By JACK HOPKINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The neighborhood has been named as a potential stop on the new rail line being planned by Sound Transit. That hasn't overjoyed some Sunset Hill residents.

"There are some people who are adamant that putting a commuter rail station adjacent to a residential neighborhood is simply wrong," says Kevin Carrabine, president of the Sunset Hill Community Club. Those concerned about the potential rail station say they worry about loss of parking, increased traffic in and out of the area, noise and the possibility that more people would mean more crime.

"But there are others who say it would be great to have the transportation link and it would be a boon to Ballard," says Carrabine.

Sound Transit spokesman Denny Fleenor says plans for the station are still up in the air and if it happens at all, it is not likely to be for several years.

"Sound Transit only committed to build this station if funding could be found," says Fleenor. "To date, the city of Seattle has obtained a $2 million state grant toward the estimated $4 million cost.

"So, without a source of additional money, chances are the station will be planned and designed now but won't actually be built until the next phase of transit development sometime after 2006."