July 17, 2003
Source: The Seattle Times
On July 17, 2003 The Seattle Times reported that "some neighbors of the Atammayatarama Buddhist Monastery near Woodinville say they have no choice [but to fight the Buddhists' temple plans]. They insist that the monks' plans to build a meditation center large enough to host up to 250 people would ruin their rural neighborhood by tangling traffic, destroying the surrounding wetlands and sending their property values plummeting... Santidhammo Bhikkhu, an American Buddhist monk who's been a member of the monastery for about three years, says neighbors need to understand that those occasions happen only a few times a year."