West Seattle, Washington
23 Saturday
(Pileated Woodpecker, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
Happy Saturday! First:
ROAD-WORK ALERT: SDOT told us earlier this week that – weather permitting – its crews would be out today removing the temporary bus lane that was put into place for buses to use the 4th Avenue exit from the eastbound West Seattle Bridge. You can use the views on our Traffic Cams page to see if this work is under way and if so, how it’s affecting traffic.
Now, from the calendar:
GROUP RUN: Be at West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) at 8 am and get moving! Free. (2743 California SW)
THE BIG PLUNGE, PLUS BEER FEST & FOOD TRUCKS: Big fun at Alki Bathhouse for much of the day – The Big Plunge fundraising “polar bear swim” for Special Olympics of Washington, plus a beer and food-truck festival! The newest details:
8:00 a.m. – Onsite registration opens
10:00 a.m. – DJs start spinning on the Main Stage
11:00 a.m. – Food Trucks and Winter Beer Festival open
1:00 p.m. – PLUNGE! (participants will be plunging in waves)
3:00 p.m. – Event ends; Food trucks and winter beer festival closeFood trucks include Big Dogs, Bread and Circuses, Charlie’s Buns ‘N Stuff, Ezell’s Chicken, Kiss My Gritz, Off the Rez, Pecos Pit BBQ, Piroshky Piroshky, Vet Chef, The Cheese Pit and Thai-U-Up.
Featured breweries at the winter beer festival include Big Time Brewery, Elliott Bay Brewing, Elysian Brewing Company, Georgetown Brewing, Redhook Brewery, and Seattle Cider Company.
Entertaining the crowds from the Main Stage will be a lineup of local DJs featuring Blueyed Soul, DJ Aquaphina, DJ Shane, Harmony Soleil and Sean Majors.
(2701 Alki Ave. SW)
HEALTH AND WELLNESS FAIR: 10 am-5 pm at the Duwamish Longhouse in West Seattle:
Join us for our first annual health and wellness fair at the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center! Receive free information from our health and wellness booths set up by organizations including University of Washington Health and Dental, Seattle Indian Health Board, and more. Receive free screenings and enter our raffle while gathering information on Native health and wellness.
(4705 W. Marginal Way SW)
ESSENTIAL OILS 101: Community class at Highland Park Improvement Club, 10 am-10:30 am, all welcome. (1116 SW Holden)
CELEBRATE COMIC CREATORS: 2:30-4:30 pm at Southwest Library, come to a reception for the youth who spent time this week creating comics. (9010 35th SW)
POP-UP SPANISH EVENING: Two seatings at Tin Dog Brewing in South Park, starting at 5:30 pm, with food, drink, and dancing. (309 S. Cloverddale)
CAMPAIGN PARTY: Phil Tavel‘s District 1 City Council campaign has its first South Park party tonight at 7 pm, featuring the West Seattle Big Band, at South Park Hall. Ticket info here. (1253 S. Cloverdale)
CASEY MACGILL TRIO: 7:30 pm, a Kenyon Hall favorite! Details and ticket info here. (7904 35th SW)
‘ONCE ON THIS ISLAND’: Second-to-last chance to catch Twelfth Night Productions‘ musical, 7:30 pm curtain time at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
BASKETBALL: New time for the West Seattle High School boys’ regional game against Eastside Catholic – 8 pm at Issaquah High School. (700 2nd Ave SE, Issaquah)
DAD: Hits of the ’80s and ’90s, raising money for Westside Lacrosse, 9 pm at Parliament Tavern, $8, 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
MORE OPTIONS! See our full list on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar!
(WSB photo from West Seattle Summer Fest 2018)
West Seattle Summer Fest 2019 (July 12-14) is less than five months away, and that time goes fast, so the West Seattle Junction Association has just opened applications for:
Vendors
Food Vendors
Vintage Alley
Pet Junction
Community Booth
Sponsorships!!
Volunteers
Musician and performers
Buskers
Links you can use to apply can be found on this page of the Summer Fest website.
WSJA executive director Lora Radford explains a few changes: “New this year, we’re emphasizing and encouraging local artists and craft makers to apply. We’ll have a new area of the festival, Vintage Alley – we’re prioritizing people who deal in vintage or collectables to apply. We’re also working together with the Junction merchants to make the Famous West Seattle Sidewalk Sale a big deal.”
Plus – “Also new this year, based on community feedback, a change-up in the kids’ area. More fun for the younger and elementary crowd plus we’ll have skills games for the older middle-school kids. Also, you can buy kids-ride tickets in advance this year through Brown Paper Tickets.” Find out more about the kids-area plan here.
And last but by no means least – something long requested – extended hours! Vendors will sell until 8 pm on Friday and Saturday of Summer Fest, and will open at 10 am on Sunday. So if you’re interested in being part of it, start here!
(WSHS #4 Kelsey Lenzie, winner of the game’s Sportsmanship Award)
FIRST REPORT, 7:25 PM: The West Seattle High School girls are on to the state basketball tournament after they just took a heartstopper regional win over Meadowdale, 41-40. Though the Wildcats controlled the game in the first half, the second half was a tougher slog and they didn’t regain the lead until late. Their next game will be at the Tacoma Dome, 2 pm Wednesday (February 27th) vs. the winner of tomorrow’s Arlington/Prairie game. Photos and details of tonight’s win, coming up.
P.S. The boys’ regional game vs. Eastside Catholic has a new time – 8 pm Saturday (at Issaquah HS).
(#32 Meghan Fiso, who had a 6-point game)
ADDED EARLY SATURDAY: Here’s how the Wildcats won:
Last night – as we chronicled live for more than four hours – 107 people spoke at the City Council’s last major public hearing before they vote next month on the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda’s Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning plan. Before that final vote, councilmembers are set to debate and decide on myriad proposed changes next Monday. Here’s the agenda, with links to everything proposed so far. P.S. If you’re still catching up on what HALA MHA would do in your area, here’s the city’s interactive map.
2:20 PM: We’re at the King County Courthouse, where 40-year-old Ryan J. Cox has just been sentenced to 5 years in prison for stabbing a man in Gatewood in August 2017.
(August 2017 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Superior Court Judge Susan Amini presided at the sentencing. Though the victim could not be at the hearing, a victims’ advocate read a lengthy letter he had written, saying Cox “should never be able to be free” after trying to kill him. The judge mentioned receiving a number of other letters from the victim’s family and friends.
Cox pleaded guilty last month to an enhanced version of the original second-degree-assault charge. The sentence ordered by Judge Amini is what prosecutors recommended, categorized in court documents as an “exceptional sentence” – four years in prison, plus one year after that for using a deadly weapon. Cox’s lawyer, meantime, filed a brief just before today’s sentencing, asking for a six-month sentence, the low end of the “standard” range, saying Cox “is trying to overcome his past difficulties and to better prepare himself to deal with these challenges in his future.” At the hearing, Cox contended the stabbing was in self-defense and expressed anger after the judge announced her decision.
As detailed in this WSB followup in 2017, Cox has a high-profile criminal history in the community, but mostly misdemeanors, which is what made this sentence “exceptional.” We recorded this afternoon’s hearing and will add video and details later.
5:15 PM: Video now added atop this story.
ADDED 9:04 PM: Here is our recap of the hearing:
Family and friends are remembering longtime West Seattle business owner “Cal” Wiseman, and sharing this remembrance with the community:
Austin Calvin (“Cal”) Wiseman was born in Carthage, South Dakota on August 4, 1929 to parents Austin L. and Ellen Wiseman. Cal suddenly passed away February 13, 2019 surrounded by family members.
Cal graduated from Madison High School, where he met his high school sweetheart and future bride Joyce. Cal and Joyce (nee Johnson), married May 23, 1950 in Madison, South Dakota.
Cal served his country during the Korean Conflict in the South Dakota National Guard. First stationed at Camp Carson in Colorado, and later deployed “overseas” to Alaska.
Cal moved his growing family to Seattle in 1953. He then had an extensive career in Appliance Sales and Service as the founder and former owner of the still-operating Wiseman Appliance in West Seattle. He was a member of the Elks, and various West Seattle organizations. Cal was well-known and beloved throughout the West Seattle community. He was always quick to laugh and joke with everyone he met. He had a passion for family events, travel, personalized license plates, hats, fishing, spending time at the lake. Cal was always the first to help where he could. He loved his home on Alki.
Cal is survived by Joyce, his wife of 68 years, daughter Paula (Billy) Small of Renton, Sons: Daniel of Seattle, Stephen of Kirkland, Craig of Seattle, Scott of Seattle and Mark of Des Moines; brother Arlin Wiseman of Federal Way, and sister Donna Smith of Glenwood, IA. In addition, Cal is survived by nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, as well as many nieces and nephews. Cal will be dearly missed by all of his friends and loved ones.
A private interment will follow at a later date at Tahoma National Cemetery.
To leave an online condolence to the family, please (go here).
In lieu of sending flowers, remembrance donations may be sent to St. Bernadette Parish, Elks Lodge of Burien, or Seattle Children’s Hospital, and would be most appreciated by the family.
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
Two notes in Crime Watch this midday:
1ST AVENUE S. BRIDGE SHOOTING: Reported this morning via SPD Blotter:
Gang Unit Detectives are investigating after a man was shot in the leg while driving over the 1st Avenue South bridge.
Officers were approached by an 18-year-old man in the 2600 block of South Holly Street at 1:20 a.m. Friday where he showed them a gunshot wound to his calf. The victim said he had been driving when he heard several shots and a single round entered the vehicle through the driver’s side door striking him in the leg. The victim was unable to provide any suspect description to officers.
Seattle Fire Department Medics transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
Gang Unit Detectives are now investigating and are asking anyone with information to please call the tip line at 206-233-5000.
No indication if there’s any suspected link to earlier shootings reported further south on Highway 509.
CAR PROWLER ON CAMERA: The video and report are from Alex in Sunrise Heights:
We live near 32nd and Kenyon and have had our car prowled twice in the last couple weeks; one happened early at 930 pm. Both of these happened in our alley way. Wanted to … warn people and remind them to be safe and be on the lookout!
What started as a Seattle Fire “full response” for a possible house fire in the 3000 block of SW Avalon Way was quickly downsized. Turned out to be a chimney fire, per radio communication, and most units have been dismissed.
(Rendering by Caron Architecture)
The four-story storage facility planned for an auto-shop site at 9201 Delridge Way SW won Southwest Design Review Board approval last night. It was the project’s second and final review, one year after its first. (See the “design packet” here.) The board approved a zoning exception to allow fewer windows along the 20th SW side. The architects (from Caron Architecture) told the board that they had met recently with community advocate Kim Barnes as well as the Southwest Precinct‘s crime-prevention specialist Jennifer Danner, so the revised proposal incorporates neighborhood suggestions and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles.
Traffic and pedestrian-safety issues came up several times, with suggestions including a right-turn-only sign for vehicles leaving the alley, as well as a crosswalk in the area. That’s outside the purview of Design Review but city planners can include it in their review of the project; Barnes noted that it’s being pursued through a city grant fund.
Also separate from the design discussion, neighbors still had concerns about the site currently drawing loiterers as well as currently holding an abandoned car and a pile of tires; a city inspector will be called out to check on that.
Besides the windows, other conditions of design approval include more-consistent lighting around the building’s perimeter, a barrier and shrubbery to more safely route foot traffic, and followup on how the building’s “green walls” will be irrigated.
(Horned Grebe with a gunnel for lunch, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
Get your weekend going early! Here are highlights for the hours ahead:
WEST SEATTLE GARDEN CLUB: Hostas and ferns are the spotlight topic during today’s 10:30 am-2 pm meeting of the West Seattle Garden Club at Daystar Retirement Village (WSB sponsor) – more information in our calendar listing; visitors are welcome for all or part of the meeting. (2615 SW Barton)
BINGO! Weekly bingo session at the Senior Center of West Seattle, 11 am-2:30 pm. Must be at least 18 to play. Info in our calendar listing. (4217 SW Oregon)
CITY COUNCILMEMBER’S DISTRICT OFFICE HOURS: 2-7 pm, you can drop in to the South Park Community Center to talk with District 1 Councilmember Lisa Herbold during her monthly “district office hours.” (8319 8th Ave. S.)
BASKETBALL: The West Seattle High School girls’ team has a regional playoff game at 6 pm vs. Meadowdale HS. They’re playing at Garfield HS. It’s a must-win game so the more fans, the better! (400 23rd Avenue)
BOBCAT BOB: 7-9 pm at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), it’s the return of ever-popular Bob “Bobcat Bob” Rice! No cover. (5612 California SW)
BENEFIT CONCERT: Big lineup of regional bands at The Skylark tonight, 7:30 pm, helping the Northshore Fire Foundation raise money for nonprofits – details here. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
‘ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, THE MUSICAL’: Start of the second and final weekend for Twelfth Night Productions‘ show, 7:30 pm curtain at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
EVEN MORE … on our complete calendar!
Just in case those fleeting flurries earlier this morning concerned you – though possible snow showers appear on and off in the forecast for the days ahead, nothing major is predicted. But if you’re ready for spring, here’s some hope:
Tired of the cold?
Need something to look forward to?
The outlook for April-May-June favors above average temperatures for the PNW. #wawx
*places hands back in front of space heater* pic.twitter.com/FbDBNKLTzu
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) February 22, 2019
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
6:16 AM: Good morning! No incidents or alerts reported so far this Friday.
8:02 AM: Flurries!
Thanks for the tips on these:
WATER BREAK: If you are anywhere near 36th/Raymond and you are having water trouble, that could be the cause – a broken line. It has been reported to Seattle Public Utilities; no repair crew there yet when we went over to check. We have a call out to find out the extent of the break.
POWER OUTAGE: We got a question about streetlights being out near 24th/Roxbury but homes unaffected. The Seattle City Light map shows what it calls a “planned outage” in the area affecting 26 customers.
(Substituted Friday morning: Seattle Channel video of Thursday night hearing)
5:38 PM: Click into that stream and you’ll be watching the event we’re at City Hall to cover – the City Council’s last big public hearing before its vote next month on HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning. (You can follow along with the agenda, and its relevant materials, here.) It’s been eight months since the council’s hearing in West Seattle; this one is for the entire city, and the chambers are full – with five of the 9 councilmembers here (Lorena González is chairing in the absence of vacationing committee chair Rob Johnson; also here are Lisa Herbold, Debora Juarez, Teresa Mosqueda, Kshama Sawant). We’ll be chronicling highlights as they happen.
First to speak is a representative from the SEIU. “Middle- and low-income workers will continue to be priced out of the city” if there’s not more housing stock, she says, expressing support for HALA MHA.
Second is also a HALA MHA supporter who says the process has taken too long. “Working families are struggling,” she says. “… More people need housing, and this is the chance to mitigate that need.”
Third and fourth are two members of 350 Seattle’s “housing team.” They say “housing is a climate issue” and express relief that “MHA is so close to the finish line.” They express opposition to some proposed amendments including the ones that would reduce the level of upzoning in some areas (including part of West Seattle).
Fifth is another MHA supporter who says, “We’ve been working on getting to the Grand Bargain [with developers] since the Nickels administration.” (That former mayor left office in 2009.)
Sixth, a representative of the city Planning Commission, in favor of MHA, who says they’re excited about its potential to “distribute more development capacity” to neighborhoods that could use it.
Seventh, the first opponent to speak, who says “tech bros” who are “strip-mining the city” and “venture capitalists” among others will continue to “pour in” and redevelop the city. She says that she and her husband feel they are being “pushed out of Seattle” so it’s “time to leave.” She draws a smattering of boos.
Eighth, an opponent who calls MHA “fundamentally flawed.” She also says she supports Councilmember Herbold’s anti-displacement proposal (announced yesterday). She wants to see neighborhood planning restored.
6 PM: Ninth, a speaker who says that MHA will lead to more displacement. So she wants the 23rd/Jackson urban village to not be upzoned. She specifically appeals to CM Sawant, saying her district, 3, has had “sacrificial lambs” already displaced. She draws strong applause (we should note that the pro-MHA speakers had drawn some applause too).
AHEAD: THE REST OF OUR 4 1/2 HOURS OF AS-IT-HAPPENED COVERAGE: Read More
(WSB photos)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Will the stone house join the Log House (Museum) under the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s wing?
SWSHS leaders tell WSB they are grateful that the new owners of the well-known little stone-covered house at 1123 Harbor Avenue SW have agreed to meet with them. They aren’t seeking to get in the way of whatever the new owners – who just bought the site and two adjacent lots last week – have planned. They just want to obtain the house itself and move it someplace new, potentially to use as an interpretive center.
We talked this afternoon outside the 90-year-old house with SWSHS president Kathy Blackwell and longtime local preservationist John Bennett.
They shared the letter they sent to the new owners, who, they say, subsequently agreed to a meeting next Monday.
You might not be aware of all the backstory behind the little stone-studded house across from Don Armeni Boat Ramp. To catch up, see this Seattle Post-Intelligencer story from 2002. Even then, the owner of the house – a member of the family who built it with scavenged materials – was in her 70s and told the newspaper that developers had been making them offers for at least 15 years.
SWSHS had talked to the family in the past, too, as the 2002 story alludes to. Bennett says the family had expressed interest in donating the little stone house if they ever sold the property, but nothing was in writing. So now they’re looking forward to talking with the new owners, Chainqui Development, whose expressed values indicate this should be in perfect alignment. No development proposal is on file yet for the site – which also includes the two parcels immediately west – but the new owners have obtained a permit for exterior work on the stone house, including its windows, some of which are already boarded up:
Where the house would be moved, SWSHS hasn’t determined yet, but the sale of the site has them determined to obtain it first, settle on a site later. Wherever it winds up, the goal would be for it to be accessible to the public. (This wouldn’t be the first [corrected] moved house in the SWSHS fold – its headquarters at 61st/Stevens, the Log House Museum, was originally the carriage house for the Alki Homestead a short distance north.)
“We have a real opportunity here to preserve part of the special story of West Seattle,” says Blackwell – the story of its mostly-gone beach cottages, via what’s unquestionably the most distinctive of those that remain.
That photo provided by Seattle Parks shows one of the vendors that’s had a concession contract at Alki Beach Park in past summers. If you’re interested in vending – or providing an activity (fitness, for example), there or at Lincoln Park (among other possible spots at parks around the city), it’s time to apply. Here’s the announcement we received:
Seattle Parks and Recreation is seeking proposals for seasonal partners to operate food service, recreational activities and group concessions in various park locations throughout Seattle. Locations vary with sites appropriate for carts, food trucks or self-contained service business. Seasonal concessions enhance and activate parks by aligning with SPR’s values “healthy people, healthy environment, strong communities”. Proposals are due by March 8th.
Past seasonal concessions in West Seattle include food sales at Alki Beach Park and Lincoln Park and SUP/Kayak vending at Alki Beach.
SPR is also accepting ongoing applications for Activity groups who operate in the parks (fitness boot camps, outdoor nature classes, yoga).
Commercial activity in the park requires a permit and all businesses submit insurance, City of Seattle business license and undergo staff background checks. More information and permitting requirements are found at: seattle.gov/parks/seasonalconcessions . We look forward to hearing from potential vendors!
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
A crew working for the state Department of Natural Resources is back out on West Seattle beaches this week, cleaning up creosote – a toxic threat you might not even recognize as you walk along beaches strewn with old pilings containing literally tons of the substance long used as a wood preservative.
We were invited to photograph a cleanup site just north of the Fauntleroy ferry dock on Wednesday when state Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz was visiting the crew. While the beachfront property there is privately owned, part of the tidelands belong to the state, which obtained access agreements with dozens of property owners to facilitate this part of the cleanup.
Crew members are cutting up creosote-contaminated wood and loading it on board this vessel:
From there it’s taken across Puget Sound to Manchester in Kitsap County, and transported from there to a landfill. Before our visit, they had already removed 20 tons of contaminated wood – DNR’s aquatics restoration manager Christopher Robertson explained that every linear foot of a log like this could contain a gallon of liquid creosote, which he described as “very nasty stuff.”
You’ve heard that toxins in the water is one of the biggest threats to Puget Sound orcas. That makes this removal a boon to them, as well as to the salmon they need to survive. Part of Commissioner Franz’s reason for visiting is to highlight her budget request for the coming year, to better fund this and other projects vital to protecting the state’s environment.
Franz would like to double the amount of creosote that the state can remove. Right now, this project only has access to one six-person crew, two weeks a month; ideally, Robertson and fellow aquatics restoration manager Monica Shoemaker told us, they could keep half a dozen crews and a fleet of boats busy.
By the way, while on the beach, we learned about a new app that you can use to help if you spot debris on the beach – like this damaged float that had appeared sometime within the previous day:
It’s a threat to marine wildlife and birds because it contains styrofoam that looks to them like yummy fish eggs:
You can report something like this via the MyCoast app, in which our state is a participant – find out about it here. Besides “large marine debris,” derelict vessels are another category of reporting for which you can use MyCoast. Back to the creosote removal:
This isn’t new – the state’s been doing it for more than a decade. But unfortunately it’s the kind of work that has to be repeated – there’s so much creosote out there, any beach is vulnerable to something more washing up. Fauntleroy is just one of many beaches where the state is doing this work.
10:07 AM: This August, you’ll be asked to approve a six-year replacement for the expiring King County Parks Levy. County Executive Dow Constantine is officially announcing it at an event under way right now at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center; we’re there and will add video and event details later. Here, for starters, is the news release:
Executive Dow Constantine today announced his proposal to renew the current King County Parks Levy, scheduled to expire at the end of the year. His proposal for the August ballot would generate an estimated $738 million over the next six years to expand and connect regional trails, improve access to green space and recreation, and keep the county’s parks and trails clean, safe, and open.
The current King County Parks levy – which voters approved in 2013 – will expire Dec. 31. On Feb. 21, Executive Constantine sent to the King County Council a proposal that will expand and improve access to the county’s 200 parks, 175 miles of regional trails, and 28,000 acres of open space.
“This proposal isn’t just about access to parks and recreation – although that is plenty. It is about a generational investment in our environment,” said Executive Constantine. “The levy is entirely consistent with my priorities to restore and protect our rivers, forests, and farms, while also doing our part to tackle climate pollution. Voters have approved the Parks Levy three times since 2003. No matter how much things grow and change around here, our values stay the same, guiding us to support investments that make stronger, healthier, and happier communities.”
Highlights of Executive Constantine’s plan include:
Building and designing regional trails, including missing links and crossings over rivers and highways
Improving trailheads by adding parking and signage
Repairing trails for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding
Replacing 11 ballfields
Rehabilitating play area equipment in six parks
Maintaining park infrastructure, such as pathways, roofs, fencing, and electrical systems
The levy would cost 16.82 cents per $1000 of assessed property value, which would cost the owner of a home valued at $500,000 about $7 per month.About 80 percent of King County Parks’ operational budget is funded by levy.
Under Executive Constantine’s proposal, about $60 million would be allocated to King County cities to support local parks and recreation; an additional $35 million would go for grants to cities to protect and acquire open space. It would provide Woodland Park Zoo with $36 million for conservation and environmental education programs for under-served youth. It would also provide $8 million to the Seattle Aquarium for construction of their new Ocean Pavilion.
Executive Constantine’s proposal would also provide continued funding for the Community Partnerships and Grants Program, which, over its 15-year existence, has created dozens of public amenities across King County with partners that contribute the necessary additional capital, in-kind resources, and volunteer time to develop new or enhanced facilities.
About $1 million per year would go toward equity-focused grants to increase access to and use of recreation facilities in communities that are currently underserved or face other barriers. …
The news release continues here. The levy would generate almost twice the $396 million the expiring levy was expected to bring in.
11:11 AM: The half-hour event (clips added above) also included this area’s County Councilmember Joe McDermott as well as other speakers including King County’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks director Christie True. While no White Center/West Seattle-specific projects were mentioned, it was noted that the current levy funded improvements at Steve Cox Park including the field that served as the event’s backdrop.
(Another “snowbird” – this time a robin photographed by Susan Romanenghi)
Highlights for the rest of today/tonight:
KING COUNTY PARKS LEVY: County Executive Dow Constantine and County Councilmembers will be at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White Center at 10 am to announce the countywide replacement levy plan they’ll be sending to voters. (1321 SW 102nd)
PREPAREDNESS WORKSHOP: 2 pm at Quail Park Memory Care Residences of West Seattle (WSB sponsor), preparedness expert Dave Nichols leads a free workshop. (4515 41st SW)
HALA HEARING: 5:30 pm at City Hall downtown, it’s the last major public hearing before the City Council‘s scheduled vote next month on HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning for much of the city. (600 4th Avenue)
9201 DELRIDGE DESIGN REVIEW: 6:30 pm at the Senior Center/Sisson Building, the Southwest Design Review Board considers the “mini-warehouse” proposed for 9201 Delridge Way SW. See the design packet here. Meeting includes a public-comment period. (4217 SW Oregon)
WEST SEATTLE TIMEBANK: Also at the Senior Center/Sisson Building at 6:30 pm, you’re invited to learn about timebanking. Bring a potluck dish if you want – not required. (4217 SW Oregon)
ALKI COMMUNITY COUNCIL: 7 pm at Alki UCC, all welcome at the monthly meeting. (6115 SW Hinds)
LORD SHAMBLETON AND SWINGSET: Live music, 7 pm at The Skylark. $8 cover. 21+. (3803 Delridge Way SW)
KO ELECTRIC: Live music with Kate Olsen and friends at Parliament Tavern, 9 pm, no cover, 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
MORE … on our complete calendar!
(SDOT MAP with travel times/ Is the ‘low bridge’ closed? LOOK HERE/ West Seattle-relevant traffic cams HERE)
6:27 AM: Good morning! No alerts or incidents reported in our area so far.
Four project notes:
EARLY DESIGN OUTREACH FOR PROJECT @ EX-CHARMANN APARTMENTS: As we first reported last year, townhouses are proposed for the site of the former Charmann Apartments – demolished last October – at 5917 California SW. The 9-townhouse project is now in the city’s Early Design Outreach process, and a drop-in discussion is set for 2 pm Saturday, March 9th, at High Point Library (3411 SW Raymond). You can also comment by going here.
COMMENT TIME FOR 9037 35TH SW: We’ve also reported previously on a microapartments-and-retail mixed-use project to replace a house and small commercial building at 9037 35th SW – four stories, 26 small-efficiency dwelling units, 6 offstreet-parking spaces, plus retail. The permit application is now open for comments through March 4th; the notice is linked in the city’s newest Land Use Information Bulletin.
COMMENT TIME FOR 4 ALKI HOUSES: A land-use-permit application is in for a plan at 2530 55th SW, four 4-story houses with 4 offstreet-parking spaces on the sloped site above, which you might recall as the site of a slide back in 2013. Comments on the application are being accepted through February 27th.
ROWHOUSES INSTEAD OF APARTMENTS IN NORTH ADMIRAL: Three years after a 16-unit apartment building won Design Review approval for 1606 California SW, a different project is proposed. City files show 8 rowhouse units are now proposed to replace a fourplex and house at the site.
“If you take away affordable housing, you have to replace it.” That’s how one community member at tonight’s Delridge Neighborhoods District Council meeting summarized their take on the goal of proposed city legislation announced earlier in the day by West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who wants to bundle it with consideration of HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability, the subject of a council public hearing tomorrow night. Here’s the announcement sent by Herbold’s office:
Councilmember Lisa Herbold (District 1, West Seattle, South Park) will introduce an anti-displacement ordinance that would authorize additional displacement mitigations for housing projects located in South Park, Rainier Beach, Othello, Bitter Lake, and Westwood-Highland Park. These neighborhoods have been identified as having a high risk of displacement and low access to opportunity, according to Growth and Equity: Analyzing Impacts on Displacement and Opportunity Related to Seattle’s Growth Strategy, in the Comprehensive Plan Seattle 2035, an analysis conducted by the Office of Planning and Community Development.
“I appreciate Mayor Durkan’s efforts to address the displacement impacts of development by proposing to introduce legislation that the Council requested in 2017 by Resolution 31754. As described in the March 2018 status report to the Council, a community preferences policy will be useful for our non-profit developers. Nevertheless, we also desperately need a tool to address the displacement that occurs when for-profit developers build. Displacement is a challenging issue and we need many tools to address it,” said Herbold.
Councilmember Herbold will this week send the proposed bill to the Council’s Introduction and Referral Calendar. Councilmember Herbold has requested that the Council hear this bill concurrently with the MHA Citywide legislation.
“This ordinance would use authority granted under the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) to create a requirement for developers to mitigate the impacts resulting from the loss of affordable housing in those areas of the city that, if we didn’t do so, the result would be a failure to fulfill our obligation to ‘affirmatively promote fair housing’ — in other words, in areas where disproportionate displacement of communities of color and other protected classes is likely to occur,” Herbold said. (See upper left-hand corner of this image.)
“MHA Framework legislation, passed in 2016, Section 2.A.2.a, stated: The Council intends to consider whether to include higher performance and payment amounts, subject to statutory limits, for those areas where the increase in development capacity would be likely to increase displacement risk. Resolution 31733, passed in 2017, stated: The Council intends to consider a range of strategies to increase affordable units sufficient to offset the affordable units at risk of demolition due to new development.”
“I’m proud that the Council has a long legislative record of its commitment to address displacement. Now it’s time to act again,” Herbold continued.
“I have, over the years, expressed my great concern that the City describes MHA as ‘housing displacement mitigation tool,’ but has badly analyzed how development removes more affordable housing than the resources from MHA are sufficient to replace.
“For example, in the case of the University District MHA upzone in 2017, the City estimated that only 40-275 units of existing affordable units of housing would be demolished over 20 years. The EIS estimated likely demolition by identifying specific redevelopable parcels and quantifying their existing housing (zero, for parking lots and commercial buildings). The “full build out” scenario wherein construction occurs on all redevelopable parcels to the full capacity of the proposed rezone was estimated to result in the demolition of 275 homes over 20 years. In less than 2 years, based upon a Council Central Staff analysis of new development projects that are currently in some stage of having their Master Use Permit issued or Early Design Guidance reviewed and that are subject to the new zoning put in place in 2017, 96 units of affordable units are already planned for demolition.
“Using the same approach used in the University District in 2017, the City estimates that over 20 years 574 units of housing will be demolished in MHA rezone areas. My concerns about displacement today are heightened, especially considering how far afield the University District estimate has proven to be.”
This announcement comes on the eve of the council’s HALA MHA public hearing, 5:30 pm Thursday at City Hall downtown (600 4th Ave.), as previewed here Monday.
(Hiawatha, photographed earlier this month by Andy)
Another request for your input – this time, for the future of the city’s Olmsted parks, including Hiawatha Playfield and the section of Schmitz Park known as its Boulevard. Here’s the survey, which includes this explanatory introduction:
Seattle Parks and Recreation is wrapping up a study of 10 of the Olmsted Parks and Boulevards. The purpose of the Olmsted Parks Study and the following survey is to hear from the Seattle community how Seattle Parks and Recreation can prioritize restoration of these historically significant assets. …
Seattle’s Olmsted Parks and Boulevards began as a dream the City of Seattle had in the late 1800’s for a beautiful system of landscapes among urban growth. This vision was implemented in the form of parks throughout the city designed by the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm. The basis of design for these parks was to allow access to attractive open spaces to provide peace and respite for people from all walks of life.
The study is here (PDF), with Hiawatha assessment and recommendations starting on page 84, and Schmitz right after that, at page 96. Historic photos, too!
BACKSTORY: Here’s more on the Olmsted parks’ restoration project that this is all part of
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