DEVELOPMENT: See the ‘packet’ for 4747 California SW with one week till first meeting – plus, a surprise

One week from tonight, it’s the first of two Southwest Design Review Board meetings scheduled this summer for the next two redevelopment projects in the heart of The Junction. At 6:30 pm Thursday, July 19, the board takes its first look at 4747 California SW, the project we first told you about back in February, with its development team including Jack Miller, whose Husky Deli will move to a new home in the new building when it’s done.

When we reported the meeting date back in early June, we included a link to the draft “packet” – and now, embedded above (or see it here), the final packet is out. Keep in mind that this is the Early Design Guidance phase of Design Review, so the focus is on the building’s size, shape, and siting, not final design details. Reading through it – we discovered a surprise: Direct responses to WSB commenters. On page 25, the packet includes the “letter from Jack Miller” that we received and published last month. And then, on the next four pages, something we were surprised to see – a section titled “Community Engagement,” including screen grabs of some of the comments that WSB readers wrote about what Miller had to say, and responses from the development team, with this preface:

WEST SEATTLE BLOG – COMMUNITY FORUM

The West Seattle Blog has become the de facto community forum for the neighborhood. Whether it’s checking in on breaking news, or finding out about the latest restaurant opening, the blog is the place West Seattle goes for trusted local reporting and discussion. On June 2nd, Jack Miller of Husky Deli published his essay on the Blog. From the nearly 100 comments, we have complied and responded to a range of them here touching on the most common themes.

In all the years we’ve been extensively covering local development, we’ve heard WSB comments mentioned by development teams at some SWDRB meetings, but we can’t recall a spotlight in a packet before. The packet’s other components include the three options for project massing, with the “preferred” option (see page 46) expected to include 74 apartments and 54 offstreet residential parking spaces (see page 33, which says the apartments in that configuration would be 21 studios and 53 one-bedrooms).

The July 19th meeting is at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon) and will include a public-comment period. If you have something to say but can’t make the meeting, you can e-mail the project’s assigned city planner, Allison Whitworth, at allison.whitworth@seattle.gov.

9 Replies to "DEVELOPMENT: See the 'packet' for 4747 California SW with one week till first meeting - plus, a surprise"

  • Toni REineke July 12, 2018 (1:26 pm)

     That’s a well-deserved statement about WSB. Congratulations!

    • H July 12, 2018 (7:16 pm)

      I fully agree. 

  • miws July 12, 2018 (3:52 pm)

    Yes, I agree with Toni; a very accurate and well-deserved description of what WSB has contributed to the West Seattle community for over a decade, and continues to do so.Mike

  • Mark July 12, 2018 (4:46 pm)

    I’m not sure about the one-story with setback approach… It seems that other adjacent redevelopments will want to have two stories at the sidewalk and then set back above that. I’m not looking at the Junction Design Guidelines (yes, very old, but…), but I think they describe a two-story at the sidewalk approach. Anybody please correct or clarify…

  • Wseattleite July 12, 2018 (6:17 pm)

    One of the best design offerings I have seen that truly incorporates the community, changing though it may.  I see extra thought put into this and can see the local influence behind it.  Change is already here, and here is how the local community is included. 

  • WS Guy July 12, 2018 (9:53 pm)

    Nice job Jack.  A little extra breathing room would be nice along the sidewalk, or space for tables outside the deli.  But it’s a good design for our area.

  • Matt Hutchins July 12, 2018 (9:56 pm)

    Community engagement prior to Early Design Guidance is now a mandatory component of the Design Review process for all projects.  It is part of the recent changes that went into effect July 1.  

    • WSB July 12, 2018 (10:08 pm)

      Yes, I’m aware of that, but for one, this project went into the system before that kicked in. And we certainly aren’t an official part of that process. We’ve been contacted early on by a few developers over the years offering early info on projects but in this case, more than three months before the Miller essay, we discovered the project in the usual way we discover such things … watching the city files. (Same for 4508 California SW, which goes to the SWDRB next month, and whose primary local owner was even more startled when I contacted him for comment!)

  • Alex July 13, 2018 (10:46 am)

     You had me when the plans called for 45+ parking spots.   As part of the Urban Village, developers are not required to provide ANY offstreet parking.  Further under the new parking ordinance the City Council just passed, the developer must price the parking spot separately from the dwelling rent and the renter then decides how they will deal with the car issue.   In short,  these rules allow the developer to use the neighborhood as the parking garage.  The Millers are doing the neighborhood a big one by putting in some parking. 

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