Thank you for your continual coverage of the proposed Westmark Emerald Pointe Development Project. There are many aspects and complex issues at play in this project and the Highline Times has done a good job in bringing pertinent information to the citizens of Burien.

The Neighbors of Seahurst Park, a group of concerned citizens, held a public meeting regarding the Westmark Project on April 17th.

An unexpected attendee to the meeting was Robert W. Thorpe who works for the developer, Nizar Sayani/Westmark/Primestar Hotels.

Mr. Thorpe told the audience that if he does not get an entrance to his project at SW 136th (through the purchase of Highline School District land) then he is going to enter the development site via SW 134th. This access route will cost a lot more money plus it would impact and damage the wetlands even more because Westmark would now build a 216-unit complex.

Strangely, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) never discussed an entrance from SW 134th nor did it include a 216-unit complex when it addressed the carrying capacity of the land, the maximum possible use that the land could sustain.

When someone in the audience asked Mr. Thorpe if he would have to file a Revised Environmental Impact Statement in order to try to get this new proposed access route, Mr. Thorpe claimed that he did not have to.

This is not the first time that Robert W. Thorpe has used scare tactics and misinformation as a ploy to intimidate neighbors of a development site.

Just ask the Friends of Thorndyke Avenue West about Mr. Thorpe's false claim that the Thorndyke development site was improperly zoned as residential and should be "returned" to its previous zoning that allowed mixed commercial/residential use. This claim was proved to be totally untrue.

Every citizen who attended the informational meeting as well as anyone reading this letter should have some concerns about the fact that this developer believes and tells the public that he can significantly revise an Environmental Impact Statement without going through a public meeting process by the city or providing time for citizen input on a project with this magnitude of proposed changes-essentially sidestepping a Revised Environmental Impact Statement.

Any citizen who has been following this project needs to immediately contact the City of Burien/Scott Greenberg/Mike Martin or the city council and question whether this is allowed under the SEPA process.

Melessa Rogers

Burien