social justice must be at the core of our vision for our county’s future,” he said, adding, “We wanted to create a program that would support both the parents and the children, and help the family together to succeed.”

Residents can stay at Passage Point for up to three years. The first Passage Point residents are expected to arrive Aug. 1, YWCA spokeswoman Gestin Suttle said.

The YWCA hopes to decrease recidivism, or former inmates re-entering the corrections system, YWCA Homeless Initiatives Director Linda Rasmussen said.

In 2007, the state’s rate of recidivism was high, with 53 percent of women and 65 percent of men returning to prison. For people in the Passage Point program, which was scattered throughout King County before the grand opening of the Passage Point campus, the recidivism rate was 22 percent for men and women, Rasmussen said.

Kathy Lewis, of the county Veterans Levy Citizens Oversight Board, urged voters to pass the veterans-and-human-services levy, King County Proposition 1, because the levy helps pay for programs, such as Passage Point.

Homeowners pay 5 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property value, with a house assessed at $340,000 paying $17 per year.

The levy has already paid for about $2.5 million in services to Passage Point.

The past and the future

The facility has been a long time in the making.

The former Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Center on the site closed in 2002 when the county ran out of money to run the facility.

When the county awarded the YWCA the bid to run the newly proposed Passage Point, some community members formed the Cedar Hills Rural Preservation Alliance, saying that the county didn’t have the right permits to operate the center.

Though the alliance won a lawsuit against the county in the Snohomish County Superior Court, it was unable to afford another lawsuit when the county appealed the decision. The two settled out of court in 2010, and many of the alliance members serve on the Passage Point Community Advisory Committee, which has helped create the facility’s management plan.

As of Thursday, Passage Point has a rough draft of the management plan, but has yet to finalize it. The plan is a living document, and can be modified to better serve Passage Point in the future, Rasmussen said.

Rod Case, a community advisory committee member, attended the grand opening.

“It’s nice to see it happen,” he said. “There’s been a lot of trials and tribulations throughout the years.”

The YWCA will provide housing at Passage Point for men and women recently released from incarceration who wish to reunite with their children. The residents of Passage Point, who would otherwise be homeless, will have access to housing, employment and counseling services. It’s slated to open its doors next month.

A half-dozen community leaders met with representatives from King County and the YWCA, as well as King County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Andrea Alexander at Evergreen Community Church during a May 24 meeting about safety procedures.

Passage Point, in the southern part of the Issaquah School District, has long been a hot topic for the area. Students living at Passage Point will attend Maple Hills Elementary School, Maywood Middle School or Liberty High School.

Since 2008, the Passage Point Community Advisory Committee, composed of community members, has met with King County and YWCA officials to offer input on Passage Point’s management plan, according to the contract between the YWCA and the county.

At the May 24 meeting, community members learned about the YWCA’s plans to contract with a security company for the first six months of Passage Point’s operation. Then, the YWCA will assess how to best handle security, listening to a recommendation from the security company.

Advisory committee members wanted to ensure that Passage Point residents, who will be given jobs at the facility, would not be allowed to work security.

After listening to community comments and internal discussions, YWCA staff members agreed with the advisory committee’s recommendation.

“We determined that for a number of different reasons, that wasn’t an idea we wanted to continue to pursue,” Linda Rasmussen, YWCA homeless initiatives director, said in a phone interview about whether residents could work as security.

Some community members, including alliance President Sean Kronberg, asked for more security details in the management plan.

The YWCA is still developing security plans and procedures, and may continue to modify them during Passage Point’s initial operation.

The committee will have the opportunity to give input about the security plans and procedures once they are finalized, Cheryl Markham, program manager for the King County Housing and Community Development Program, said.

Get involved

Passage Point Community Advisory Committee

• 7 p.m. June 28
• Evergreen Community Church
• 20112 S.E. 152nd St., Renton

About 10 people came to the YWCA Passage Point Community Open House Feb. 9 at Maple Hills Elementary School, some carrying lists of questions they could ask YWCA representatives, King County project managers and school district administrators.

YWCA Case Manager Miesha Phillips (left) answers questions from Deena Rataezyk, Debra Hawkins and Joanna Hodgson at the Passage Point community open house. By Laura Geggel

Passage Point allows the YWCA to provide housing for men and women recently released from incarceration who wish to reunite with their children. The residents of Passage Point will have access to housing, employment and counseling services.

“It’s going to be geared toward a certain population that wants to change,” YWCA Case Manager Miesha Phillips said.

She and other administrators answered questions about Passage Point’s rules and services.

Deena Rataezyk learned that any Passage Point residents who register to volunteer with the district will have to go through a standard Washington State Patrol background check.

Nick LaCaze asked if teachers were ready to teach children living at Passage Point, given that some of them might need extra support at school, and Rataezyk asked if the schools would have additional mental health resources.

“It’s just trying to find out what’s coming our way,” LaCaze said.

“What is going on in their homes is going to come to school, and what happens at school is going to come to my house,” Rataezyk said, adding she didn’t want to sound callus, but she wanted to know how the district was preparing for Passage Point’s opening.

Jodi Bongard, Issaquah School District executive director of elementary schools, and Maple Hills Principal Monique Beane answered their questions.

Passage Point would provide counselors for its residents, Bongard said. Teachers and counselors were already trained to handle children with different types of capacities, Beane said, adding that school staff members will learn more about Passage Point as its opening date nears.

Each school that children from Passage Point would attend has room for more students. Maple Hills Elementary School has 359 students, but has room for 496; Maywood Middle School has 881 students, with room for 946; and Liberty High School has 1,166 students and space for 1,184, with room for an additional 200-250 students after its remodel.

With room at each school, it is unlikely any school would need more portable classrooms simply because of the children from Passage Point, district Chief of Finance and Operation Jake Kuper said.

Beane said she looked forward to working with Passage Point families.

“How can you not be excited about changing their lives?” Beane asked.

YWCA Q&A

Community members spent most of the meeting learning about Passage Point’s logistics.

They learned that violent offenders or people convicted of crimes against children will not be allowed to stay at Passage Point.

Most parents at Passage Point will have offenses on the scale of forgery and drug possession. Residents must also be homeless at the time of intake. If they are married, their spouse can stay with them only if the spouse is also in the program, YWCA Program Manager Pamela Elessa said.

While the residents were in prison or jail, their children were likely staying with relatives or in foster care. But just because the parent is out of jail does not mean reunification.

“If the children are doing well, we’re not going to disrupt them,” Elessa said.

Residents will come to Passage Point in waves, with small groups entering the facility every few months.

“We find when people are released from jail or prison, they’re quite motivated and you need to get them in that first 90 days,” Mike Schwartz, of YWCA programs, said.

While there is no volunteer program set up yet, the YWCA may invite the community to share a skill, such as knitting or cooking, with its residents once the program is more established, Elessa said.

“We want to be collaborative. We don’t want to be separate,” she said.

Community members concerned about security learned a housing director would be onsite 24 hours a day and no overnight visitors would be allowed.

The district plans to hold a question-and-answer session about Passage Point this spring for those who missed the open house.

Now and then

The Passage Point opening has been years in the making. Originally, the county used the building for the Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Center. The center closed in 2002 when it became too expensive to run, according to Cheryl Markham, program manager of King County Housing and Community Development Program.

The county planned to reopen the building for newly released inmates hoping to reunite with their children, offered a grant for someone to run the project and awarded it to the YWCA.

Neighbors near the site formed the Cedar Hills Rural Preservation Alliance and sued the county in Snohomish County Superior Court in 2007, saying the county did not have the right permit to open the facility, among other issues.

The alliance won the case, but did not have enough money to pursue it when the county appealed the decision. The two sides reached a settlement in 2010.

“We turned our attention after the settlement agreement to making this work,” alliance President Sean Kronberg said. Now, “We need to support it. We need to find ways to make it succeed.”

Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 241, or lgeggel@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

John Starbard

John Starbard — the former Newcastle city manager fired by the City Council in January — will spearhead the effort to reform the way King County handles building and land-use permits.

County Executive Dow Constantine appointed Starbard as director of the Department of Development and Environmental Services six weeks after the Newcastle council abruptly terminated his contract without cause. The executive praised Starbard for efforts to upgrade Coal Creek Parkway and remake downtown Newcastle into a pedestrian-friendly destination.

But officials cited issues with the relationship between Starbard and other organizations and residents. Before the council fired Starbard during a Jan. 12 meeting, Newcastle Deputy Mayor Steve Buri said the relationships had “been damaged beyond repair.”Constantine announced the appointment March 1, the same day Starbard started at the county agency. The appointment requires approval from the King County Council.

“I have directed John to examine the current system and recommend to me ways we can reduce the cycle time for review of permit applications and increase predictability for our customers, without sacrificing our high expectations for quality, safety and environmental protection,” Constantine said in a news release.

Starbard now oversees the county agency responsible for issuing building and land-use permits for properties in unincorporated King County. Agency employees also enforce county building and land-use codes, issue business licenses and staff the King County Fire Marshal Division.

Starbard will manage a budget of nearly $22 million and a staff of about 150. In Newcastle, Starbard managed about 25 to 30 municipal employees and a nearly $7 million budget.

Newcastle Mayor John Dulcich defended the decision to fire Starbard. He said he wished the former city manager well in his new role.

“We made the right move at the right time,” Dulcich said. “It was the most cost-effective thing for the city to do.”

Frank Abe, a spokesman for Constantine, said the Newcastle City Council seated in January had chosen a different direction for the Eastside city. The council hired Rob Wyman as interim city manager moments after members fired Starbard.

“Bringing in a different city manager in that situation is part of the normal course of public life,” Abe said. “It created the opportunity for the executive to bring in John to lead our reform of the county’s building and land-use permitting processes.”

Abe praised Starbard for the efforts he undertook to improve the county development agency in the early days of his tenure.

“In his first week, John has talked to staff and already developed some ideas, and we are looking forward to working with him on a fast track to reform,” Abe said.

Starbard earlier served as the city manager in Maple Valley and as a planner for Bellevue, where he managed 39 annexations to the city.

“I am honored to be able to serve Executive Constantine, and I am looking forward to working with the staff to learn how best to adapt DDES to meet its mission in the future,” Starbard said in the release. He could not be reached for further comment.

Starbard stepped in at the county development agency just as Constantine implements a plan to make the department more responsive to applicants.

“Long-term reform will take time and careful analysis, but John’s track record of fostering partnerships and delivering outstanding customer service suggests he is the right person to help us change the way the department does business,” Constantine said in the release.

King County Councilman Reagan Dunn — who represents Newcastle and unincorporated King County south of Issaquah — said Starbard brings experience as a city manager to the role, but said the county post required “some different skill sets and qualifications.”

Sean Kronberg said the new director should strive for better communication, outreach and consistency in the application of county codes. Kronberg, a founder of the Cedar Hills Preservation Alliance, faced off against the department during a long dispute about a former alcohol treatment facility south of Issaquah.

YWCA officials proposed reopening the facility as Passage Point — residences for parents recently released from incarceration or hospitalization to be reunited with their children.

Kronberg and other Cedar Hills Rural Preservation Alliance members filed a lawsuit against the county in 2007 for violating land-use codes.

“Equal application of King County codes produces fairness and it lends credibility to the county and eases trust issues that some have had with the county over the years,” he said. “They also need to engage the public sooner.”

Officials from the county and preservation group reached a deal in January to allow a downscaled Passage Point to be built.

“From our experience with Passage Point, if Joe Citizen walked into DDES and said, ‘I want to continue a nonconforming use that was discontinued six or seven years ago,’ Joe Citizen would never be able to do that,” Kronberg said.

Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Tim Pfarr: 392-6434, ext. 239, or newcas@isspress.com. Reporter Chantelle Lusebrink contributed to this report. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

The agreement allows for the remodel of the former Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Facility, in the south end of the Issaquah School District, to 46 one- and two-bedroom apartments, to be occupied by men and women recently released from incarceration or hospitalization.

The facility will feature housing, employment and counseling services for men and women who wish to reunite with and act as caregivers to their children.

The new agreement does not allow YWCA officials to add new buildings to the site, nullifying plans to build up to 70 units. It also places new conditions, security measures and communication mandates regarding neighboring communities.

“The YWCA is very pleased to be able to pursue this unique project at a location that can provide a high level of supportive services to parents and children,” Linda Rasmussen, associate director of YWCA Homeless Initiatives, wrote in an e-mail.

County officials passed nonconforming use permits in October 2007 to reopen the treatment facility, which closed in 2002.

Members of the alliance filed a lawsuit against the county in Snohomish Superior Court in November 2007 for violating land-use codes and granting construction permits to the YWCA.

The alliance is made up of individual property owners in the Four Lakes, Cedar Hills and Cedar Mountain neighborhoods, communities that border the site.

A Snohomish County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the alliance in April. County officials were in the process of appealing the ruling when officials from both entities began meeting to come to an agreement.

The “decision to settle our lawsuit against the YWCA and King County does not reflect any dilution of CHRPA’s enduring conviction that Passage Point’s proposed use of the former Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Center (CHAT) does not constitute a legal continuation of the special permit that allowed the CHAT facility to operate until 2001,” alliance officials said in a press release. “Instead, it is a practical and realistic response to an adversary, King County, who having already invested more than $2 million in the Passage Point project, wields both the will and the means to advance the Passage Point agenda — if not now, then soon — regardless of the outcome,” of the lawsuit.

Alliance officials provided these details about the settlement:

-Demolition of the southernmost building, known as building H.

-Restrictions to the population: no persons convicted of a serious violent offense, a sex offense or arson.

-Prohibitions against the site being used for sentencing or incarceration.

-Fencing around and a gated entry to the campus.

-Background checks/screening and pre-authorization for all visitors.

-Ongoing security training for all staff and volunteers.

-Installation and use of security cameras and an alarm system.

-Coordination with the Issaquah School District to minimize and mitigate the impacts of the school-aged population of Passage Point.

-Reimbursement of the alliance’s attorney fees and costs.

-Annual reporting by the YWCA, including composition of the population, operating expenses and financial statements, provided to the alliance.

On the Web

-Cedar Hills Rural Preservation Alliance: www.passagepoint.info/home

-YWCA: www.ywcaworks.org

Chantelle Lusebrink: 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

King County and Cedar Hills Rural Preservation Alliance officials have reached an agreement that will allow YWCA’s Passage Point project to move forward.

The agreement was reached outside the court system and brokered Dec. 29. Details were not released until Wednesday.

The agreement allows for the remodel of the former Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Facility, 15900 227th Ave. S.E., into 46 one- and two-bedroom apartments, which will be occupied by men and women recently released from incarceration or hospitalization.

The facility will feature housing, employment and counseling services for men and women who wish to reunite with and act as caregivers to their children.

The new agreement does not allow YWCA officials to add new buildings to the site, nullifying plans to build up to 70 units. It also places new conditions, security measures and communication mandates with neighboring communities.

“Passage Point will go forward according to the conditions of the agreement,” Associate Director of YWCA Homeless Initiatives Linda Rasmussen wrote in an e-mail. “The YWCA is very pleased to be able to pursue this unique project at a location that can provide a high level of supportive services to parents and children.”

King County officials passed nonconforming use permits and transferred property rights to YWCA officials in October 2007. YWCA officials would then reopen the Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Facility — which closed in 2002 — as Passage Point.

Members of the Cedar Hills Rural Preservation Alliance filed a lawsuit against the county in Snohomish Superior Court in November 2007 for violating the land-use codes and granting construction permits to the YWCA.

The alliance is made up of individual property owners in the Four Lakes, Cedar Hills and Cedar Mountain neighborhoods, several communities that border the future Passage Point site.

A Snohomish County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the alliance in April. King County officials were in the process of appealing the ruling when officials from both entities started meeting to find an agreement.

The “decision to settle our lawsuit against the YWCA and King County does not reflect any dilution of CHRPA’s enduring conviction that Passage Point’s proposed use of the former Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Center (CHAT) does not constitute a legal continuation of the special permit that allowed the CHAT facility to operate until 2001,” alliance officials said in a press release. “Instead, it is a practical and realistic response to an adversary, King County, who having already invested more than $2 million in the Passage Point project, wields both the will and the means to advance the Passage Point agenda — if not now, then soon — regardless of the outcome,” of the lawsuit.

Alliance officials provided these details about the settlement:

• A limit on the number of apartment units to 46.
• No future expansion of the facility beyond its existing footprint and 46 units.
• Demolition of the southernmost building, known as Building H.
• Restrictions to the population: no persons convicted of a serious violent offense, a sex offense or arson.
• Prohibitions against the site being used for sentencing or incarceration.
• Fencing around the entire Passage Point campus.
• Improved landscaping and screening along the eastern boundary.
• A gated entry to the Passage Point campus.
• Background checks and screening and pre-authorization for all visitors.
• Ongoing security training for all staff and volunteers.
• Installation and use of security cameras and an alarm system.
• Coordination with the Issaquah School District to minimize and mitigate the impacts of the school-aged population of Passage Point.
• Reimbursement of the alliances attorney fees and costs.
• Annual reporting by the YWCA, including composition of the population, operating expenses and financial statements shall be provided to the alliance.

The meeting was held by members of the Cedar Hills Rural Preservation Alliance, a group of concerned residents who live near the planned facility and who filed the lawsuit in Snohomish County Superior Court.

The new facility, Passage Point, is at the former Cedar Hills Alcohol Treatment Center, 15900 227th Ave. S.E., near Cedar Grove Road.

The alliance’s members are from neighborhoods near the facility and along Cedar Grove Road.

The group has filed a legal challenge against county officials who they say authorized a nonconforming use permit to develop a dense urban housing project in an area county officials have zoned as rural. 

“The meeting was very positive and folks left with a better understanding of the issues that are being challenged in Snohomish County Superior Court,” Sean Kronberg, a member of the alliance, wrote in an e-mail.

The meeting focused on information regarding the legal challenge, and the long-term effects Passage Point may have on the community and the Issaquah School District. 

The group filed the suit in November 2007 to challenge the lawfulness of the County Council’s decision to provide easements to and sell the alcohol treatment facility to the YWCA for Passage Point. 

The suit was on hold, but the issuance of building permits by county officials has brought it to the forefront.

However, the YWCA is moving forward with remodeling construction this winter. 

The county’s permits allow YWCA officials to remodel the old facility into 46 units of one- and two-bedroom apartments. The facility will provide housing, employment and counseling services to men and women who have recently been released from incarceration, hospitalization or who are homeless and wish to reunite with and act as caregivers to their children. 

Reach Reporter Chantelle Lusebrink at 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.issaquahpress.com.

Riders should take the initiative and keep the roads clean themselves

In response to a recent letter from a white-line-riding bicyclist, may I suggest that the precedent set by our industrious local trails club provide an inspiration to the local bicycle clubs — take responsibility for the safety of your riders and the motorists and establish a regular maintenance crew and schedule to keep the road shoulders clean. Sweat equity and some capital outlay deepen appreciation for a public resource and please do this in a way that does not impede motorized traffic.

Pat McArthur

Issaquah

Gilman Village

Apathy by Issaquah leaders, community is causing this treasure a slow death

I’m wondering when Issaquah’s leaders will realize their Golden Goose is dying a slow and painful death.

Gilman Village deserves to be the glistening gem in Issaquah’s crown. Instead, when I went shopping there Nov. 30, I discovered four more merchants had closed. These were great stores, including Tiger Mountain Tea, which offered some of the best brews this side of England, and Lily Pad Books, where I always found unique gifts for young birthdays and celebrations.

Despite the closures, I spent two hours there. As Victorian carolers strolled the boardwalk, I got almost all of my Christmas shopping done, and came in under my tight budget. Among the deals: an adorable dress for my niece, with matching outfit for her doll, at Spoiled by Nana ($36), and a hand-blown glass pen with swirling hues ($20) at Revolution gallery. 

I didn’t even get to other amazing retailers.

Perhaps more importantly, when I confessed my budget, I wasn’t confronted with attitude — or the cold shoulder. At each store, salespeople enthusiastically helped me hunt down the perfect gift. In Spoiled by Nana, the shopkeeper went into storage for summer dresses (my niece lives in southern Florida). Try getting that kind of service at the mall. You’re lucky if the teenager behind the cash register isn’t drooling.

And for all this retail greatness, Gilman Village limps along.

Most towns our size would throw a coup to have a place like Gilman Village. Why aren’t concerts held down there on the boardwalk? Why aren’t signs on Interstate 90 directing travelers to the village, or even some signs around town? And why is that lame commercial on television — in cartoon! — when the real thing is nothing short of breathtaking?

When will city officials get involved? Certainly, the city is losing tax revenue allowing Gilman Village to languish; and certainly, its citizens deserve to keep such a special place.

Gilman Village remains a terrific place to shop. Who’s in charge of promoting the place? They should hang their head in shame. 

And city officials should consider some kind of formal action to remedy the situation.

Sibella Giorello

Issaquah

Christmas

The holiday is for Christians, not for atheists to ruin it with hateful signs

Yes I am mad, at our leadership in Olympia.

Most of you have seen the news about the atheist sign hanging in our Olympia capitol, denouncing Christmas. The sign says there is no God, angels, etc. Religion is a myth. This is a disgrace to Washington state and our leaders. Has our state gone so far astray that the majority does not count? Why do the minorities push through all issues and call it freedom of speech or their rights? And are we losing ours? It makes me sad to see our country move so far from what this country was founded on.

Please call Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office, 360-902-4111, to voice your disapproval of this sign, they will refer you to General Administration Office; call Steve at 360-902-7215 or Jim at 360-902-7206; or call all of them. I did.

Christmas is for Christians; if atheists want to have an atheist day fine, but leave our holiday to those of us who believe in God.

Nadine Gulit

Issaquah

Passage Point

Opposition based upon false assumptions

I am a resident of the Mirrormont neighborhood on Tiger Mountain, and have been following the Passage Point story since its inception. 

Lately, I have been concerned to learn about the lawsuit the Cedar Hills Rural Preservation Alliance recently filed to block the development. What has concerned me most is that my fellow Issaquah citizens are so staunchly opposed to something that would help, specifically, children and families who are at risk, valiantly trying to get back on their feet and might not otherwise have anywhere to turn. In truth, this is a relatively small population we’re talking about, but the positive impact Passage Point could have on their lives, and society, is very significant.

Additionally, the alliance’s concern about overburdening the local schools is an argument that should hold little weight. With the new housing units, there would be some impact, but not such a large one as to negatively impact the schools. 

In fact, the schools may actually be enhanced with new people with diverse perspectives populating them. I don’t recall hearing similar complaints regarding newer, affluent developments that have gone up in the area. 

This feels to me like a case of “not in my back yard,” combined with troubling attitudes toward the most vulnerable members of our society. The surrounding neighbors can continue to enjoy safety and privacy on their 5-acre lots, and will indeed be buffered by the multiple-acre property on which the development would be housed (with 24-hour security, I might add).

As the parent of a child who will attend Maple Hills Elementary School next year, I will personally work to support the children and families who will be served by Passage Point in any way that I can. These are children we’re talking about, and children who need the embrace of their community, not to be shunned. 

Heidi Kayler

Issaquah

Community Center

Increase for seniors was only $23  per year, while families pay $500

A writer recently complained about the whopping 1,250 percent increase in the cost of a pass for seniors to the community center.

The cost is going from $2 per year to $25 per year. That’s right, a year. Seniors were paying $2 per year while families were paying $500 per year and the writer is whining about this huge percentage increase!

I will always hope that writers will be honest, sincere and truthful when stating their case in public forums, but again I was disappointed by this writer’s attempt to distort an issue.

Michael T. Barr

Sammamish

Southeast Bypass

Widening Issaquah-Hobart Road  is scientific solution

Jerry Klein’s scientific analysis of the Southeast Bypass was spot on. Adding feeder lanes to either end will not increase the capacity of a two-lane road.

A look at projected development and growth in the region will convince any scientist that the Southeast Bypass must be built, but then Issaquah-Hobart Road needs to be widened to four lanes all the way out to Highway 18.

That, my friends, is a scientific solution.

Mike Harrington

Issaquah