Capitol Hill private high school Holy Names can move ahead with its plans for a, 237-car underground parking garage below a new, two-story gymnasium, and a new 32-space surface parking lot on the northern edge of its E Aloha at 21st Ave E campus after a city finding that the projects are within bounds of state environmental law.

The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections issued the determination of “non-significance” late last month. Any appeal of the decision must be filed by Thursday.

In a statement on the decision, Liz Swift, head of school, did not announce a start date for construction but said the work would take 16 to 18 months to complete.

“We are partnering with some of the industry’s most experienced and respected companies to minimize any construction impacts on the surrounding neighborhood,” Smith said in the statement. “As a long-time steward of this community, we look forward to continuing our collaboration with neighbors, students, families, alumnae and other stakeholders as this critical and sustainable school-improvement project moves through construction.”

Holy Names enrolls around 700 students and recently completed a recent 9,000 square-foot addition to its beautiful dome-capped northern Capitol Hill campus.

The process to shape the school’s plan began with the start of 2018 as school officials announced details of the proposed project. “As you well know, parking has increasingly become more difficult in the neighborhood due to increased housing density, new businesses, and people parking for other reasons,” Swift wrote in a letter sent to neighbors about the project and planned community meetings to collect feedback.

Over the summer, Holy Names unveiled a revised plan with hopes of addressing concerns about 21st Ave E’s use as a “neighborhood greenway” and to reduce the amount of lawn and trees lost to the gym and garage project.

While there is no record yet of any appeal filed against the decision, neighborhood groups have been busy putting the State Environmental Policy Act to work to push back on development projects. This PCC-centered mixed-use project planned for Madison Valley is one recent example. An appeal to require further review of the multimillion parking garage and gym proposal will cost the filer $85.

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