As reported here Thursday, the City Council said “no” to a proposal to add eight more Neighborhood Centers – designated hubs of residential and business growth – to the updated Comprehensive Plan. But we also noted that the one West Seattle possibility on the list, Alki, might come back for consideration again. And a vote taken by the council late this afternoon paves the way for that possibility:
A resolution spelling out Comprehensive Plan changes that might be considered next year included, Resolution 32183, included a call for studying those eight potential Neighborhood Centers that won’t be in this year’s changes. District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka tried to get Alki crossed off that list, saying that the area just doesn’t meet the criteria for being a Neighborhood Center, in the absence of good transit, medical facilities, a grocery store, and due to geographic isolation and environmental risk. He also accused those who favored the ideas of being YITBYs – “yes in THEIR back yard.” Despite his intense imploring, his Amendment 1 to remove Alki failed – four councilmembers for (Saka, Kettle, Nelson, Rivera), four against (Hollingsworth, Juarez, Rinck, Strauss), one abstaining (Solomon). This doesn’t necessarily mean Alki, and/or any of the other seven (which are outside WS), will be proposed again as a Neighborhood Center, but it keeps the possibility alive. The Comprehensive Plan update that the council’s been voting on contains seven Neighborhood Centers in West Seattle, as we first reported when it was unveiled eleven months ago. Alki was one of three WS Neighborhood Centers considered but not proposed, the city explained at the time (the other two were Highland Park and “Sylvan Junction,” near Delridge’s Home Depot store).
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