Group Health Development, Chickens on Tuesday's City Council Agenda

A public hearing on in Redmond's Overlake neighborhood will be held during a Redmond City Council meeting on Tuesday.

Group Health, the nonprofit health care system that owns the property, wants to build 10 to 12 apartment buildings and 1.4 million square feet of commercial space on the parcel. The now-vacant parcel was the site of a hospital that closed in 2008.

Critics of the plan, including Sustainable Redmond, have raised concern about the number of trees that would be removed to allow the redevelopment. The plan calls for the removal of 1,050 "significant" trees on the property.

"A distinctive feature of the soon-to-be-demolished Group Health facility is the presence of stands of native woodland, a rarity in that highly developed area," the organization stated in a news release. "Sustainable Redmond is proposing that the city not grant an exception in this case, given that this area is quite unique in that it is the only large stand of trees remaining in the Overlake area, and that at least two stands of existing trees be retained."

At a city council meeting in October, representatives of Group Health told council members the trees would have to come down because removal of existing buildings and paved parking areas would severely compromise the structural integrity of the trees. Tree mitigation plans call for the planting of 3,345 trees at to-be-determined, off-site locations.

For more on the Group Health proposal, to read a previous Redmond Patch article on the subject or here to read a copy of the proposed development agreement. 

Also on Tuesday, council members are scheduled to approve that would allow chickens on property smaller than 1/2-acre. The proposed changes who wanted to raise so-called backyard chickens but were prevented from doing so by a city law that prohibits the birds on small lots.

No public hearing is scheduled for the small-animal husbandry amendments, but people may comment on any city council matter during the "items from the audience" segment at the beginning of the meeting.

Tuesday's meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at , 15670 NE 85th St. A complete agenda is avalable here.