West Seattle, Washington
18 Thursday
(The “packet” prepared for the Design Review meeting)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
For the second time this summer, a West Seattle Junction business owner brought a California Avenue SW mixed-use redevelopment project to the Southwest Design Review Board for the first time.
Both reviews started similarly – with the business owner introducing himself and talking about his history in The Junction – but they ended differently.
Thursday night, unlike two weeks ago, board members sent the project back for a second attempt at the first phase of the process, Early Design Guidance.
The project is 4508 California SW. The entire board was present for the review – chair Don Caffrey, Crystal Loya, John Cheng, Scott Rosenstock, Matt Hutchins – plus assigned city planner Allison Whitworth.
PROJECT TEAM PRESENTATION: The longtime local entrepreneur who owns the site, Leon Capelouto, stood up and opened with some personal history.
He described his background (which we covered in this 2014 story) as “the American dream.” He noted that he has long represented the “interests of the merchants and the (Junction Association) and will continue to do so.” He also mentioned serving on the board of Trusteed Properties, owners of the land that holds The Junction’s “free parking lots,” and being committed to continued parking availability.
Capelouto said his ~70-apartment project will include 25 percent affordable units and says he’s offering the existing commercial tenants on the site “a chance to relocate (in the new building) at a reduced rent if they so choose.” (One of the three spaces in the buildings proposed for demolition is vacant, the former West Seattle Cyclery; the other two spaces have long housed two restaurants, Kamei and Lee’s Asian.)
Will it be option A …
… or option B?
If you haven’t yet voted on which you would rather see along the Fauntleroy Way end of the West Seattle Bridge, thanks to the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s receipt of a gift from philanthropist Adah Cruzen, you have until tomorrow (Friday, August 3rd) to get that done! All the backstory is here; the link for voting is here.
8:13 PM: Thanks to the texter who sent that photo of a car fire at the 35th/Barton 7-11. Seattle Fire is still on the scene, according to the incident log. No other details.
ADDED 11:43 PM: Thanks to Ben for sending the video:
As you can see, firefighters got it out quickly.
7:29 PM: The sky is gray but the music is bold and bright in The Admiral District tonight, as the third Summer Concerts at Hiawatha presentation features Micaiah Sawyer (above center), her band, and – as you can see in front of the stage – a would-be guest musician. All ages are out enjoying the evening:
Still time for you to get there – the concert (free!) is scheduled to continue until 8 pm.
Next week (6:30 pm August 9th) it’s “Northwest psychedelic” music with General Mojo’s. (WSB is a series co-sponsor.)
ADDED 10:07 PM: Video from tonight’s concert:
That image was taken a short time ago from the SDOT camera on the east side of the Spokane/Chelan/West Marginal/Delridge intersection, the area blocked off for almost 12 hours after a double-tanker truck went sideways and spilled gasoline. The cleanup continues, and that’s led to the lane closure shown on the camera – so you’re advised to keep avoiding the westbound routes through that intersection. Meantime, we have information from Seattle Public Utilities regarding pollution concerns and what the crew’s doing there; we contacted SPU spokesperson Andy Ryan to ask about it. He provided these details:
The truck leaked an estimated 2,800 to 3,200 gallons of gasoline into the City’s storm drain system, which empties into the Duwamish River. At this point, the fuel has not made it into the river—although we anticipate that some fuel is likely to enter the river.
The transportation company responsible for the spill is paying for contractors to remove the fuel from the storm drain system, and transfer it to storage tanks. Seattle Public Utilities is overseeing the cleanup.
Seattle Fire has sprayed Novacool fire retardant foam in the area to reduce the chance of fire. SFD got the foam as part of a $247,000 grant from Washington Ecology. Novacool is said to be of lower toxicity than other fire retardants, and it breaks down faster to decrease the risk of oxygen depletion in receiving water.SPU is monitoring safety issues, ensuring there is not an explosive environment in the drainage system, and closing a lane of traffic to facilitate cleanup. Cleanup efforts are expected to take about 36 hours. The cleanup will be performed by vacuum trucks specially designed for the removal of gasoline.
… Because of the potential explosion/fire risk, this material [foam and gas] cannot be boomed and contained at the outfall. There is a large oil/water/separator (OWS) between most of the spill and the outfall that was built and installed specifically for this purpose. As of right now there are several inches of fuel in the OWS and the cleanup contractor (NRC) hired by the trucking company is working on keeping that material pumped down. We are cautiously optimistic that the OWS will prevent most of the material from entering the waterway. This area is tidal, and is beginning to go out so there will be more indication of the level of material bypassing the OWS as the afternoon goes on. At this time, we cannot estimate the volume of material that will be unrecoverable.
The worst-case scenario is fish kills in the area. Gasoline will typically dissipate relatively quickly when exposed to the atmosphere. This would be aided if sunny weather, but unfortunately it does not look like there is sunshine in the forecast. Department of Ecology is taking responsibility for monitoring from the outfall and has a boat from NRC on standby in the event spill material bypasses the OWS.
SPU Spill Response and Safety is onsite to monitor the clean-up activities of NRC and is developing a schedule for SPU to staff the site until the cleanup is complete. As of now, NRC has the appropriate resources onsite to effect clean-up. Early estimates indicate the cleanup process could take 24-36 hours. A debriefing and review of the incident after the clean-up is done will indicate if further action (enforcement) by SPU Source Control & Pollution Prevention is warranted.
As reported in our previous coverage, SPD’s Traffic Collision Investigation Squad is looking into the cause of the crash, with early indications that the trailer went sideways as the truck made a sharp turn. No injuries were reported.
Kevin J. Cota‘s family is sharing this remembrance with the community:
Kevin Jerome Cota
Began his journey February 4th, 1964 – Changed Paths July 12th, 2018
Kevin was born in Las Vegas, NV but called West Seattle home for most of his childhood and adult life. He moved to Alki to start his story. Kevin loved his experiences with his friends from West Seattle and Alki Elementary. If you knew Kevin from school, then either you are a teacher who had to get on him for his homework or a friend who remembers him for his warmth and joy.
He was a pressman at the Seattle Times for over 20 years and had an unbreakable bond with his friends and colleagues. Kevin loved his job and loved his colleagues more. He was always there to lend a hand when anyone was down; it was his mission to win everyone over and at least try to make a connection. He organized events to raise money for any colleague suffering from illness. If you knew him, then you know what a big heart he had.
Kevin’s strength was not in his muscles but in how big his heart was for everyone. He chose to look at each day of his life as a gift and offered love and kindness when someone was feeling down. Throughout his own battle with cancer, Kevin was often worried about the wellbeing of others in his life and reached out to comfort them.
He lost his fight with cancer July 12th, 2018, surrounded by people who love him dearly.
He is survived by his husband Bruce, sister Theresa, countless extended family and friends (Ron, Daniel, Cathi, Val and Mark, Bonnie, thank you! and many others), and his true love, his mutt Murphy J.
Kevin blessed us all with his kind heart, his easy laugh, and his infectious joy for music, scary movies, and the simple pleasures of hanging out with his beloved people. He made us better. He made us kinder. Though our hearts are broken, the memories and love Kevin gave to us are ours to keep.
Kevin wanted to extend a heartfelt thanks to Dr. Peter Shalit and the Oncology care team at Virginia Mason; Dr. Aboulafia, Dr. Beiter, Dr. Yao, Social workers and ALL of the supporting team. Kevin had an amazing team who tried everything, were generous with their compassion, and, best of all, gave him more time with us.
We will all be touched by cancer at some point, so please consider any size donation to Cancer Pathways (Formerly Gilda’s Club) or Virginia Mason Oncology department. He lived longer as a result of their care and love.
We love you, Kevin!
(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries by request, free of charge. Please e-mail the text, and a photo if available, to editor@westseattleblog.com)
Next month is a big one in the journey to a “preferred alternative” for Sound Transit‘s West Seattle and Ballard light-rail extensions. But you have opportunities to catch up this month, too.
First: ST reps will be in West Seattle twice next week.
‘DRINK AND LINK’: Ounces (3809 Delridge Way SW) is hosting a briefing (Link is the official name of ST’s light-rail service) at 7 pm next Wednesday, August 8th. All welcome.
DELRIDGE DAY: ST will have a booth at the Delridge Day festival, 11 am-3 pm Saturday, August 11th, at Delridge Community Center park (Delridge Way SW/SW Genesee).
WATCH JuNO BRIEFING: Before then, you can catch up by watching the briefing Sound Transit’s Andrea Barnett and Stephen Mak presented to the Junction Neighborhood Organization‘s quarterly meeting:
We recorded the briefing during JuNO’s meeting one week ago.
WHAT’S NEXT: At its next meeting September 5th, the Stakeholder Advisory Group is scheduled to get evaluation information – such as technical points, cost, visualizations, etc. – on the proposed alignments, which include five options in the West Seattle area. That information is supposed to be available for community members at the next Neighborhood Forum in West Seattle (9 am September 8th, Seattle Lutheran High School gym, 4100 SW Genesee). Then the SAG makes its next round of recommendations September 26th regarding which alignment(s) should advance to the final level of review before the “preferred alignment” is chosen for environmental study.
Reader report, from Ile:
I got out to my car this morning parked at 42nd and Hudson and not only had it been rifled through but they attempted to steal it with a filed-down key. They took the typical stuff like charger cords, a little black bag with some CDs (I hope they like jazz), my Leatherman, my registration and a bunch of stupid stuff from the glove compartment, etc. If you see any of this dumped, please let me know. He or she did take my commemorative Lakewood PD pin I was given some time back which really stings. Oddly enough I did see a white guy in his 20s with a blue backpack, sunglasses, with curly bushy hair under a ball cap walking through the alley looking around suspiciously about two hours after I parked. Please be on the lookout for strange activity.
SPD incident # is 2018-285485.
(July 29th photo by Barry J. White)
After we reported on the West Seattle Little League 12-year-old All-Stars’ state championship and impending trip to the regionals, WSB readers asked if they needed community contributions. As it turns out, yes! From WSLL’s Kathy Powers:
West Seattle Little League will be 1 of 6 teams competing in the Northwest Regional Tournament in San Bernardino, CA for a berth to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA later in August. The first game will be against Idaho, on Sunday, Aug 5th. It can be viewed online via ESPN+. The full schedule can be found here.
To help support the team’s journey, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help offset the cost of travel for the team and families. If you are interested in supporting them, you can do so here.
Great job boys and Go Westside!!
(WSB photo: The view from Don Armeni Boat Ramp this drizzly morning)
First, another traffic alert:
I-90 CLOSURES FOR BLUE ANGELS PRACTICE: This tends to clog up NB I-5 too and we didn’t get to mention it again this morning because of the tanker incident, so a reminder – the I-90 floating bridge is closing twice today for the Blue Angels‘ practice: now through about 12:15 pm and 1 pm-2:30 pm. (The next three days are single-closure days.)
Now, highlights of what’s happening – and not happening:
WADING POOLS: The Seattle Parks hotline says they are NOT opening today because of the cloudy, cooler weather.
ART STUDIO: 1-3 pm at Delridge Library, for ages 2-10. (5423 Delridge Way SW)
GIZMOS AND GADGETS: 2-3:30 pm, kids/youth are invited to drop by Southwest Library to explore and have fun while learning! (9010 35th SW)
4508 CALIFORNIA SW’S FIRST DESIGN REVIEW: 6:30 pm at the Senior Center/Sisson Building, the Southwest Design Review Board gets its first look at the proposed 7-story mixed-use project for 4508 California SW, including ~70 apartments and 19 offstreet-parking spaces replacing a single-story commercial building that currently has three storefronts, Our most-recent preview includes the “design packet.” The meeting will have a public-comment period. (4217 SW Oregon)
SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: Great thing about Hiawatha Community Center is that there’s an indoor backup for the outdoor concerts if necessary, so you will see Micaiah Sawyer perform, one way or another, at 6:30 pm tonight, as part of the Admiral Neighborhood Association-presented Summer Concerts at Hiawatha. Free. Bring your own chair/blanket. (Walnut south of Lander)
WEST SEATTLE SOUL: 9 pm at Parliament Tavern. No cover. 21+. (4210 SW Admiral Way)
SEE MORE! on our complete calendar.
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