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Neighborhoods 928 results

@ Fauntleroy Community Association: Food Fest on Tuesday; SDOT says no to RPZ change; other updates
March 17, 2017 11:39 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Fauntleroy | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

The Fauntleroy Community Association‘s annual membership meeting – known as the Food Fest because of samples from local businesses – is Tuesday, and this week’s FCA board meeting brought lots of news ahead of it.

WHO’LL BE AT THE FOOD FEST: First, an update tonight from FCA president Mike Dey – Mayor Ed Murray and City Councilmember Lisa Herbold have confirmed they’ll attend. It starts at 6 pm Tuesday (March 21st) at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW); free, but FCA invites members old and new to be ready to renew/join ($25/year).

DAYTIME RPZ REJECTED: Last fall, FCA asked SDOT to study parking in the existing Residential Parking Zone east of the Fauntleroy ferry terminal, where parking is currently restricted to permit holders between 2-5 am. The group’s concerns included Washington State Ferries employees parking in residential neighborhoods during the day and car-share vehicles. One week ago, SDOT replied to say its study found “not enough blocks meet the minimum threshold to make the requested changes to the existing RPZ.” Its letter said that they needed to find at least 10 blocks/20 blockfaces where parking was 75 percent occupied during their study; they found “approximately 6 blocks (7 blockfaces) that met the 75% threshold.” Read More

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Which stops might stay, and which might go? See what Delridge District Council heard and said about RapidRide H Line concepts
March 17, 2017 9:55 am
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | Delridge District Council | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

One huge question about the taking-shape plans for the Delridge RapidRide line was answered during this week’s briefing for the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council: Which stops are proposed for removal when Route 120 is turned into the H Line in 2020?

The list was in the slide deck brought to the DNDC meeting Wednesday night at Highland Park Improvement Club by SDOT’s Thérèse Casper and Dawn Schellenberg, two days after the project “online open house” went live (as reported here), asking for opinions about two potential concepts.

Their slide deck began with background including the plan to “upgrade” Route 120 to RapidRide, between downtown Seattle, Delridge, and Burien. It’ll be under construction in 2019 and in service in 2020, according to the current plan. Casper said the way had been paved by discussions in recent years regarding various transportation-related plans – the Delridge multi-modal corridor discussion, Freight Master Plan, Bicycle Master Plan, etc.

Along the Delridge section of the route, Casper said, conditions are as follows:

Read More

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@ Admiral Neighborhood Association: Questions and observations
March 16, 2017 1:47 am
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Though the scheduled guest from the Southwest Precinct was a last-minute scratch, Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting featured a lively discussion of questions for the group to consider, and observations about the city’s new open-to-all process for spending more than $2 million on community-proposed park/street projects. About 20 people were at The Sanctuary at Admiral to talk, listen, and consider: Read More

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Live/work in Admiral? Join your neighborhood group’s conversation with police
March 11, 2017 11:03 am
|    Comments Off on Live/work in Admiral? Join your neighborhood group’s conversation with police
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news | West Seattle police

(WSB photo from March 2016, ANA president Larry Wymer at left, CPT Officer Jon Flores at right)

Just in, the plan for next Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting. In the spotlight, your local Southwest Precinct Community Police Team officer. Here’s the announcement from ANA president Larry Wymer:

COMMUNITY POLICING UPDATE

7:00 pm Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Officer Jon Flores – Community Police Team (CPT) Officer with the Seattle Police Department – returns to update the neighborhood on the state of policing in Admiral, with an open Q&A session to listen to any of our concerns, and answer any questions we might have.

We will also address and discuss a number of issues of interest to Admiral, and some interesting suggestions for consideration, including:

• Admiral Urban Village Upzone – Follow up community input including potentially a collective letter from ANA.
• Expansion of ‘Sphere of Influence’ for Admiral neighborhood (as our Association recognizes it) towards the southeast (35th & 34th Streets).
• Pedestrian Safety in Admiral – signage/flashing signage, painted or perhaps lighted crosswalks.
• King County Chelan CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow) Control Project

The ANA meets at The Sanctuary at Admiral, at 2656 42nd Ave SW. Our monthly meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Here’s our coverage of the meeting a year ago which also spotlighted the CPT and local crime/safety.

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FOLLOWUP: 211 ideas from West Seattle for ‘Your Voice, Your Choice’ – next, you can help review them!
March 7, 2017 3:59 pm
|      12 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

That’s the clickable map the city has just made public as the first-ever “Your Voice, Your Choice” process heads into its next phase. As we first reported in January, this is what the city is trying this year for deciding how to spend what used to be the Neighborhood Park and Street Fund, grants of up to $90,000 for community-proposed, city-and-community-reviewed projects. The first phase, submitting ideas, has just wrapped up, and the map shows the ideas sent in from around the city. Clicking on any marker (use the “plus” sign at lower left to zoom in, and grab the map to pull up more of West Seattle) will show you the location and description of what’s proposed there (you can also access the map directly here). Project spokesperson Jenny Frankl tells WSB that 211 ideas were received from West Seattle – 178 online, and 33 via outreach meetings (at Stewart Manor, Westwood Heights, West Seattle High School, and Center School – the students contacted there were from West Seattle, Frankl notes). Citywide, the Department of Neighborhoods says, more than 900 ideas were submitted.

Now comes the second stage: Reviewing the ideas to figure out which ones should move on to the voting stage in June. If interested in helping with that, you’re invited to be part of the Project Development Team. The one for this area – District 1, West Seattle and South Park – has four meetings scheduled, but you don’t have to commit to all four. The first one is this Thursday, 5:30 pm, at Southwest Library (35th SW/SW Henderson); if you’re interested in being on the team, you’re asked to send in this quick online form.

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WEST SEATTLE WEEKEND: Admiral Adopt-A-Street cleanup Saturday morning, with rewards!
March 2, 2017 2:02 pm
|    Comments Off on WEST SEATTLE WEEKEND: Admiral Adopt-A-Street cleanup Saturday morning, with rewards!
 |   How to help | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

If you can spare a few hours to start off your Saturday, there are rewards in this for you beyond knowing you’ve helped clean up your community: It’s the quarterly Admiral Neighborhood Association Adopt-A-Street cleanup, and volunteers are vital. Meet up outside Metropolitan Market (41st/42nd/Admiral; WSB sponsor) 8:45-9 am, then spend up to three hours cleaning up in the area, 9 am-noon. Treats and coffee are available, free, ahead of time, and you’ll be sent home with a sack lunch afterward. Tools and bags provided! Just show up.

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Question/comment for your city councilmember? Lisa Herbold at WWRHAH Community Council next Tuesday
February 28, 2017 5:31 pm
|      5 COMMENTS
 |   Arbor Heights | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news | Westwood

As announced at this month’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council meeting (WSB coverage here), West Seattle/South Park City Councilmember Lisa Herbold will be the guest at March’s meeting, the just-released agenda confirms. All are welcome at the meeting, which is one week from tonight – Tuesday, March 7th, 6:15 pm at Southwest Library (35th SW/SW Henderson).

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THURSDAY: See newest plan for Admiral’s biggest project before it goes to Design Review
February 13, 2017 8:47 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Development | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

(UPDATED TUESDAY WITH MEETING LOCATION)

ORIGINAL REPORT, MONDAY 8:47 PM: Instead of meeting on the usual night this month, which would be tomorrow, the Admiral Neighborhood Association plans a special meeting this Thursday (February 16th), 7 pm, with a special agenda – the first look at the newest plan for the biggest project currently in the works for the area. That’s the planned mixed-use project on the current PCC Natural Markets (WSB sponsor) site, with a new PCC store planned as the commercial tenant beneath more than 100 apartments. ANA president Larry Wymer says the meeting will also be at a special location – likely the classroom space at PCC (2749 California SW) – watch for location confirmation here in the next day or so. The project goes back to the Southwest Design Review Board on March 2nd, as first reported here last month, but first, the project team, led by Hewitt Architects, plans to present it to ANA and all interested community members, so save Thursday night.

UPDATE, TUESDAY AFTERNOON: The location for the meeting will be St. John the Baptist Church parish hall, 3050 California SW (across from PCC and just south of WSHS). Enter either from the church entrance on the north side, or from 42nd SW on the east side.

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NEIGHBOR DAY: High Point event brings together neighbors from near and far
February 12, 2017 10:11 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   High Point | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news | West Seattle people

By Cliff Cawthon
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Neighborhood House’s High Point Center is a place where neighbors gather almost every day of the year.

But Saturday afternoon had something extra – a Neighbor Day gathering with an emphasis on welcoming and celebrating the neighborhood’s immigrant communities amid the Trump Administration’s attempts at what’s being called the “Muslim Ban.”

“A lot of people who we work with could be affected by the immigrant ban,” explained Megan Demeroutis, Neighborhood House’s Family Resource Center supervisor. Demeroutis said that the potluck’s international flavor and the activities were meant to bring people together in the mixed-income Seattle Housing Authority– managed community. Read More

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NEIGHBOR DAY: Connect with your neighbors @ West Seattle Office Junction
February 11, 2017 12:38 pm
|    Comments Off on NEIGHBOR DAY: Connect with your neighbors @ West Seattle Office Junction
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news | West Seattle people


(WSB photos)

Not only is West Seattle Office Junction (WSB sponsor) a place to cowork – it’s also a place to connect with your neighbors, especially today! Until 2 pm, in honor of Neighbor Day, several local groups/organizations have reps there to answer your questions – including West Seattle Time Bank, Plant for the Planet – Washington State, Urban Homestead Foundation, Terraganics Living, Seattle Farm School, West Seattle Bee Garden, West Seattle Food Bank, The Community General Store, and Backyard Barter.


(Office Junction co-proprietors Stefan and Christine)


(Kids’ activity table)

Stop in (6040 California SW), have a cup of coffee, and find out how to get more connected within the West Seattle community.

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NEIGHBOR DAY: Fire-station tours in West Seattle
February 11, 2017 11:29 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Neighborhoods | Sunrise Heights | West Seattle news

11:29 AM: Until 1 pm, you’re invited to a centerpiece of Neighbor Day – touring a local fire station. In West Seattle, two stations are open for tours, recently renovated Station 29 in Admiral (2139 Ferry SW) and relatively new Station 37 in Sunrise Heights (35th SW/SW Holden). As our photo (taken a few minutes ago at Station 37) shows, all ages are welcome – it’s your annual chance to meet local firefighters outside times of emergency! (Other Neighbor Day events are in today’s West Seattle Saturday highlights list.)

2:16 PM: Two more photos added – above, neighbors getting a closer look at Engine 37; below, a REALLY close-up look for some:

You might just get another chance for a fire-station tour this year – we’ll be watching for completion of the new Station 32 in The Triangle.

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@ Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council: HALA, crime/safety, cooking…
February 8, 2017 8:49 pm
|    Comments Off on @ Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council: HALA, crime/safety, cooking…
 |   Arbor Heights | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news | Westwood

Tuesday night was not much of a night for meeting-going, with slush and ice still on the roads, but hardy executive-board members Amanda Kay Helmick, Eric Iwamoto, and Kim Barnes were at the Southwest Library for February’s meeting of the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council, as were guests Lt. Ron Smith of the Southwest Precinct and Jordan Lowe from startup Josephine.com. Over the course of an hour, here are the toplines of what they talked about:

SOUTHWEST PRECINCT UPDATES: Lt. Smith said the Parks Department was cutting more vegetation by the Roxhill Park bus stop earlier in the day, to increase visibility to reduce crime and other problems. (Helmick mentioned that Metro is getting close to permits for the long-requested lighting alongside the park and is now projecting installation in March.) Businesses in the area are contacting police more often about problems. Then, area crime stats – “a huge increase in vehicle thefts” lately, especially Arbor Heights, Lt. Smith said. Six more than the area had seen by this time last year. But they’ve been making arrests, too. And car prowls are down, as are residential burglaries and robberies. So far this year, there’s been one non-residential burglary in the area, compared to none last year.

HALA REZONING: Barnes has been birddogging this and says that because turnout was low for November’s little-publicized Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda-related Community Design Workshop for the Westwood-Highland Park Urban Village meeting was so anemic, the city Office of Planning and Community Development has offered to have another meeting for this area. It’ll be March 1st at Highland Park Improvement Club, start time TBA. They’ll go over notes from the November meeting and get into more details about how to provide community feedback on the proposed rezoning.

JOSEPHINE.COM: Jordan Lowe from Mount Baker was an invited guest to talk about this startup, which “allows home cooks to sell food to their neighbors.” He is one of those cooks and said he uses it as supplementary income. “I pick what I want to cook, how much I want to charge, put it on the website, people come and pick it up. … Over the last couple months we’ve been growing a lot in Seattle.” All cooks need to have a food handler’s permit, he said, and the company pays for it if necessary; they also check out the cooks’ kitchens. He went into some of the details. So far, West Seattle has “three or four people” who are going through the application process. Yes, there’s a catch – “we operate in a gray area,” as Lowe put it when we asked – the meals have to technically be considered “events” by health authorities rather than people making and selling food for purchase. The company started in California and expanded to Portland and Seattle.

NEXT WWRHAH MEETING: Councilmember Lisa Herbold is scheduled to be at the March WWRHAH meeting. The discussion of the group’s direction also has been moved to that meeting (6:15 pm, Tuesday, March 7th, Southwest Library, 35th SW/SW Henderson).

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MEET YOUR FIREFIGHTERS: Fire Station tours in West Seattle on Neighbor Day
February 3, 2017 2:20 pm
|    Comments Off on MEET YOUR FIREFIGHTERS: Fire Station tours in West Seattle on Neighbor Day
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

thechief
(WSB photo from Station 37 tour in February 2016)

One week from tomorrow, it’s Neighbor Day in Seattle – and the long list of events includes your chance to visit and tour two of West Seattle’s fire stations. From 11 am to 1 pm on Saturday, February 11th, you’re welcome to visit Station 29 in Admiral (2139 Ferry SW) and Station 37 in Sunrise Heights (7700 35th SW). The full citywide list of stations open for tours that day is here.

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HALA REZONING: Add two months to the timeline for your feedback
February 1, 2017 3:42 pm
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Development | Neighborhoods | West Seattle housing | West Seattle news

IMG_8413
(Comments written on draft rezoning map at last week’s Junction ‘Community Design Workshop’)

One week after the standing-room-only meeting in The Junction, there’s a new development today in the proposed citywide rezoning that’s a big component of the city’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA): The timeline for the Mandatory Housing Affordability rezoning has just expanded by two months, so you have more time to get up to speed and get your comments in. The Junction Neighborhood Organization got first word from City Councilmember Lisa Herbold that the Office of Planning and Community Development …

… is amending the schedule for release of the draft EIS [Environmental Impact Statement] and now it is anticipated to come out in May. This will give the community an additional two months to provide feedback. The Department of Neighborhoods plans to door knock all of the single-family homes that are part of the potential upzones. DON and OPCD will conduct another series of conversations in May and June.

The new May timeline for the draft EIS – which will open another comment period – is five months later than the end-of-2016 projection in the “scoping” for that document (see it here) was done. The draft and final EIS will have to be done before a final rezoning proposal can go to the City Council for a vote.

Meantime, the Admiral Residential Urban Village version of last week’s Junction meeting is still to come – 9:30 am Saturday, February 11th, at West Seattle High School. No date/time announced yet for the Morgan Junction version. You can still comment online, via hala.consider.it and/or e-mailing halainfo@seattle.gov.

Whatever area you live in, if you still don’t know whether you are directly affected by the HALA proposal, find your neighborhood on this interactive map. While most of the proposed rezoning is for those within “urban village” boundaries (West Seattle has four – The Junction, Morgan Junction, Admiral, and Westwood-Highland Park), there are some proposals for expanding those boundaries, and all commercial/multifamily property is proposed for rezoning, even outside urban villages.

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FOLLOWUP: ‘Your Voice, Your Choice’ now open for your street/park project suggestions
February 1, 2017 1:43 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Last Thursday, we reported on the city’s new process for deciding how to spend what used to be known as the Neighborhood Park and Street Fund – a four-step plan under the banner of “Your Voice, Your Choice.”

When we talked with Jenny Frankl from the Department of Neighborhoods last week, the start of phase 1 – “idea collection” – was days away. And now it’s open: Go here to suggest a “capital project” for park and/or street land that would cost up to $90,000. As Frankl summarizes it:

Your Voice, Your Choice: Parks & Streets is an opportunity for community members to directly decide how to spend $2,000,000 of the City’s budget on small-scale physical improvement projects in Seattle’s parks & streets (i.e. crosswalks, medians, flashing beacons, sidewalk repair, curb ramps, park benches, trail improvements etc.). Each project must be under $90K.

Idea collection continues through February. Then:

In March, project development teams in each district will evaluate ideas received based on need/impact/feasibility and choose ten projects to advance to a community-wide vote in June. If you are interested in being on a project development team for your district, please sign up here.

If you have questions, come to tonight’s Southwest District Council meeting, where DoN’s Kerry Wade is scheduled to talk about this (6:30 pm, Senior Center/Sisson Building, 4217 SW Oregon).

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From problems to possibilities: What’s next for the South Delridge Triangle Bus Stop Park, after Saturday’s workshop
January 29, 2017 2:57 pm
|      4 COMMENTS
 |   Delridge | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

IMG_8442
(WSB photo taken post-workshop – looking south across the triangle)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Whoever you talk to about the “South Delridge Triangle Bus Stop Park” [map], Kim Barnes began, “they say, oh yeah, we gotta do something about that.”

Last summer’s Find It, Fix It Walk provided the spark to ignite “something,” and after a community workshop on Saturday morning, it’s officially launched. About 20 people gathered at the Highland Park Improvement Club to discuss the site’s challenges and possibilities.

Along with community members – led by Barnes, who’s with the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council – city reps were there too, including SPD’s Lt. Ron Smith and Sgt. Ryan Long, since safety/crime concerns are a major motivator for doing “something.”

So is the fact that the site could become a RapidRide stop when Delridge’s RR line opens in a few years.
Read More

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Your Voice, Your Choice: How the city will ask you to help decide how to spend $2 million
January 26, 2017 2:55 pm
|      20 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Another big change resulting from the mayor’s severing of ties with neighborhood-district councils is about to go public.

Those citizen groups had helped the city solicit and vet proposals for spending Neighborhood Park and Street Fund money.

This year, both the proposals and decisions are going to go through a citywide “participatory budgeting” process called “Your Voice, Your Choice.”

After hearing it mentioned at last week’s Morgan Community Association meeting, we arranged to talk with the Department of Neighborhoods point person, Jenny Frankl, to find out how it’s going to work.

To set the stage, here’s the list of Neighborhood Park and Street Fund projects chosen last year, through the 13 neighborhood districts (West Seattle has two, Delridge and Southwest). This year, it will include $2 million for projects in all seven City Council districts.

Frankl explained that suggesting, reviewing, and deciding on how to spend the money will be a four-phase process, and the first phase is expected to be announced next Monday. That phase will collect ideas from community members in a variety of ways. Frankl said some small-group invitation-only meetings already have been held, and an online survey-style form will be ready soon. Ideas also will be sought at various meetings involving city departments next month, so look for those opportunities. And in particular, they’re hoping to encourage youth to participate too.

In phase 2, city departments will review the ideas to see what’s possible and what’s not. The parameters this year will include a requirement that the proposals be capital projects, costing up to $90,000, to be built in a city street or park right-of-way.

Once lists of possible projects are grouped by council district, they will go to Project Development Teams, one for each district (West Seattle and South Park comprise District 1, as you probably know). These teams will be open to community participation, supported by city staff, and assisted by “neutral facilitators” assigned by the city. The teams will meet in the districts, and there also will be “an online component,” Frankl says, so you can participate in the reviews even if you can’t get to a face-to-face meeting.

Phase 3 will involve voting on proposed projects that will be on lists developed by the aforementioned teams. Each of the seven council districts will have a distinct ballot, Frankl says, and while she says there will be “voter authentication” – so it doesn’t become a popularity contest with one project possibly benefiting from an extensive campaign, for example – you can choose which district you want your vote to be in. Maybe you live here in District 1 but spend more of your time working/playing in another district, for example, and would prefer to cast your vote there.

Voting will be done in person as well as online, with ballots available at libraries and community centers, and with the chance for people to sign up to have a voting site – at a school, for example. Details are still being worked out, but the voting phase is likely to happen in June, before school gets out for summer.

Then phase four will be the final funding of winning projects, with each district having up to $285,000 to spend, as its share of the $2 million. The projects will be built in 2018.

“It’s exciting,” says Frankl, whose work expands on what she did with the Youth Voice, Youth Choice participatory budgeting project last year. And, she stresses, there’s “still a lot to figure out” – but this is the framework. For next year, she says, the process won’t be quite as compressed, and they’ll likely get going in September instead of next January. But first – watch for that upcoming announcement about the start of “idea collection,” soon.

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@ Morgan Community Association: From development to environment, and more
January 19, 2017 10:30 am
|    Comments Off on @ Morgan Community Association: From development to environment, and more
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Another info-packed quarterly meeting of the Morgan Community Association last night. MoCA vice president Phil Tavel presided over the meeting at The Kenney. Here are the toplines:

Read More

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Reclaiming the Delridge/Barton ‘Triangle Bus Park’: Community event January 28th
January 15, 2017 12:39 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Delridge | Neighborhoods | Safety | West Seattle news

triangleshot
(Image from project’s grant application, linked in announcement below)

If you live, work, shop, and/or travel through South Delridge, your help is sought for a community project to reclaim the “Triangle Bus Park” at Delridge/Barton, long plagued by problems including substance abuse and illegal dumping. Here’s the announcement from organizer Kim Barnes:

As part of a Roxhill / Westwood Find It, Fix It Community Project, the Westwood-Highland Park Urban Village community members, in partnership with the SDOT Office of Community Development, will host an informal two-hour community workshop to kick off the community-led goal to improve the safety and public usability of the public right of way, currently known as the “Triangle Bus Park” located at 9200 Delridge Way SW at SW Barton Street [map].

Please join us on Saturday, January 28th to learn about the best practices of urban design and contribute your thoughts about the untapped potential of this neglected and underutilized gathering place.

Reimagining The South Delridge “Triangle Bus Park” Workshop: Help Our Community Reclaim This Public Space

Date/Time: January 28th, from 10 am-12 noon, doors open 9:45 am

Location: Highland Park Improvement Club, 1116 SW Holden Street

· Street parking is available nearby
· Metro Routes 125 and 128 stop at 16th Ave. SW at Holden; walk east on Holden to 12th Street
· Light refreshments will be available
· Volunteer Spanish translator will be available

For more information:

– Copy of full press release can be found on the WWRHAH site in English here and en Español here.

– See the original grant application that details the background, scope, desired outcomes and photos here (Dropbox link).

– Contact Kim Barnes, the project lead, at kim.barnes.la@gmail.com or subscribe for email updates.

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HALA REZONING: City’s top planner thinks you’ve heard a lot about it. Also: Admiral Neighborhood Association chat
January 12, 2017 11:45 pm
|      44 COMMENTS
 |   Development | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Two updates as the city continues collecting comments on proposed rezoning as part of the Mandatory Housing Affordability component of the city’s HALA (Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda) initiative:

CITY’S TOP PLANNER RESPONDS TO REQUEST FOR EXTENSION: The Junction Neighborhood Organization asked for a six-month extension in the current feedback phase of the rezoning process. Here’s the full letter; one of the concerns: How the city did, and didn’t, inform those affected. Today JuNO director René Commons received a reply from Office of Planning and Community Development director Sam Assefa, who replied, in part:

… While I recognize that the City can always do more, we have worked conscientiously to offer many opportunities for the neighborhood to learn about HALA and MHA, and to weigh in. With regard to implementing zoning changes that create additional affordable housing, the initial draft maps were released to the public in mid-October last year and have been the subject of significant citywide community engagement and discussion ever since. In West Seattle, we have held at least 7 community meetings to provide information and to collect feedback. We anticipate many additional opportunities for the public to learn about the initial draft proposal, to share their perspectives, to see other alternatives to the initial draft proposal, and to weigh in on how these alternatives respond to the community priorities and concerns. We look forward to additional public meetings, open houses, and design workshops, both across the City and in your neighborhood, as we move forward in 2017.

We also continue to collect online comments at hala.consider.it. Of course, additional public process including environmental review, and City Council public hearings will take place before any zoning changes needed to implement MHA are made.

You can read Assefa’s full reply here. He didn’t elaborate on which meetings he was counting in the mention of 7 in West Seattle; the major city-organized meeting so far was the two-location December 7th “open house,” with the draft maps among a long list of topics on which participants were invited to comment. Meantime, city-organized “community design workshops” are continuing, with one set for The Junction on January 26th, 6-9 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle. That’s also the location for JuNO’s next meeting, 6:30 pm next Tuesday (January 17th).

ADMIRAL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION: Admiral has its own “community design workshop” set for February 11th (9:30 am-12:30 pm at West Seattle High School) Because of that upcoming event, this past Tuesday’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting had HALA rezoning on the agenda, and a bigger crowd than usual, about 40 people.

Deb Barker, a retired land-use planner whose volunteer public-service roles include being president of the Morgan Community Association, came to talk about the rezoning proposal. “It’s nothing that you really want to sit in a chair and have someone preach at you about,” she noted, adding that on first hearing about it, people’s eyes tend to glaze over. But people are hungry to find out more, she continued, mentioning the 130+-person turnout at the neighbors-briefing-neighbors event she and Cindi Barker led in Highland Park back in November (WSB coverage here).

On Tuesday, she asked who in themaudience had heard of HALA; most raised their hands.

“How many remember the 1998 Admiral Residential Urban Village plan?” A few hands went up for that.

“Anybody who’s going to redevelop is going to have to pay into a pot of money that goes to affordable housing” is how she summarized the Mandatory Housing Affordability concept, “the idea up for review right now.”

She also noted that while the draft map for the West Seattle Junction would expand the urban-village boundaries in some areas, that is NOT proposed for the Admiral Residential Urban Village.

Most of this section of Admiral’s meeting, though, was truly a case of “you had to be there” – Barker answered a few questions and then invited everyone over to the counter area in The Sanctuary’s main room for a look at some of the maps that she and Cindi had developed for their Highland Park meeting:

IMG_1811
(Photo by Ted Stevens)

Then she mentioned the December 7th city “open house” that was meant to gather comments. She had developed a page of notes to help people read and comment on the draft maps and offered those again at the Admiral meeting too – find some of the links here. And from there, conversation ensued, all around the maps, and lasted well past the meeting’s projected end time.

WHAT’S NEXT: Along with the Junction and Admiral HALA rezoning “community design workshops” mentioned above, Morgan Junction is supposed to have one too – but the date is off the city calendar, so we’re awaiting word on its fate. Keep an eye on this page.

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@ Fauntleroy Community Association: Ex-substation; Schoolhouse centennial; crime…
January 11, 2017 11:19 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Fauntleroy | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Toplines from Tuesday night’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse:

EX-SUBSTATION SITE: The group looking into buying Seattle City Light‘s former Fauntleroy Substation site at 4520 Brace Point Drive has not yet come up with the funding to do that; the city is offering it at $250,000. City Light has given them a little more time, community members were still talking before the holiday season about the possibility of bringing in some major donors.

SCHOOLHOUSE CENTENNIAL: Fauntleroy Schoolhouse turns 100 this year, and the big party is 11:30 am-3:30 pm on Sunday, May 21st. If you went to Fauntleroy Elementary at the schoolhouse, organizers are looking for photos and other memorabilia – you’re invited to loan or donate it. Here’s one photo already awaiting the event:

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If you have something of interest for the celebration, e-mail faunt.schoolhouse100years@gmail.com – they’re also seeking memorabilia from longtime schoolhouse tenant Fauntleroy Children’s Center.

CRIME UPDATE: Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith brought the newest stats. Car prowls are still the biggest problem – 11 in the past four weeks. Also of note, five larceny-level thefts and two stolen cars.

MEETING CHANGE FOR NEXT MONTH: Since the second Tuesday in February is Valentine’s Day, the board is switching its meeting to Wednesday, February 15th (still 7 pm, at the schoolhouse, 9131 California SW).

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MYERS WAY ENCAMPMENT: City Council committee briefing tomorrow; WWRHAH letter, post-meeting
December 13, 2016 12:55 pm
|      10 COMMENTS
 |   Myers Way | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Two updates related to the city’s plans to change a Myers Way encampment from unsanctioned to sanctioned, one of three new authorized encampments announced almost two weeks ago:

CITY COUNCIL BRIEFING TOMORROW: When the council’s Human Services and Public Health Committee meets at 2 pm Wednesday (City Hall, downtown), its agenda includes an update from the city’s director of homelessness George Scarola on the interim plan that includes three “new” authorized encampments, including one on Myers Way in southeast West Seattle. Here’s the slide deck just added to the meeting agenda:

(If you can’t read it via the embedded document, here’s a direct link to it on the city website.) Two notes of local interest – one, it says the city is still talking with potential operators of the Myers Way encampment, which suggests that Camp Second Chance, which has been there without authorization since July, might not be the operator after all. Second, it mentions showers open for use at Delridge Community Center “since December 1st”; our understanding is that they’ve been available longer than that. Tomorrow’s meeting, by the way, as with most Council meetings, has a public-comment period, and will be live on Seattle Channel (cable 21, seattlechannel.org).

COMMUNITY CONCERNS: Following up on last week’s meeting at Greenbridge about news of the authorized encampment (WSB coverage here), Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council chair Amanda Kay Helmick has sent Scarola this letter voicing community concerns. We were copied and are publishing it in its entirety below: Read More

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TUESDAY: Renters’ advocacy on Admiral Neighborhood Association agenda
December 11, 2016 1:30 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Amplifying the voices of Seattle renters is the spotlight issue on the Admiral Neighborhood Association agenda this Tuesday (7 pm, December 13th). Here’s the announcement from ANA president Larry Wymer:

Zachary DeWolf – a communications, policy, and community-development professional – is both director of communications and education with Pride Foundation, and president of the Capitol Hill Community Council. Following Mayor Murray’s cutting of formal ties with the neighborhood district-council system, contending that they don’t adequately reflect the full diversity of their neighborhoods, Mr. DeWolf (along with Joel Sisolak, who launched the Capitol Hill Renter Initiative and hosted the Capitol Hill Renter Summit) will describe his and Joel’s efforts to lead a citywide effort to initiate a renters’ commission that would help assure that city policymakers considers the effects on renters who typically are younger, less wealthy, less white, and less car-dependent than their home-owning counterparts.

Ultimately, this is about including voices that are all-too-often left out of the critical conversations that are shaping the future of our city.

We will also complete Nominations for Admiral Neighborhood Association officers for 2017, with Elections to follow (hopefully) at this meeting, or a meeting in the near future.

The ANA meets at The Sanctuary at Admiral, at 2656 42nd Ave SW. Our monthly meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

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