West Seattle, Washington
14 Thursday
We start this roundup with a preview of tomorrow (Thursday) night’s Southwest Design Review Board doubleheader at the Senior Center of West Seattle:
WEST SEATTLE CVS, 6:30 PM AT DESIGN REVIEW: First up will be the Design Review debut of 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW, the proposed CVS drugstore that turned up in city files in summer 2013. It’s a one-story, 12,200-square-foot building proposed with a drive-through and 49 parking spaces; the “packet” prepared for the meeting notes that the land is being leased with a stipulation that it not be developed to the full zoned height (8 stories). Above, the “preferred” massing (size and shape) – looking southeastward over the site – shown by the architect, Schemata Workshop. See the full packet here.
44TH SW STUDIOS, 8 PM AT DESIGN REVIEW: This project – first noted here in November – is also debuting at Design Review, and the “packet” prepared for the meeting shows it’s being designed as microhousing: 6 stories, 58 units, described with the city’s new term, “small efficiency dwelling units,” replacing a two-story eight-Since it’s the Early Design Guidance stage of the process, the board will be focused on its massing (size and shape); below is the “preferred option” as listed by the architect, Alloy Design Group.
See the full packet here.
Now, from reader tips and permit files, among other sources:
3829 CALIFORNIA SW: Thanks to Ted for the tip – a fence (the type that usually precedes demolition) is now up around these brick multiplexes. This site hadn’t been on our radar for a while because the apartment building proposed here seemed to have stalled; the site had gone up for sale shortly after passing Design Review in summer 2013. The planned 29-apartment, 29-parking-space project still has open demolition/building permits, through next year.
6315 42ND SW: This single-family house in Morgan Junction has been proposed for demolition for a while, but its replacement plan has changed a bit. Now six townhouses are proposed. It’s expected to go through the “streamlined Design Review” process – no public meetings, but there will be a chance for public comment.
3310 HARBOR AVENUE SW: An old industrial building at 3310 Harbor SW just north of the West Seattle Bridge has an early-stage land-use proposal described as demolition and replacement with a new three-story self-storage building.
We’re starting to get questions about signups for this year’s West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, so we’ve set the date for registration to begin: Two weeks away, on Wednesday, April 1st.
Sale day is always the second Saturday in May, and that means this year it’s May 9, 2015. Official sale hours are 9 am-3 pm, but if you want to start yours earlier/end it later, that’s up to you; just include the times in the listing info you include with your registration, which gets you on the map, published on WSB and on the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day website, as well as promoted/advertised regionally and in all our social-media channels, with online and printable versions. The map is ready a week in advance and assigns each sale a number, which you can use for cross-reference, your own promotion (“come see us, we’re sale #13!”), etc. We’ve been presenting WSCGSD since the 4th annual event in 2008, and are looking forward to it again this year, both the organizing and coverage – more info as we get closer to the April 1st opening of registration.
Making your weekend plan? One-of-a-kind event this Friday (March 20th), 6-10 pm at Highland Park Elementary School:
The Traditional Mini Pow Wow is brought to you by The Niksokowaak; Community Pow Wow Association at Highland Park. Grand entry will be at 6 PM. Our event will feature Highland Park Elementary students as Head Young Lady & Head Young Man. Come enjoy traditional dance performances, Native art & delicious food from local vendors. We are sponsored by Highland Park Elementary, Roxhill Elementary, Blackfeet Tribe, Seattle Indian Health Board, Clear Sky & Community in Schools. For vendor & volunteer opportunities please contact us at niksokowaak@gmail.com.
See the official event flyer here. Highland Park Elementary is at 1016 SW Trenton.
According to our check of the police-report map, 20 car prowls have been reported in West Seattle in the past week:
That’s up from 15 during the same week last year. Car-prowl details aren’t posted by SPD – only where/when they happened – but we have details via two reader reports – first, from Jill:
Just wanted to inform the neighbors and also wondering if anyone saw anything:
The rear driver’s side window of my Subaru Outback was smashed in last night sometime between 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm, at the West Seattle YMCA. It was parked in the gravel spaces on the north side of the building (along SW Oregon St). They rummaged through my really boring stuff in the backseat, but nothing was taken. I don’t think they even made their way to the front seats or the cargo area, as all the doors were still locked. If someone scared them off, I hope they can provide some description of the perp(s) to the police.
Earlier this week, Alex‘s car was ransacked in the Luna Park area:
My car was broken into (window smashed) and my backpack full of books and student papers ( I teach at a local college) was taken. I have a feeling that the backpack and its contents will be disposed of somewhere, as I can’t see them being helpful to anyone but me. Can you ask readers to keep their eyes peeled for a purple backpack full of ESL textbooks and papers?
These are the latest unfortunate reminders that even if you think what you left in your vehicle doesn’t look like something criminals would bother with – chances are, you’re wrong. Even a couple of canvas grocery bags strewn in the back of a car might look to a prowler like something worth checking out – possibly at the expense of the glass in your vehicle’s window.
12:10 PM: Mayor Murray‘s just gone public with his nine-year, $900 million “Transportation Levy to Move Seattle“ ballot proposal, successor to “Bridging the Gap,” which expires this year. It’s proposed for the November ballot, but first, three meetings are scheduled around the city, including one at 6 pm Tuesday, March 31st, in the gym at West Seattle High School. And if you want to say something before then, you can use this online survey.
But first, here’s the brochure detailing the draft proposal, which the city says would cost the average homeowner (described now as a $450,000 home) $275 a year – a little more than double the $130 that Bridging the Gap had cost. (Here’s a slide-deck version, too.) The brochure’s named projects don’t include anything in West Seattle, but the Lander Street Overpass and East Marginal corridors are certainly of interest, and a variety of project markers are in the West Seattle area on this “investment map.” We’re still looking for the fine print detailing exactly what/where those markers represent – more to come.
3:56 PM UPDATE: Our request for the “what’s in it for West Seattle” details brought this list from SDOT communications director Rick Sheridan:
Bridge Replacement
– E Duwamish Waterway North Bridge ReplacementBridge Seismic Retrofit
– Admiral Way North Bridge
– Admiral Way South Bridge
– Delridge Way Pedestrian Bridge
– SW Andover Pedestrian BridgeMultimodal Corridor Project (including Bus Rapid Transit Investment)
– Delridge Way SWBicycle Master Plan Implementation
– 24th Ave SW Greenway
– 34th Ave SW Greenway
– 8th Ave S Protected Bike Lane
– 36th Ave SW Greenway
– Fauntleroy Way SW Protected Bike Lane
– SW Admiral Way Protected Bike Lane
– SW Brandon/SW Juneau St GreenwayArterial Paving
– 35th Ave SW from Avalon to Roxbury
– SW Avalon from Spokane to 35th
– SW Roxbury St from 35th to 16thCorridor Safety Project
– 35th Ave SW
– SW Roxbury StIn addition to the West Seattle-specific improvements listed above, the West Seattle area will see improvements from the following citywide investment categories:
– Safe Routes to School projects and education touching every public school
in Seattle
– Crosswalk repainting every four years
– Repairing damaged sidewalks
– Curb ramp and crossing improvements
– Paving spot improvements
– Bus speed and reliability spot improvements
– Optimized traffic signal timing on corridors
– Building new sidewalks on priority transit corridors
– Installing bicycle parking spots
– Freight mobility spot improvements
– Neighborhood priority projects implemented through the Neighborhood
Street Fund
– Tree planting
– Tree pruning rapid response
That list does *not* include a major project for West Seattle that’s been funded for design and was named in the mayor’s 10-year plan earlier this month, the Fauntleroy Boulevard plan. We’re checking with Councilmember Tom Rasmussen to see whether – or not – that means there’s an alternate plan.
5:24 PM: CM Rasmussen’s reply: ““The Fauntleroy Way SW project is important to many people in West Seattle. The project is listed in the Mayor’s Move Seattle vision plan, and the Council will be reviewing the levy proposal closely and making changes as necessary.”
More news from the Junction historical-survey launch event we covered earlier today: Edie Neeson from ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) announced a plan to pursue designation of West Seattle as an official Arts and Culture District. This is a relatively new city program – explained here – and so far, Capitol Hill is the only part of the city with the designation, which happened last fall. ArtsWest’s plan is in its very early stages but the organization’s board is talking about it again this week so you can expect to hear more soon.
While Junction leaders were gathered at Husky Deli to launch a survey of the area’s historical character, another development project was ramping up just blocks away. Thanks to Sally and Carl for sending photos from 42nd SW in The Junction, just north of SW Oregon, where three houses are coming down at the Junction Flats site, weeks after the demolition equipment was brought in and parked in the houses’ front yards. This is right across the street from Hope Lutheran School, which has provided an audience of sorts:
It’s been more than a year since Junction Flats finished going through Design Review.
The 4-story building is planned for 80 units (all apartments except for two live-work units) and 52 off-street parking spaces.
(UPDATED 4:27 PM with video)
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand. Above, Susan Melrose ceremonially presents Jack Menashe with first letter inviting survey participation)
9:06 AM: As West Seattle grows and changes, there’s been talk for more than a year of doing a survey to capture the historic character of at least part of our area. We first wrote about it in January 2014; updates have ensued as the Southwest District Council met; and this morning, it’s finally “a go,” as announced at a news conference that’s under way right now at Husky Deli in The Junction.
For the first time, the historical character of the West Seattle Junction will be documented in a professional survey.
Funded by 4Culture, the West Seattle Junction Historical Survey, launched on Wednesday, March 18, 2015, will interview property owners in the two-block Junction core to elicit data and anecdotal information and contract with an architectural historian to identify elements that define The Junction’s character, give it uniqueness and allow it to thrive as the business hub of the West Seattle peninsula.
The project teams the Southwest Seattle Historical Society (the survey’s fiscal agent) with the Southwest District Council, West Seattle Junction Association, Junction Neighborhood Organization and ArtsWest.
The 4Culture grant totals $10,000, most of which will pay for the evaluation services of a professional architectural historian. The grant states that while The Junction “has undergone dramatic changes,” elements such as “the low-story look, the traditional narrow and deep interiors and the compression of multiple businesses into small spaces” have allowed the district to retain a distinctly “small-town feel.”
It also states that because there is only “outdated and insufficient knowledge about the worthiness of any of the structures” in The Junction, the survey will have great value.
One aim of the survey is to determine if buildings in The Junction would qualify for nomination as Seattle landmarks, which is part of why property owners are “key stakeholders” in the survey.
Over the next six months, all 45 property owners in the survey area will be invited to be interviewed about the history of their buildings, including enhancements and uses, along with how the district’s milieu has contributed to the success of the businesses operating in their buildings. The interview findings will be merged with architectural data, and results of the survey will be made available to the public.
“We trust that the resulting information and insights will be useful to property owners, businesses and the community at large in shaping the future of this treasure of a business district,” says the survey’s letter to property owners.
The district got its name immediately prior to West Seattle’s annexation to Seattle, in 1907, when the West Seattle and Fauntleroy streetcar lines converged at a transfer point at California Avenue and Alaska Street, forming “The Junction.” Among the oldest buildings in The Junction are the Campbell Building (1918), housing Cupcake Royale, and the Hamm Building (1926), home of Easy Street Records.
We’re at the news conference with numerous community leaders and will add photos/video later.
10:16 AM: Adding our photos for starters (we were the only news organization at the event). Photo above shows those who spoke at this morning’s event and/or are integrally involved with making this happen – from left, Clay Eals of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society; Jack Miller of Husky Deli; Susan Melrose of the West Seattle Junction Association; René Commons of the Junction Neighborhood Organization, Jack Menashe of Menashe & Sons Jewelers (WSB sponsor), Deb Barker and Chas Redmond on behalf of the Southwest District Council.
Photo immediately above this line shows many of the community leaders who were there to be part of it. Video and a few event notes still in the works.
ADDED 4:27 PM: Three video clips; the first and third are by WSB’s Patrick Sand, from this morning’s event; in the middle, the video clip shown at the event, profiling Jack Miller and Husky Deli, is courtesy of the Junction Neighborhood Organization:
Though all that’s set in motion right now is a report – in Q/A after the announcement, SWSHS’s Eals expressed confidence that it will be a spark to preservation and celebration, not just a reference document. We’ll check in from time to time to see how it’s going.
(Bushtit building a nest, photographed by Mark Wangerin)
From the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
BENEFIT DINNER FOR H.O.P.E.: 5:30 pm at The Sanctuary at Admiral, benefiting Helping Out People Everywhere. Check to see if tickets are still available; event info is in our calendar listing. (42nd/Lander)
KEEPING KIDS SAFE: 7 pm at Madison Middle School, the PTA has organized a meeting in the library featuring special safety presentations from experts including SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon, as previewed here. (45th/Spokane)
I’M/MIGRATION UNPLUGGED: 7 pm at Duwamish Longhouse, poetry readings by Native poets Celeste Adame, Natalie Diaz, and Nilka Wherrette – details in our calendar listing. (4705 W. Marginal Way SW)
STATE POET LAUREATE AT WORDSWEST: 7 pm at C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor), state Poet Laureate Elizabeth Austen and Michelle Peñaloza are featured in the monthly WordsWest Literary Series event – details in our listing. (5612 California SW)
DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DISTRICT COUNCIL: 7 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center: DNDC reviews area applications for the city Neighborhood Park and Street Fund – 14 community proposals this time around. (4408 Delridge Way SW)
34TH DISTRICT REPUBLICANS: Not in West Seattle, but one of their topics is whether to move their regular meetings to WS, since it’s the biggest community in the district (which also includes White Center, Vashon Island, Maury Island, and part of Burien) – the group has new leadership and is working to get out more community information. Tonight’s meeting, which also will include discussion of “finding out the important topics to individuals in our district who attend the meetings” and City Council races, is at 7 pm at Round Table Pizza in Burien. More info here. (15730 1st Ave. S.)
NEED A LAUGH? 8 pm tonight, the annual Feedback Funny Invitational will bring you more than one, with an all-star slate of comedy headliners at Feedback Lounge. (6451 California SW)
LOTS MORE on the calendar – take a look!
(Four WS-relevant views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
No trouble spots in our area as we head for the heart of the commute.
ROAD-WORK UPDATES: If you missed them last night – the latest on 47th/Admiral and 22nd/Barton.
TUNNEL-MACHINE WATCH: As reported in our story on the Highway 99 project’s quarterly “stakeholders” meeting, a piece of the tunnel machine – not THE cutterhead, yet – might be lifted out as soon as today, Seattle Tunnel Partners has told the state. More details on the project website.
Meet the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s new board, finalized during Tuesday night’s annual membership meeting and Food Fest at The Hall at Fauntleroy.
Besides electing the board, renewing memberships, and enjoying tastes from local eateries, those who stopped by got to mingle and to find out about programs both private and public. Yun Pitre and Kerry Wade were there from the Department of Neighborhoods, to share information on everything the DoN can help you with:
Maria from the West Seattle and Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor), which has its latter branch right across the street from where everyone gathered last night:
And from just north of Fauntleroy, Morgan and Ellen from The Kenney (WSB sponsor)
Also spotted … leaders from the nearby Morgan Community Association, president Deb Barker and vice president Jason Wax:
But what about the “food” part of the Food Fest, you ask? See the photo gallery on the FCA Facebook page! By the way, if you live and/or work in Fauntleroy and didn’t get a chance to renew your membership at last night’s event, you can do it online.
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