By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog 

Fauntleroy Community Association board members held their March meeting on Tuesday night, featuring updates and discussion about upcoming events, collaborative projects, and areas of neighborhood concern. 

The well-attended gathering (open to the public, as usual) was held at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, with FCA’s Catherine Bailey running the meeting with assistance from Dave Follis. FCA president Frank Immel wasn’t in attendance because he was representing the group at the concurrent Washington State Ferries online community meeting about the Fauntleroy terminal project.

Much of the meeting was devoted to discussing final details for the FCA Annual Meeting and Food Fest (all are welcome), which is less than a week away: Tuesday, March 18 from 6-8 pm. More on that event below.

Bailey called the meeting to order and facilitated opening remarks, introductions, and approval of minutes, and then the group dove into the night’s agenda:

SPD UPDATE: Community Liaison Officer German Barreto from the Southwest Precinct was in attendance (as he walked in, he said he was coming directly from helping to recover a stolen vehicle), and he provided some crime updates and statistics: In a nutshell, “everything is down” as it relates to crime numbers for the Fauntleroy area compared to last year, when looking at year-to-date as well as the past 28 days specifically. That’s also true for the greater West Seattle area with the exception of thefts, which are up slightly compared to last year. There was a question about recent “shots fired” incidents, and Barreto said the cases primarily involved people shooting into the air (not at each other or anyone else). Another attendee asked Barreto if he expected criminal activity to increase as the weather gets warmer, and he agreed that typically that’s the trend. There was a question about hiring, and Barreto said that much of that would begin taking more shape as chief and captain positions get settled now that new SPD Chief Shon Barnes started work in January. Barreto said he hadn’t met Barnes yet, but noted that Barnes would be in attendance at next Tuesday’s meeting of the newly revived Southwest Precinct Advisory Council, at 6:30 pm at the precinct (same time as the Food Fest).  An attendee asked where the SPD budget comes from, and Baretto explained that it’s set by the City Council, and he noted that officers are waiting for a new contract to come in. Barreto thanked attendees for their time and stepped out, adding that the SW Precinct’s Mobile Precinct vehicle would be onsite and parked outside for next week’s FCA Food Fest on Tuesday the 18th, and he encouraged people to check it out and to bring their kids. 

ANNUAL MEETING & “FOOD FEST”: FCA is gearing up for next week’s FCA Annual Meeting and Food Fest at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW), 6-8 pm Tuesday (see WSB coverage of last year’s event). Board member and event organizer David Haggerty said that this is “one of the biggest things we do — a real celebration of the community,” and said preparations are going very well. He shared a list of local organizations, businesses, and restaurants that are expected to attend. The local eateries will be providing free bites for attendees, and FCA representatives will be on-hand to help neighbors sign up for the group (or renew their annual dues) if they’re so inclined. If you’re a Fauntleroy neighbor, don’t miss this fun event! Board members also discussed the slate of officers that they’ll be presenting for approval on the 18th, during a brief business meeting that will take place at the halfway point of the event (approximately 7 pm).  

DIGITAL WAYFINDING IN FAUNTLEROY PARK: As we reported previously, the Fauntleroy Watershed Council have launched a service allowing anyone with a smartphone to navigate the trails and points-of-interest in Fauntleroy Park. Project lead Tracy Randle was in attendance on Tuesday, showing off a printout of the poster that is available in the park kiosks at the SW Barton or 97th St. entrances to the park. (or, you can go directly to fauntleroywatershed.org/index.php/park or here to view the map.) You can scan the map’s QR code to download a geo-referenced map using Avenza Maps from fauntleroywatershed.org, or download a static map. You may instead download a static map to use as a guide.) Randle said that members of the project team will be on-hand to demonstrate the map during next week’s “food fest” on Tuesday the 18th. 

ZONING AND “ONE SEATTLE” COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: Follis provided an update on last month’s discussion about the city’s proposed rezoning plan and other elements of the One Seattle Plan, which will have impacts on Fauntleroy and city-wide. Board members and attendees reviewed and discussed several maps and visuals (which are available online from the city of Seattle’s GIS maps) including “critical areas by ordinance” and “neighborhood center zoning” among others:

Attendees discussed how particular areas of Fauntleroy present unique challenges and risks, while acknowledging the need for responsible development to increase opportunities for housing. Unsurprisingly, there were a variety of opinions on the issues as it relates to the issue: “I can’t afford to live where I was born and raised (I rent),” “All of these proposals talk about density, not about affordability,” “It shouldn’t even be about the density; it’s about the quality of how things are done,” “I want my kids to be able to actually own a house here, too,” “I don’t want us to lead with ‘no’ development; we want people to move in and enjoy the area,” “because of all the development in WS, things just aren’t the same,” “I’m grateful to have a bustling city; I want a mixture of people to live here.”  Attendees agreed that “we need a lot of great minds to think about this,” including the FCA board and the community as a whole. 

COUNCILMEMBER SAKA MEETING: Bailey gave an update on a recent meeting that the FCA board had with Rob Saka, describing it as a positive interaction and saying “it felt like we were heard” with regard to unique issues such as ferry traffic and terrain. Bailey added that Saka (and/or someone from his office) are going to tour the area next week (the morning of March 20th) along with FCA board members, to learn more. Bailey said that she’ll work with the board to accurately represent the variety of opinions that members have regarding various neighborhood issues and their possible solutions. 

FERRIES: There was an online Washington State Ferries community meeting happening at the same time as the Tuesday meeting, and many Fauntleroy residents (including FCA president Frank Immel) were attending that. Bailey and other board members provided some updates, saying the project was in “level 3” screening with regard to the proposed longer dock, which will hold 124-155 vehicles (compared to 80, currently) while protecting Cove Park north of the dock. The WSDOT “online open house” is available through March 21st, with descriptions and photos and the opportunity to provide comments. Staff from WSF will also be at the Food Fest next Tuesday. Meeting attendees expressed a variety of opinions on the project, ranging from expansion support to concerns like “a bigger dock likely means bigger boats with more capacity; Fauntleroy Way would need to be widened” and “the expansion and changes may not speed things up at all” with regard to board loading/unloading. 

Also during the meeting, treasurer Alan Grainger provided a positive financial update for the group, saying that things were “chugging along.” Also, some neighborhood concerns: Many (if not most) of the road-crossing safety flags and even the mounted flag holders are gone (likely stolen) — Bailey is following up on that. Bailey also said that some of the planter boxes in the area had been vandalized with graffiti, and she is leading the effort to clean them up. 

UPCOMING EVENTS: 

• ANNUAL MEETING AND FOOD FEST: 6-8 pm Tuesday, March 18. 
• ANNUAL EGG HUNT: Saturday April 12. Volunteers needed to hide eggs! (WSB coverage of last year’s hunt)
• RECYCLE ROUNDUP: (link here) Saturday April 26, from 9 am – 3 pm in the Fauntleroy Church parking lot. 
• CHOIR CONCERT: Boeing Employees Choir, Saturday, May 10, at 7 pm at Fauntleroy Church in the sanctuary. This premier choir is comprised primarily
  of Boeing employees, retirees, and family members. Admission by donation (suggested $10)

FUTURE MEETINGS: FCA meets most months at 6 pm on the second Tuesday at the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, open to the public. The next two meetings are April 8 and May 13.