2 public meetings set for West Seattle parks-to-be
The Seattle Parks Department has just set two public meetings in West Seattle next month for two parks-in-progress, the one on the former Fauntleroy Auto/monorail-station site north of the new Beveridge Place Pub, and the one next to the Myrtle Street Reservoir. According to the Parks Department’s announcement, both projects have just entered the design phase. First, the Morgan Junction meeting will be at 7 pm January 15 at The Kenney; from the announcement forwarded by Board of Park Commissioners vice chair (and Alki Community Council president) Jackie Ramels:
Project objective: Develop the recently-acquired property on California Ave SW north of Beveridge Place into a park or plaza. At this meeting, the community will have the opportunity to review preliminary site plans and to provide feedback to the design team. Landscape architects Hough Bec & Baird (HBB) started design work for the site in Dec 2007 and are currently preparing conceptual site designs based on themes the community expressed in spring 2007. The themes to be explored include the creation of a gathering space or plaza for the community and family activities that will feature hardscape, natural vegetation edges, seating, and a shelter structure.
The meeting about the Myrtle park will be at 7 pm January 22 at High Point Community Center. From the Parks Department announcement:
The site will be converted to usable open space for family-oriented activities once the reservoir is lidded. At this meeting, the community will have the opportunity to review preliminary site plans and to provide feedback to the design team. Landscape architects Nakano Associates started design work for the site in December 2007. They are currently preparing conceptual site designs based on themes the community expressed in spring 2007. These themes include a desire to emphasize the site as a viewpoint and to maximize greenspace. The community has also expressed both interest and concern about potentially locating a skateboard facility on the site, which was identified as a potential skatepark site in the Citywide Skatepark Plan. Other site features to be considered include ADA-accessible pathways, play equipment, and general landscaping.
Both of these parks-in-progress have been the subject of public meetings before, but the last ones were more than a few months ago, so these will be opportunities for new information and input on these parks’ creation. We’re adding both meetings to the WSB Events page, so you can find them later.
Another Westwood fire
WSB contributing photographer Christopher Boffoli is at the scene of a fire callout at 9231 32nd. He says it’s a small fire blamed on a candle that got knocked over. Photo to come. (P.S. The Fire Department has released information about the fire we covered this morning at 9000 20th SW, and we’ve added it to the top of our original report.) 8:18 PM UPDATE: Here’s one of the photos Christopher sent back. The call is closed now; no injuries, no noteworthy damage.
More Harbor Ave changes ahead
Three Harbor Ave notes tonight: First, property in the 3200-3300 block potentially earmarked for an apartment building called the “Aqua Bella” (rendering above from the real-estate listing’s flyer) is now up for sale, $6.4 million dollars. Second, a hearing is set before the city hearing examiner January 15 for a proposal to divide 1 parcel of land in the 2300 block into 7. And third, a rumor that’s been going around for at least five months seems to have gained a grain of potential reality — a Salty’s hotel — right now, of course, West Seattle has only one motel/hotel, the former Travelodge that is now “Seattle West Inn and Suites” (as we reported here in July). Tonight’s article mentions the Alki hotel proposal too, but as an informed observer notes to WSB, Alki zoning is NC-1, which wouldn’t allow a hotel, while Harbor Ave is NC-2, which would.
West Seattle crime watch: Grinchiest burglar of the year
Just back from checking the past week’s worth of reports at the Southwest Precinct (thanks again to the fine folks there for the access). 
We’ve got a variety of incidents to tell you about – starting with this eyebrow raiser (note that we have agreed, as is standard for police-blotter reporting, to omit specific addresses and victims’ names): Between 9 pm Christmas Eve and 5:30 am the morning after Christmas, somebody broke into a fast-food restaurant in the 3000 block of California through the drive-thru window. They stole just one item: The donation jar — which they had to pry off the front counter — full of bills and coins collected for a charity! No arrest reported so far. Here are more highlights/lowlights, in reverse chronological order (including the tale of the Christmas Canine Chase):Read More
Update: 9000 20th SW fire
8 PM UPDATE: According to the fire department’s media-info line, this fire did $40,000 damage to one apartment and a hallway on the building’s third floor; investigators say it’s accidental, caused when combustible items were left too close to a hot-water heater. A woman and three children were living in the apartment and the Red Cross is helping them find someplace else to stay. No one was hurt. 12:58 PM UPDATE: Video clip showing the scene. Again, not a big incident, but certainly affected dozens of residents.
11:58 AM UPDATE: Just back with pix (and video to come). No visible smoke or flames from outside; firefighters have been working on ventilating the roof to clear out smoke that’s reportedly inside the building. No word about injuries, or extent of damage.
ORIGINAL 11:35 AM POST: 9000 20th SW – thanks for the e-mail and text messages – we’re en route to check it out. (33-unit apartment building owned by the city Housing Authority, according to property records; the SHA info page with building photo is here.) Scanner communication suggests some road blocking in that area, so stay away if you can. Map:
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What’s up now in the WSB Forums
Have you signed up for our new Forums (discussion boards) yet? More than 100 people from around WSB-land have, in just the first week, and the discussions are getting ever-livelier. For example, here’s the start of a new topic in the Open Discussion section:
Here is my rant West Seattle – Please STOP for Pedestrians in crosswalks! West Seattle drivers seem to be having some troubles in this area, especially (gulp) those drivers trying to catch the Fauntleroy Ferry (Black Toyota 4Runner who did not stop 12/26 at 4:00 p.m. you know who you are!) Now on to the Admiral neighboorhood, again, at a crosswalk in front of Spiro’s (Black Mercedes who did not stop 12/27 at 6:40 p.m. you know who you are!). Please stop for pedestrians. Please. Please. Please.
BTDT – we’ve got an anecdote to share on that one ourselves, so join us in the WSB Forum for that (or head on over to the Reader Recommendations forum, where topics right now range from West Seattle burgers to searches for contractors, financial planners, mechanics, and more.
Reader tip: Save a tree, cancel a phone book
Got this e-mail from Chris (thank you!):
We got yet ANOTHER set of phone books today. If these are junk mail
(and a colossal waste of paper) to you, give them a call and opt out.
Verizon: 1-800-888-8448
This number came right off the front of the book, and my call was
quickly answered.
Let us just say, we USED TO love phone books, but as online searching gets easier and easier, at our house they go straight to the recycling bin, and what a waste that is. So in case that’s how things work at your place, we thought we’d pass this along. We don’t get Verizon books here; found this number for Dex — 800-422-1234 — choose option 4 first, then choose option 2; even though the recording doesn’t specifically say “press this number to cancel directory delivery,” the person we reached after those two choices said that’s the right place to call. (Found this related website, too.)
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