West Seattle, Washington
13 Saturday
Between that burned-out plumbing shop photographed at 37th and Alaska in the ’30s …
… and the 44th/Alaska fire station (photographed in the ’20s) whose crews likely responded to the plumbing shop fire … we have a unique business district that’s going through growing pains, as new developments like this one arrive …
… others are on the drawing board …
… and we all wonder what will eventually happen here:
What will our peninsula look like in five years, 10 years, 20 years? What SHOULD it look like? Is the vision written down a decade ago still relevant now? This is a rare chance to say what you think, on the official record. Tomorrow night, five West Seattle areas with Neighborhood Plans, including The Junction, get their first chance in a decade to revisit them and discuss whether they still work. Among the other areas – Morgan Junction, where “Mr. Jerome’s house” was photographed in the 4000 block of Orchard way back when …
A couple blocks west of that scene, you’ll find new townhouses and not-so-new apartments. A few blocks north of there, businesses new and old. It’s the same story all over West Seattle. Take a couple hours out of your night Tuesday, come out of the sun and into Delridge Community Center, and join the Neighborhood Plan Status Checks for Admiral, Delridge, Highland Park/Westwood, Morgan Junction, and The Junction. Each neighborhood will have its own “breakout” spot to discuss specifics, with two facilitators: For Admiral, it’s Mark Wainwright and Catherine Benotto; for The Junction, Sharonn Meeks and Kay Knapton; for Morgan Junction, Cindi Barker and Jerry Finrow; for Delridge, Boaz Ashkenazy and Chris Persons; for Highland Park/Westwood, Christie Coxley and Kevin McDonald – the facilitators represent the City Neighborhood Council and the Seattle Planning Commission. As noted yesterday, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Spanish translation will be available.
We have spoken with two of the facilitators; Sharonn Meeks (who’s president of the Fairmount Community Association) says she is hopeful for a good community turnout – during the original neighborhood planning process 10 years ago, she says, not enough community members participated. Cindi Barker (who’s with the Morgan Community Association) tells WSB, “I’m looking forward to seeing both old and new faces at this workshop. We’ve made inroads on the Morgan Junction projects, but the remaining projects might not be as applicable these days. It will be very interesting to hear what people are thinking about changes in the neighborhood.”
You can just come and listen – even that signifies taking a stand, showing interest in the future. Review the four questions first:
1. Most of the neighborhood plans were adopted about 10 years ago and are in their mid-life. How has your neighborhood changed in the last decade since the plan was adopted, (or since you’ve been there)?
2. What changes or aspects of your neighborhood are you most pleased about? Most dissatisfied about?
3. How well are your Neighborhood Plan vision and key strategies being achieved? Are they still the priority?
4. The city is completing neighborhood plan status reports focusing on demographics, development patterns, housing affordability, public amenities and transportation networks. What should there be more focus on (or less focus on) as the neighborhood status reports are completed in the coming months? Are there any important gaps in the draft status report?
And check out the status overviews and other documents regarding all the neighborhoods here. Then just show up, 6 pm Tuesday, Delridge Community Center. It’ll open with an explanation/orientation before everybody breaks off.
December 27, SW Sullivan, east of California SW. First day in two weeks we’d gotten up into the 40s. It’s when the 2 weeks of snowlock started to clear.
John is reporting a break-in attempt, on behalf of a neighbor without e-mail – read on:Read More
Thanks to Kevin for that photo from the crosswalk at California/Dawson (by Rite-Aid, south of The Junction) where several people tell us there was quite the police emphasis this afternoon. This is the same spot where a 92-year-old pedestrian was hit and killed last September. Kevin reports:
Here are a couple of pictures I got of a significant crosswalk sting at California and Dawson, the crosswalk in front of Rite Aid on Monday 7/27.
I had stopped at Rite Aid about 4 PM and noticed what was going on when I came back to my car.
They had about two patrol cars, four or five motorcycles, and two undercover cops. acting as pedestrians. Male and female decoy. Quite an elaborate setup! I even managed to help catch one vehicle myself as I grabbed a flag and stepped into the intersection on my way to talk to the cops! Too bad they did not stop for the flag. :( The officers I talked to said that people on the receiving end get more upset than speeders when ticketed.
There were evidently enough folks milling around watching that they decided to move their act further north and start in again fresh. They must have stopped at least a dozen cars during the time I was there. … You might want to empathize what the cops told me, in that you are REQUIRED to STOP if the pedestrian has STEPPED into the street. I suspect a lot of folks are not sure about the exact definition.
I should add that the decoys did not use the cross walk flags – which is more than fair since few intersections have them. I USED a flag and they went after the one that did not stop for me.
Before anyone considers an indignant comment – police have told us that reporting on “stings” like this – whether they’re pulling over speeders or patrolling school zones – is not seen as a hindrance to them; they would rather people just obey the law in the first place, and if a report about a sting gets them to do that, all the better. Meantime, we’ll try to find out how many tickets were issued. (Thanks also to Richard for his note about this via Facebook — find us there at facebook.com/westseattleblog — including the line: “The heat brings out The Heat!”)
(Thursday night photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Last Friday, the day after the homeless encampment calling itself “Nickelsville” moved from state-owned land at 2nd SW/Highland Park Way to port-owned land at Terminal 107 Park (4700 West Marginal Way), the port announced it was taking legal steps to make the campers leave. Tonight, we have camp organizers’ official response – read on:Read More
When the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee meets tonight at the city Parks Department’s HQ at Denny Park downtown (7 pm), their agenda will include a briefing on potential “spray parks” to be built at some of the city’s wading pool sites, to be built with money from that levy, passed by voters last fall. We’ve taken an advance look at the documents: A West Seattle site, the Highland Park wading pool, is near the top of the spray-park list – ranked #2 priority, after Northacres. The recommendation is for the city to build those two next year – here’s an excerpt from the briefing document:
Next Steps after a Decision
• Design Programs and Public Involvement Plans for each site will be developed.
• Northacres Park Play Area project is scheduled to start construction in July 2010.
• Highland Park would be scheduled to start construction in May 2010
We hope to find out tonight how long construction would take, what the spray park might look like, and whether the Highland Park spray park would be done – if that timetable is maintained – in time for use next summer. This summer, the HP wading pool is closed because it hasn’t undergone federally mandated drain-safety improvements, and that in fact factored into this decision – when evaluating where to build “spray parks” first, the Parks Department used criteria (see the full briefing document here) including ruling out those close to existing spray features (there are none in West Seattle) and those where the drain work had already been done (HP is one of 11 citywide where it hasn’t been). More later tonight.
FORECAST UPDATE: Tomorrow, up to 100. Wednesday, up to 103. Read it here. Meantime, as for trying to cool off: We mentioned wading pools and swimming pools earlier; we’re also collecting suggestions from comments on each and every heat-related update (and the WSB Forums, plus e-mailed suggestions, editor@westseattleblog.com) regarding cooldown advice, so we can compile a list tonight to display prominently through the week. And now, a city list has just come in, with information about everything from senior centers to libraries – read on:Read More
A month has passed since the news that former Junction entrepreneur and community volunteer leader Helen Sutton – longtime La Grace Dress Shop owner and the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s first woman president – had died, at age 95. (Here’s our story from June 24.) Friends had told us there would be news later of a possible memorial, and Sandy Adams has forwarded news of this one: South Seattle Community College will honor Ms. Sutton with a special event in the SSCC Arboretum at 2 pm August 13. Its rose garden is named for her – she helped create the Arboretum itself, as well as helping establish the SSCC Foundation, and serving as a board member for many years, including time as board president. and the school is putting out the call for people to help tidy the entry and the Helen G. Sutton Rose Garden itself before the event. The cleanup will be August 7 or 8, and lunch will be provided to volunteers. Call Adrian at 206.282.8040 if you’d like to volunteer for the cleanup.
Just got the latest on the work to rebuild a section of 16th SW just north of South Seattle Community College – read on for the update we just received from SDOT:Read More
Thanks to Keith for sharing that photo of his home at 3045 49th SW (map) near Schmitz Park. He explains:
Sure, there’s construction going on around West Seattle, some of it pretty interesting, but still, nothing like this that I’ve ever seen. … I can’t tell you what a surreal sight it is to see our little house sitting on “cribs” some 13 feet up (23 feet up from the road). It’s a real traffic stopper, I can tell you. People ask what we’re doing. Can you tell? Feel free to run the photo, and to invite people to come by and guess. Just don’t recommend that anyone stand underneath and sneeze . . .
We could cheat by checking city online records, but we won’t spoil it for you. Meantime, 16 months after Seattle Fire Department crews did some training at pre-teardown 5232 California (map), the house itself is finally debris.
Rick from nearby Rick’s Barber Shop told us last week that the backhoe had arrived – we didn’t get over in time today to catch it in action (early-morning work to be done before things really heated up?) but caught the pile of debris before it was cleared. The city page for the site says permits were just renewed for plans to build two buildings at the site – 4 townhouse units, 3 “live-work” units.
(photo taken at EC Hughes wading pool today just before it opened at noon)
As promised by the Parks Department, E.C. Hughes wading pool (29th/Holden; map) opened today – that’s the last of the West Seattle wading pools to open this year, on a staggered schedule because of federally mandated drain-safety work. (The department says Highland Park will not open this year at all, one of more than a dozen wading pools citywide staying closed.) Delridge, Hiawatha and Lincoln Park wading pools already are open; their respective hours are listed here. If you’re too big for a wading pool, your other municipal swimming options are Southwest Pool (indoors) and Colman Pool (outdoors) – several private facilities offer pools to their members, such as the West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor). Humans aren’t the only ones who can get some relief in the water – Trileigh sends this photo with a reminder to have water out for the birds:
She notes:
… our little avian friends have a tough time in this hot weather! If folks have a birdbath, please keep water in it — it helps the little guys to have cool water to drink and splash in. Yesterday there were chickadees in and out of my birdbath all day long.
Even if you don’t have a birdbath, you can put out a pie plate or other broad container with water for them. The squirrels will appreciate it too. We all need to help each other out during this heat wave!
(added) Trileigh also notes that “birdbaths (formal or informal) should be pretty shallow and not slippery, so that the birds can stand and drink or bathe. You can always put a rock in it if it’s made of something slippery, like glazed ceramic for instance.” We’re working on yet more heat-beating info, including West Seattle places where you’ll find A/C – we were just over at Stor-More (WSB sponsors) and if you have occasion to drop by and chat with them about storage/mail services, they have a very nicely air-conditioned lobby (SW Yancy just east of Avalon Way) – more suggestions welcome!
(Maddie Meyers in a recent competition; photo courtesy of her family)
One more Seafair Torchlight note from Saturday night – we have congratulated local parade participants but just learned about a Torchlight Run participant’s success: 14-year-old West Seattle-residing running star Madeleine “Maddie” Meyers — going into her sophomore year at The Northwest School — was the 8th female to finish the run in Saturday night’s hot, humid and fleetingly rainy conditions. Her time: 32:08. (Another West Seattle link: The first woman to finish, again this year, was Vanessa Hunter, 27:54, who also was the first woman to cross the line in the first-ever West Seattle 5K (WSB coverage here) two months ago.)
*From today’s city Land Use Information Bulletin: Alki Cafe‘s new owners have applied for a sidewalk-cafe permit. (The online notice says the city will accept comments till August 10th and explains how to send a comment.)
*Blue Angels update: The news release we quoted in last night’s story said #7 would be here at 9:30 today, but David DeSiga (who took the awesome photo we used in that story) says it actually landed before 9 am. So we should add the caveat, times approximate, which would go for tomorrow’s expected arrival of the other 6.
*Seattle City Light has issued its own set of heat-beating tips – with a focus on electricity, how not to overuse it, and what to do if you lose it. Read on:Read More
UPDATE: 2:17p, Thursday 7/30 – The registration period has been extended to Monday, August 3 at 9:00 AM.
We’ve mentioned it at the end of many recent crime reports, but now that the deadline’s just days away, this deserves its own mention: Night Out is a week from tomorrow — Tuesday, August 4 — and if you want to close off your (non-arterial) street for a neighborhood party, you need to register with SPD by THIS FRIDAY. Go here to sign up; once you’re signed up, go here to get printable signs, neighborhood letters, and info on firefighters’ neighborhood visits. (And if you wouldn’t mind having WSB visit your block party, please e-mail us the address and who to ask for – editor@westseattleblog.com – it was great to be able to chronicle the night last year, and this year we’re hoping to feature even more scenes from West Seattle’s Night Out.)
The weather alert ratcheted up early this morning to an “excessive heat warning,” in effect until 6 pm Thursday. That’s also the end time for the “air stagnation advisory” that officially kicks in at noon. Get details on both alerts from the National Weather Service – which also has the latest forecast, here. Keep your pets safe (advice here) and watch out for yourself, your family and neighbors too (more advice).
When Sea-Tac’s old cell-phone lot shut down in early June, the new one was projected to open in “early July.” That time frame came and went, but today’s finally the day the new lot’s ready to go – 9 am, according to this news release. The new lot has 100 spaces, about twice the capacity of the old one; it’s just north of the old one.
King County mails ballots for the August 18 primary this week. WSB is offering close-up looks — asking the same few West Seattle-specific questions — at candidates in races including the three Seattle City Council contests you’ll find on the primary ballot. Previous stories are in the WSB Politics archive.
By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
With a sweeping general knowledge of Seattle issues and a good grasp on some of the specifics, it is hard to believe that Dorsol Plants has only lived in the city two years — not to mention that he also is a combat veteran and has led a neighborhood association, all before his 25th birthday.
Plants lives in West Seattle’s Highland Park neighborhood, where he served as chair of the Highland Park Action Committee before resigning to focus on his council campaign. He grew up in West Virginia and served five years in the U.S. Army before landing in Seattle in 2007 and jumping right in as a community volunteer.
He quickly became involved in domestic-violence-protection programs and neighborhood issues. He was elected a Precinct Committee Officer for the 34th District Democrats, who gave a dual endorsement to Plants and Sally Bagshaw in the Position 4 race.
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