Part of the Alki Elementary rebuild project is an overhaul for the playground on the north side of the school/south side of Alki Playfield. The city has announced a community meeting and survey to update the design process. From the Seattle Parks-circulated announcement:

Seattle Parks and Recreation and Seattle Public Schools invite you to join us on Wednesday, October 16, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Alki Beach Bathhouse, 2701 Alki Ave SW, to share your input on the Alki Playground Renovation project design!

During this meeting, you’ll have the opportunity to see how your input from earlier this summer was incorporated into the new playground design. This event will provide a platform for the community to engage with the design team, review the proposed layout for the play area, and provide input on your preferred play equipment option. Your participation will help shape the final vision for the Alki Playground renovation …

Please take a moment to complete the Alki Park Improvements – New Play Equipment Survey and share your preferences for the play equipment options. Your feedback is needed to ensure the new playground meets the needs and desires of the community.

For more information on the project please visit seattleschools.org/departments/capital-projects-and-planning/school-construction/projects/alki or contact Brian Fabella at brfabella@seattleschools.org or (206) 252-0702.

The new school is expected to open in fall 2026. The playground may be ready earlier that year.

(Rendering of new Alki Elementary entrance on north side of school)

As we reported July 1, a deputy city hearing examiner has ruled against area residents’ appeal of the Alki Elementary rebuild‘s zoning exception for parking. That means the city’s decision to approve a zoning exception for the 15-space redesign – 33 spaces less than what zoning requires – is affirmed. The appellants’ only potential avenue to challenge that would be via taking it to court within three weeks of the decision. So will they? We inquired immediately after the ruling, and have finally heard back from Steve Cuddy, an Alki resident and lawyer who led the appeal by Friends for a Safe Alki Community. Cuddy tells WSB, “I do not personally plan to appeal the Alki Elementary case further. It is possible that others in our ‘Friends’ group may decide to appeal to Court, but so far no one has, and I would be surprised if anyone does.” If no challenge emerges, that clears the way for the city to finalize the permits for the project to build a larger new Alki Elementary on the same site (3010 59th SW) where the original school was demolished a year ago. (The old school’s capacity was 371; the new school is designed for 500, plus two preschool classrooms estimated to potentially hold 40.)

The appeal was argued in a three-day hearing that we covered in the Hearing Examiner’s chambers downtown in May and June; we recapped the backstory here, with links to hearing coverage. The wheels were set in motion for this appeal when the same deputy examiner, Susan Drummond, ruled in favor of a different group’s appeal of the original plan, which had no offstreet parking (while dismissing that group’s appeals of several other zoning exceptions).

Cuddy’s response to our request for comment arrived in a long letter explaining the most recent challenge; you can read it in its entirety here. He cites what he considers “positive results” of the appeal, despite the outcome: “The members of our group who filed the first successful appeal gained 15 off-street parking spots, which will be available to more safely accommodate ADA and special needs students than the dangerous on-street parking for them that was originally proposed by the School District. -The second appeal forced the School District to finally admit that Alki Elementary’s past traffic and parking problems were serious, and that its previous traffic management arrangements at the school were inadequate and dangerous. As a consequence of that admission, for the second appeal, the District created a draft traffic management plan in advance of school construction. I do not believe this has ever happened before. The District’s draft traffic management plan has significant problems … but it is at least an advance start on what will be a difficult task.” He says “continued community involvement” will be vital as the project proceeds. If permits are granted soon, the school could open in fall 2026, by which time Alki will have spent three years in temporary quarters at the former Schmitz Park Elementary.

Here’s Steve Cuddy‘s full “letter to the editor” explanation of the Alki Elementary appeal and his decision not to challenge the ruling:

In answer to your question, I do not personally plan to appeal the Alki Elementary case further. It is possible that others in our “Friends” group may decide to appeal to Court, but so far no one has, and I would be surprised if anyone does.
As you likely remember from the hearing, our “Friends” appeal group strongly supports a new Alki Elementary school. We appealed to request a new school that remained approximately the same size as the old School (rather than a new school doubled in size), so that previously unaddressed dangerous traffic at the school could be better managed going forward.

Regardless of the Hearing Examiner’s decision, the District’s intention to double Alki school size (from 300 to 600 persons) remains a problem. While we all hope that people will find ways to reduce their reliance on cars, the reality is that wet weather, poor public transit, steep area hills, reduced school bussing, and work/family/time demands have long caused most Alki Elementary parents to drive their kids to/from school. District and SDOT surveys over the past couple of decades confirm that a consistently strong majority of Alki Elementary kids arrive and leave by car each day. This reality, plus parking scarcity on nearby crowded streets, already produced dangerous parking and traffic problems at the previous smaller Alki school of about 300 students. Although it would be nice, none of the conditions that have caused parents to choose to drive their kids to Alki Elementary are likely to change any time soon, which assures increased parking and traffic hazards at the new 600+ person Alki school.

Traffic cannot help but become more congested and dangerous at the larger school because existing Alki area street and pedestrian infrastructure cannot change much to accommodate the far larger numbers of cars and pedestrians that will daily converge on the school at start and end times. Of course, those most at risk are the kids.

Because most available parking is located West of the School, most people must reach the School and Playfield via the school’s crosswalks at 59th and Stevens. So far, the District’s plan is to increase school size to over 600 students and staff, and at school drop and pickup times route hundreds of them as pedestrians and cyclists (mostly young families and unaccompanied children) over the same school crosswalks where – at the same time – the District will also route hundreds of parents’ cars.

*This plan will funnel hundreds of pedestrians, cyclists, and cars over the same intersections and crosswalks twice-a-day, 5-days-a-week, 9 months of the year. It will produce tens of thousands of pedestrian-vehicle interactions a year on already congested streets, which is bound to lead to a bad result. Our appeal sought to avoid these increased risks by keeping the school at about the same size, and requiring more effective traffic management than has occurred there in the past.
While we were not successful with the second appeal, there were some positive results:

-The members of our group who filed the first successful appeal gained 15 off-street parking spots, which will be available to more safely accommodate ADA and special needs students than the dangerous on-street parking for them that was originally proposed by the School District.

-The second appeal forced the School District to finally admit that Alki Elementary’s past traffic and parking problems were serious, and that its previous traffic management
arrangements at the school were inadequate and dangerous.
-As a consequence of that admission, for the second appeal, the District created a draft traffic management plan in advance of school construction. I do not believe this has ever happened before. The District’s draft traffic management plan has significant problems (* see above), but it is at least an advance start on what will be a difficult task. (Prior to the second appeal, the District’s position was to deny that there were significant parking or traffic problems at the old Alki School that warranted advance consideration for a much larger school.)

-Friends appeal witnesses respectfully offered a broad range of detailed evidence with information about past parking and traffic safety problems at Alki School, neighborhood infrastructure limitations, and suggestions for future improvements. Some of the information and ideas were clearly new to the District, and will help it better address the increased traffic safety issues and risks for Alki Elementary and Playfield that a much larger new school will bring.

This is some progress, but a good final result will require continued community involvement.

The District’s current draft traffic management plan for a much larger Alki Elementary will direct all school parents’ cars West down Admiral Hill past 59th to 60th, then North on 60th to Stevens, then East on Stevens to the School, then North on 59th. There will be consideration of making 60th, Stevens, and 59th temporarily one-way streets during morning and afternoon school start and end times.

My understanding is that the School District and SDOT will convene public meetings at some point to discuss the evolving Alki School traffic management plan, and get public/community input for it. I encourage anyone who is interested to participate in that process. Local knowledge can help ensure the best result.

The School District plans to rely on SDOT to help it fashion a final traffic management plan for the much larger Alki school. While we might hope that SDOT’s involvement will help produce a good plan, my own experiences with SDOT involving traffic safety near the school have been hugely disappointing.

The recent appeal was not my first neighborhood effort to make traffic safer for families and kids around Alki School. I worked several times with SDOT over the past 20 years to convince them to install the traffic humps on 59th in front of the school, the 10 mph speed limit signs in alleys near the school, and the stop signs for the School’s crosswalks.

Each of those efforts took over a year to accomplish, mainly because SDOT strongly resisted each one. SDOT instead insisted on its “one-size-fits-all” City-wide norms, which then disfavored traffic-calming measures on neighborhood streets – even at critical school intersections and crosswalks.

My experience has been that SDOT’s is usually inclined to discount local knowledge and evidence warranting deviation from its standard policies, when its standard policies do not fit the specific realities of a local neighborhood. For example, SDOT actually required Alki neighborhood residents to raise $6,000 to pay for the Alki School traffic humps on 59th, which we did.

In the several Alki School area traffic safety improvement efforts that I was involved with, the neighborhood sought very sensible SDOT safety measures to protect vulnerable school kids and park families. In each case, SDOT denied there was a problem and drug their feet – for over a year. It took two nearby traffic deaths (one about 75 yards from the school’s crosswalks) and a serious child bike-car injury accident in an alley near the school, to convince SDOT to deviate from its standard policies and allow the traffic humps, the school crosswalk stop signs, and the nearby alley slow speed limit signs. That kind of delay with those consequences should be unacceptable to us all.

The recent appeal challenged the School District’s similar denial that there were serious traffic problems at the old Alki School, which warranted both consideration to deviate from its “standard plan” to build only very large elementary schools, and advance planning to prevent deaths and injuries from the increased pedestrian and cyclist traffic hazards that a far larger Alki School will inevitably bring.

So, my several experiences with both SDOT and the School District have been that neither agency takes traffic risks very seriously until something bad happens, at least if preventive measures require them to deviate from their “standard plans.” They seem to disregard neighborhood input and local knowledge as either unreliable, self-serving, or unduly alarmist – even when it is sincere and factually accurate – as were both Alki Elementary appeals.

With that history in mind, I encourage all who may have an interest or information to actively participate in the SDOT-School District traffic planning process for Alki Elementary. It really could make a difference and save lives.

Citizens should also know that City Code changes are under consideration by the Mayor and City Council would eliminate entirely the current requirement for the School District to demonstrate that its building projects will have safe parking and traffic circulation patterns. The proposal is apparently based on the assumption that “NIMBY’s” who live near schools raise specious traffic safety claims as a “pretext” to oppose changes in their neighborhood. That was certainly not the case with our appeal.

If the City’s current safe parking and traffic requirement for new school buildings is repealed, Citizens would have to rely entirely on the School District and SDOT to “do the right thing” in affected Seattle neighborhoods. SDOT and the District’s disappointing history of resistance to taking traffic safety seriously in the Alki neighborhood leads me to believe that the City should keep its current safe traffic requirement for school projects – especially now that the District has clearly announced a “standard plan” to close small elementary schools and build only much larger ones everywhere in the City.

Kind regards,
Steve Cuddy

(WSB photo, past and future Alki Elementary site)

As promised, deputy Hearing Examiner Susan Drummond has issued her ruling today on the second Alki Elementary rebuild appeal, a challenge to the city decision allowing less parking than zoning requires. This time, Drummond has dismissed the appeal. We recapped the backstory here; in short, Seattle Public Schools originally proposed building the new school with no parking, though zoning required 48; the city approved that, but in response to an appeal of that approval, Drummond told the district and city to revisit the parking situation. The district came up with a new plan for 15 spaces, the city approved that too, an appeal was filed, but Drummond’s ruling today says 15 spaces enough. Her decision concludes:

… The District substantiated that the anticipated parking demand can be accommodated on site with spillover parking on the street within 800 feet of the site, while still allowing adequate on-street parking capacity. The expert testimony supporting the approach was credible. The District’s experts arrived at similar if not the same conclusions and substantiated those conclusions. As District briefing noted, opposing testimony included irreconcilable or unsupportable conclusions, and did not meet the burden of proof required to reverse the Department’s decision. The School District and Department took the parking concerns seriously and balanced the issue against educational needs to ensure the code criteria were addressed. The Department’s decision approving the parking departure should be upheld.

The appellants now have three weeks to request judicial review of the decision. We’ll be asking if they intend to do that. Construction of the school – at the site where the old Alki Elementary was demolished after last school year – is still awaiting building permits that can’t be issued until the case is closed.

(Rendering of new Alki Elementary entrance on north side of school)

Monday (July 1) is the day that Deputy Hearing Examiner Susan Drummond is expected to issue her ruling in the second appeal of a proposed zoning exception for the new Alki Elementary School. Thursday was the deadline she gave to the three parties in the case – the nearby residents who filed the appeal, Seattle Public Schools, and the city Department of Construction and Inspections – to file their closing statements, and all three did. You might recall that the only issue is whether SPS will be allowed to build the expanded new school with less parking than city zoning rules require. The rules require 48 spaces; the district originally sought to rebuild with no offstreet parking; a separate group of area residents appealed that and other zoning exceptions the city granted. Last August, Drummond ruled in their favor regarding the parking issue, ordering the district and city to go back to the drawing board on that. (Other exception appeals were either dismissed or settled.) The district subsequently revised the design to create 15 spaces on the southwest side of the campus; the city said OK, and then this appeal was filed.

The case was argued in a three-day hearing we covered in late May and early June (here’s our report on Day 1, our report on Day 2, and our report on Day 3), and now the ruling is awaited. The closing arguments are all in the case file – you can download and read the appellants’ argument here, the district’s argument here, and the city’s brief argument here.

Depending on what Drummond rules, a subsequent court challenge is possible; that was the first action the district took after the previous ruling, but a judge threw it out because it wasn’t a land-use decision, it was just an admonition to revisit the issue. Meantime, Alki Elementary spent the just-concluded school year in temporary quarters at the former Schmitz Park Elementary and will be there at least two more years. The school’s enrollment last year was ~271 (100 under the old Alki’s capacity), and the new school is planned for up to double that, counting two preschool classes expected also to be housed on the campus.

(Alki Elementary project rendering showing ‘atrium’ that appellant called into question)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“There’s been a lot of testimony, but a lot of it’s pretty repetitive.”

That’s how deputy hearing examiner Susan Drummond assessed the three-day hearing on the Alki Elementary rebuild zoning-exception appeal, as she explained to the lawyers for both sides post-testimony why she expected she would need only a few days to make a decision, once they filed their closing statements.

Indeed, the third and final day of testimony – one day longer than originally expected – went back over many of the points already made, such as transportation consultants’ disagreement over parking conditions in the school’s neighborhood and how they would be affected if and when the new school operated at its full capacity, with 500+ students, 40+ preschoolers, and up to 75 staff members, compared to the current 271 students and 30+ staffers.

What’s at issue is whether Seattle Public Schools will be granted one more zoning exception – in addition to those it’s already been granted – to allow fewer offstreet parking spaces than the 48 required by zoning. The district now proposes 15, after its original plan for 0 was challenged successfully by other appellants. Drummond also heard, and ruled in, that appeal, which had a one-day hearing last July to consider the challenges to seven zoning exceptions.

Our coverage of the first day (Tuesday, May 28) is here; the second day (Thursday, May 30) is here. Day 3 (Monday, June 3) began with the main appellant:

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(Past and future Alki Elementary site, WSB photo from last week)

Our full recap won’t be ready until later, but for those following the situation, we want to let you know right now that the Alki Elementary rebuild appeal hearing has just wrapped up after a third day of testimony. All three days, two lawyers representing the district and one representing the appellant have made their cases before Deputy Hearing Examiner Susan Drummond in the Seattle Municipal Tower hearing room downtown, with a city Department of Construction and Inspections planner also at the table (she finally got a brief chance to speak today). The only issue to be decided is whether to uphold the city’s decision to grant a zoning exception to Seattle Public Schools for building the new, expanded Alki Elementary (capacity 500+, up from the current 370, 100 more than current enrollment) with fewer offstreet-parking spaces than the 48 required – the district originally proposed zero, the city said OK, nearby residents successfully appealed, the district drew up a new plan with 15 spaces, the city said OK again, and another group of residents appealed. It was agreed when testimony concluded a short time ago that both sides will present their closing statements in writing (20 pages max) by June 27, and Drummond expects to issue her ruling on July 1. Building permits can’t be issued until this is resolved; the old school was demolished shortly after last school year, and some other site-prep work has been allowed. Here’s our recap of the first day of testimony last Tuesday; here’s our recap of Day 2 last Thursday; our report on today’s testimony will be ready tonight or tomorrow.

(Rendering of new Alki Elementary entrance on north side of school)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Testimony in the second Alki Elementary School rebuild appeal hearing is extending to a third day, though two days originally were expected to be enough.

That was the decision at the end of the second full day of testimony before city deputy hearing examiner Susan Drummond. She will decide whether to uphold the city’s decision to allow Seattle Public Schools to build the new, larger Alki Elementary with fewer parking spaces than zoning requires. The original design had no offstreet parking spaces, though 48 would be needed to comply with zoning. Nearby residents successfully appealed the city’s approval of the no-parking plan (as well as other “zoning departures” which were upheld). The district then proposed a new design with 15 spaces; the city approved it; a different group of nearby residents filed an appeal. That’s what’s being considered now. Here’s our report on the first day of testimony last Tuesday; here’s what happened on day 2, last Thursday:

DISTRICT WITNESS – PRIMARY ARCHITECT: The day began with the district’s main lawyer Katie Kendall of McCullough Hill questioning project architect Rebecca Hutchinson of Mahlum. Her testimony began with scene-setting regarding the new school’s north-facing entrance and the district’s agreement with Seattle Parks about joint use of the space between the school and the playground on the south side of Alki Playfield. That paved space was used for parking outside school hours but won’t be available for that use in the new campus design.

Hutchinson discussed other features of the new school, basically explaining why the district feels it’s needed, because of “educational deficiencies” of the old (now-demolished) Alki Elementary. Some of its features weren’t routinely part of school design decades ago – like “learning commons” spaces, “open spaces shared by a group of classrooms … for addressing a diversity of needs and diversity of teaching styles,” and enclosed small-group spaces.

Establishing that the new school’s footprint isn’t much bigger than the old one – 29,000 sf vs. 27,300 sf – Kendall asked what is absolutely necessary on the ground floor of an elementary school. Hutchinson said administration, kindergarten and early-learning facilities, the dining commons, delivery/unloading since the district brings prepared food to schools, music room/stage, the mechanical/electrical room. In fact, she said, they didn’t have enough room for everything they needed, so they removed two child-care classrooms, possible because neighboring Alki Community Center has been providing child care anyway. “Is there anything else SPS could remove without negatively affecting educational goals?” Kendall asked. The architect said no. Why did they request the zoning exception for parking? Hutchinson said 48 spaces would take up half the buildable area, so “a school would not be feasible on this site.”

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(WSB photo, Alki Elementary site at 3010 59th SW)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

For the second time in 10 months, a city hearing examiner is presiding over proceedings that will determine what’s next for the rebuild and expansion of Alki Elementary School.

Again this time, that hearing examiner is Susan Drummond, whose decision last summer left the door open for what’s happening now.

The backstory: Last year, four nearby residents appealed the city decision to approve nine zoning exceptions (“departures”) that Seattle Public Schools had sought for constructing the school with a taller building and higher student capacity. Through a ruling and a settlement, that all ended with just one appeal granted – the one challenging the departure that would allow the new school to be devoid of offstreet parking (as first revealed two years ago). Drummond told the district and the city Department of Construction and Inspections to “revisit” the issue. Rather than doing so immediately after that ruling, the district tried – and failed – to get a judge to throw it out. After that, it proposed a new plan with 15 offstreet parking spots. The city said OK. A different group of nearby residents appealed that, under the name Friends for a Safe Alki Community. And now, it’s all back before Drummond, who heard the first of at least two days of testimony Tuesday in the examiner’s hearing room at the city Municipal Tower downtown. We attended in person and plan to return for the next day of testimony on Thursday. No surprises, but here’s how it went:

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(WSB photo, past-and-future Alki Elementary site earlier this week)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“We’re frustrated that the school’s not being built, and that our voices are not being heard.”

That’s how Eva Chappell explains the letter-writing campaign she and Stefie Deeds have organized in support of the Alki Elementary rebuild/expansion, so far delayed almost a full year because of appeals filed over zoning exceptions involving parking.

Chappell and Deeds are both parents of Alki Elementary kindergarteners. The old school closed after the 2022-2023 school year and has been demolished, with other site preparation under way, but no construction until the latest appeal is resolved. Right now, it’s set to go before a city hearing examiner right after Memorial Day.

A bit of backstory if you’re just tuning in: Seattle Public Schools sought nine zoning exceptions (“departures”) for the rebuild/expansion. The city granted them. Nearby residents appealed. A hearing examiner denied the appeals on all but one point – the plan for no on-site parking (following zoning rules would require 48). The district went to court to try to overturn the ruling but was unsuccessful. Finally it submitted a new plan with 15 parking spots. The city approved that. A different set of nearby residents appealed in March. And that’s the subject of the upcoming hearing.

Meantime, Alki Elementary students and staff are wrapping up the first of at least three years in temporary quarters at the former Schmitz Park Elementary, which is so small, Chappell and Deeds say, some of the classes – third- through fifth-graders – are in portables.

But what they’re most concerned about is that parents like them have no voice in the process that’s extended their children’s stay in temporary quarters. In a conversation with WSB earlier this week, they explained that many Alki parents don’t even know what’s going on with the project – they “have no clue that it’s being held up,” Deeds says. “Nobody thought this was going to happen.” She’s an eight-year Alki resident who was excited about being able to send her child to a neighborhood school – but now for at least three years, they’re not within walking distance. “Alki really deserves a walkable school.”

She contends that appellants are wrong to contend that the new, larger school will pose a traffic nightmare because everybody drives, saying that in fact, many parents they’ve spoken with say they’ll be walking, as will her child.

So they’re hoping their voices of support can make a difference; more than 200 letters have been sent already via their online campaign. District officials including our area’s School Board director Gina Topp are the designated recipients.

They’re stressing that their intent isn’t “to diss anyone” – not even those who’ve been fighting the rebuild; they want to “regain a sense of community, in raising awareness.” They hope to “sit down together” with school neighbors as well as with other school families and staff, to discuss the school-related traffic concerns.

But first – they want to see the project back on track.

WHAT’S NEXT: The appeal hearing is scheduled to start at 9 am Tuesday, May 28, in the Hearing Examiner’s hearing room in the Seattle Municipal Tower downtown (700 5th Avenue). If a second day is needed, that’s scheduled for Thursday, May 30.

(Rendering by Mahlum Architects – north side of school)

After a pre-hearing conference today, the city Hearing Examiner’s Office has set the date for the hearing on the latest appeal of a zoning exception for the Alki Elementary rebuild: May 22. Today’s conference was presided over by the same deputy hearing examiner who ordered Seattle Public Schools last year to reconsider its “no on-site parking” plan, Susan Drummond, after different appellants challenged it. As we reported in December, SPS subsequently came up with a plan for 15 spaces; in February, the city Department of Construction and Inspections approved it (as they originally had done for the no-parking plan); then this month, a new group of appellants calling themselves Friends for a Safe Alki Community filed a challenge. Their lawyer was at today’s conference as were two lawyers for the school district as well as the SDCI land-use planner assigned to the project. The levy-funded rebuild and expansion of Alki Elementary is on hold until this is resolved, because the building permit can’t be granted until the zoning exception for parking is either finalized, or rendered unnecessary by a plan allowing for the 48 spaces the current zoning rules require. Meantime, all sides have a series of deadlines to prepare for the May 22 hearing (for which a second day is set aside May 23 if needed), per the order resulting from today’s conference.

ADDED APRIL 14: A routine check of the case file reveals the hearing date has changed to May 28.

(Birds, including a Bald Eagle, on cleared Alki Elementary site – photo by Don Brubeck)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The Alki Elementary rebuild is being appealed again.

To recap: This all traces back to Seattle Public Schools proposing a new, larger school that, as announced in 2022, would require nine zoning exceptions, officially known as departures. City reviewers approved the departures last May. Nearby residents filed appeals shortly thereafter. All but one of the challenges were either dismissed or settled. The one that was not involved parking – under zoning rules, 48 offstreet spaces would be required, but the district wanted to build the school with none. A city hearing examiner told the district in August to go back to the drawing board on that. Instead of coming up with a counterproposal immediately, the district went to court. Its challenge was dismissed in October, not on its merits, but on the premise that the court only had jurisdiction on a final decision, and that’s not what the district was challenging. In December, the district came up with a new plan that would include 15 parking spaces. Last month, the city said OK. And now, that’s what’s being appealed.

The appellant is different this time – it’s a group calling itself Friends for a Safe Alki Community, led by local “semi-retired lawyer” Steve Cuddy, who says the group has more than 50 members. The appeal contends in part:

The Revised Decision has not ensured that the proposed facility is compatible with the character and use of its surrounding area and the Decision fails to consider and balance the impacts on traffic, noise, circulation, and parking in the area. For example, the Revised Decision erroneously concludes that the proposed departure request will result in no significant loss of vehicular parking on site and will establish an increase in parking for the record. That is simply false. The school of approximately 300 students and 30-40 staff had approximately 29 parking spaces and the adjacent Community Center had approximately 27 spaces and still experienced persistent parking, traffic, and safety issues. The Revised Decision grants the departure to almost double the number of students and staff while reducing the number of parking spaces down to 15. The Revised Decision also fails to consider impacts to emergency/first responder access in the area.

Among other contentions, the appeal says the information used for the city’s approval of the revised plan was still faulty – with another parking study done after the old Alki Elementary was demolished last year, with its student and staff now housed at the former Schmitz Park Elementary.

In addition to the parking issue, the new appeal includes safety concerns, as did the previous ones. The appeal documentation uploaded to the city Hearing Examiner‘s website includes Cuddy’s personal 22-page letter of opposition written one year ago, including background that he worked more than 15 years ago to get the traffic-calming speed humps installed on 59th Avenue SW alongside the school and adjacent playfield, and a decade ago to get stop signs at 59th/Stevens, near the campus’s north edge. It also includes a letter to the city from his wife Linda Cuddy, written this past January, and noting she worked years ago to get a sidewalk installed along the north side of Alki Playfield. She wrote, in part, summarizing some of the safety concerns that also were aired in the first round of appeals:

The Alki School, SPS’s smallest parcel of 1.4 acres, is located in an incredibly busy environment, in the midst of regional parks and Alki Beach attractions, all within a “Parking Overlay.” As the Hearing Examiner said, “The school site has limited street access, with just one right-of-way, on the east side of 59th Avenue SW, from SW Admiral Way looking south. 59th Ave SW is signed for on-street bus loading and unloading on the east parallel to the school and for parent drop-off north of SW Stevens Street also on the east side. Due to its limited and cramped street access, difficult vehicle circulation patterns and the narrow width of 59th Ave SW, during peak drop off and pick up times, passage on 59th Ave SW effectively becomes a one lane street creating unsafe and unmanageable traffic and parking issues.” Parents are forced to park in an unsafe and illegal manner in the parent drop off zone. Otherwise, traffic issues would be much worse and restrictive on 59th.

So what happens now? The city Hearing Examiner’s Office will schedule a hearing on the new appeal, which will be followed by a ruling, which may be appealable in court. The school construction remains on hold pending a building permit, which can’t be granted until all this is decided. The new school originally was projected to open in fall 2025 but even prior to this new appeal, the district had moved that to fall 2026. (Planning for the rebuild dates back to 2018, when the district was deciding what to send to voters in its 2019 BEX V levy, and it was described even then as a potential expansion of capacity to 500. Our archives show parking questions arose before the 2019 vote, too.)

(New design proposal for Alki Elementary, with 15 parking spaces in southwest corner of site)

Two months after Seattle Public Schools proposed a new plan for the Alki Elementary rebuild/expansion, with 15 offstreet parking spaces instead of zero, the city has approved it. This comes six months after a city hearing examiner told SPS it had to revisit its no-on-site-parking plan, after nearby residents appealed the original city decision allowing nine zoning exceptions (“departures”) for the project. Without a zoning exception, the rebuilt/expanded school would require 48 spaces. We discovered the decision on the plan revision while checking online files today; it’s scheduled to be widely circulated via tomorrow’s twice-weekly Land Use Information Bulletin. From the 21-page decision document, here’s the bottom line:

In evaluating the initial parking departure request, the Director reviewed the district required school program, the DON recommendations, public comment, the proposed site plan, and location of the programmatic elements such as circulation, shared learning areas, outdoor play area, and classroom spaces, and all technical information and analysis. The Director approved the initial parking departure request (for zero on-site vehicular parking stalls) with the conditions listed at the end of this report (May 2023). The Hearing Examiner Decision (August 2023) returned the parking departure request back to the Director for additional study of parking impacts. Upon further review of the proposal, including the additional parking analyses, revised site plan (to include 15 on-site vehicular parking spaces), and all public comment, the Director finds that the departure is appropriate in relation to the character and scale of the area; there is a presence of edges, a right of way, a park and a topographic break which provides a transition in bulk and scale and the departure does not exacerbate or diminish the area character; and the departure will not significantly exacerbate traffic, noise, circulation, parking or impact housing or open space in the area.

The Director finds that the educational need for this departure is met and that the impacts of the proposal could be adequately mitigated by the conditions recommended by DON and the Director. Therefore, the Director grants the departure request …

The “educational need” is explained elsewhere in the decision document as the district’s contention that providing more parking would require actions that would affect how well the new school could function, Meantime, the decision argues that the new plan is actually an increase in official parking for the site, compared to the now-demolished school:

The proposed departure request will result in no significant loss of vehicular parking on site and will establish an increase in parking for the record. First, the prior Alki Elementary had a surface service area that was informally used by staff for vehicular parking and was estimated to accommodate approximately 19-20 vehicles. The hard surface play area north of the building (and off-site) is City of Seattle property and is signed for “Community Center Parking Only” but was used for school-event parking and was estimated to accommodate approximately 27 vehicles. In addition, there was a right-of-way that was used for informal parking at the northeast corner of the site, where Parks has a community center. This city property will continue to exist. Further, Parks has two parking spots for the community center that continue to exist (one 15-minute load space and one accessible permit space). To the east of these spaces are six spaces signed for “Alki Community Center Permitted Staff Parking Only.” SPS’s revised site plan for Alki Elementary now includes 15 medium-sized vehicular parking stalls with an ADA accessible space located in the southwest portion of the Alki Elementary site. The addition of these 15 parking spaces required redesign or elimination of project elements previously included in the design such as the staging area for delivery trucks and garbage pickup, location of the transformer, building storage space, bicycle storage area, and pedestrian path.

As with the original zoning-exception decision, this approval can be appealed. The publication notice explains how, and sets a deadline of March 7. The original plan was for Alki Elementary to hold classes at the former Schmitz Park Elementary this year and next, but the construction delay already has the district acknowledging Alki will be housed there for 2025-2026 too.

(New design proposal for Alki Elementary, with 15 parking spaces in southwest corner of site)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Four months after a city hearing examiner ruled that Seattle Public Schools must address parking concerns in its plan for rebuilding and expanding Alki Elementary, the district has submitted a new plan to the city. The original plan had no offstreet parking; the new one has 15 spaces.

First, some backstory – the hearing examiner’s order was the result of an appeal filed by nearby residents challenging the original city Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) decision last May to grant zoning exceptions (“departures”) for the project, including building it with no offstreet parking. The appeals were either dismissed or settled, except for the parking issue; the district was ordered to “revisit” it. SPS instead chose to go to court to challenge the ruling; after a hearing October 20th, a judge dismissed that challenge (on a technical point, not on its merits), leaving the district no option but to come up with a project revision. Now it’s done that.

One point of contention for the nearby residents’ appeal had been the parking study done for the original plan by Heffron Transportation, during a time period when both the pandemic and the West Seattle Bridge closure were factors. The firm has done a new study (see it here), looking at neighborhood parking this past August and September, and also looking at parking at and near the former Schmitz Park Elementary, to which Alki Elementary has moved until its new building is ready. The new parking study has findings similar to the previous one, contending that school-related needs still wouldn’t max out the available street parking near Alki Elementary. The new study also says they found Schmitz Park’s 47-space lot a little more than half-utilized.

All this, and the new plan, is summarized in a memo to SDCI (see it here) by project architect Rebecca Hutchinson of Mahlum Architects. Here’s how she explains what they did to come up with the 15 spaces:

… the design team was able to remove the loading platform and a dedicated driveway and staging area for SPS delivery trucks and garbage pickup. The design team also relocated the proposed transformer further away from the school building, which adds a greater cost than the original design. The design team then removed some storage space from the school and reconfigured the long-term bike parking structure (while still retaining the same number of long-term bike parking stalls). Finally, the design team removed the dedicated pedestrian path at the south edge of the site. This redesign sacrificed those elements that are desired for the functioning of the school, such as better loading, storage, and separated pedestrian path, and left only those architectural elements that were necessary to meet educational goals.

The result is that SPS was able to redesign the school to accommodate 15 parking stalls, including one ADA van stall. Depending on the needs of the student and staff population at the time the school reopens, it is possible that SPS can include one additional ADA stall and/or a time-limited load or unload zone. Now that the ADA stall can be included on the school site, the previously proposed on-street ADA stall across the street has been removed, which will result in retaining one additional on-street parking stall.

The architect’s memo also details why that’s the most they could do in terms of parking (if the project was built to code, 48 spaces would be required). A parking garage wasn’t an option, either above or below ground, Hutchinson wrote, for factors from height to water table to “(it) would increase the potential for uninvited persons to utilize the parking structure for a multitude of nefarious reasons.” She also wrote that a parking garage would likely add at least $10 million to the project price tag.

Another option examined: Condemning/buying adjacent residential property. They looked at a 16-unit apartment building south of the school and two single-family homes east of the school; neither seemed feasible or desirable for using that way, nor would either site enable the code-compliant number of spaces, the architect wrote.

In one last bit of case-making, the memo notes that seven SPS elementaries have no parking (none in West Seattle), 12 have fewer than 15 spaces, six have 20 or fewer; the project team has pointed this out before.

WHAT’S NEXT: It’s up to SDCI to review the revised plan and decide whether to approve the new version of the zoning exception (departure) or to reject it and insist on a plan with the required 48 spaces. If SDCI approves the revised departure, it would again be subject to appeal. The old school building already has been demolished but construction permits won’t be issued until this issue is settled.

(WSB photo, Alki Elementary site, last month)

Two weeks ago today, a judge rejected Seattle Public Schools‘ challenge to a city Hearing Examiner ruling in the fight over whether the new, larger Alki Elementary can be built without off-street parking. That left the district having to do what the Hearing Examiner ruling in August ordered – work with the city Department of Construction and Inspections to address the parking issue.

If you’ve missed previous coverage, the city originally granted the district’s request for zoning exceptions – aka “departures” – including a plan to build the school without off-street parking (48 spaces would have been required otherwise). Four nearby residents appealed the departures; part of the appeal was settled, part was denied, and the part pertaining to parking was granted. The district challenged that in court and lost. So now, two weeks later, we wondered, what’s happening? We took the question to SPS; a spokesperson replied, “SPS is reviewing designs to include parking while also continuing to work with SDCI.” Some site work has been done, as allowed even without the building permit; the district tells us, “Demolition and site clearing have been completed. With the project paused, the contractor has been preparing the site and gymnasium building for winter. This includes weather protection, security, and temporary soil control measure, which includes hydroseeding.” Alki Elementary is holding classes at the former Schmitz Park Elementary, originally expected to last through this school year and ’24-’25.

(WSB photo, Alki Elementary demolition site in August)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

ORIGINAL 12:08 PM REPORT: More than two months after the old Alki Elementary was demolished, the rebuild/expansion project remains on hold because of what’s become a court fight. A short hearing in the case was held this morning.

First, the backstory: Seattle Public Schools needed nine zoning exceptions – “departures” – to get approval for its plan to build a bigger, taller school on the site. The city Department of Construction and Inspections granted the nine departures. Four Alki residents appealed the decision. After a subsequent daylong hearing, a city hearing examiner upheld the city decision on all but one departure – the one that would allow the school to be built without off-street parking; current zoning would otherwise require 48 spaces. The examiner’s ruling sent the parking issue back to the city for “further consideration.” The district could have opted to work on that issue with the city but instead decided to file a court challenge to the decision. That challenge is set for a full hearing in January, but the city filed a motion to dismiss it, and that’s what was heard today in an online hearing before King County Superior Court Judge Wyman Yip. We monitored the hearing, which lasted less than 15 minutes.

The case is not a lawsuit per se, but rather, a land-use petition. Lawyer Liza Anderson, representing the city, contends the district’s challenge should be dismissed because the hearing examiner’s ruling was not a final land-use decision – it simply sent the parking issue back to city planners to work with the district, Lawyer Katie Kendall, representing the district, contends the hearing examiner’s ruling is indeed a final decision, because if SPS, for example, found a way to provide parking in or near the project, it could get its permits without further proceedings,

Judge Yip had no questions, and said he’d already read the documents filed by both sides. He told the lawyers – who also included counsel for the residents who filed the appeal, though she did not speak – that he expected to file a written decision on the dismissal motion by Monday. (We’ll be watching the case file.) If he doesn’t grant the motion to dismiss the case, it will proceed toward a hearing set for late January. Alki Elementary, meantime, is holding classes at the former Schmitz Park Elementary, which it was expecting to do for two years even if construction of the new school had started this summer as originally planned.

5:35 PM: Just got word that the judge has already made his decision, and he has dismissed the district’s case, agreeing with the city that the hearing examiner’s ruling granting the appeal of the no-parking decision was not a final land-use decision, so this manner of challenge was not appropriate. Here’s how the ruling ends:

Having reviewed the pleadings, the Examiner’s August 10, 2023 written decision, and the
authority cited by counsel, this Court finds that the Examiner’s decision was not a final
determination under LUPA. The Examiner found that “more attention to parking impacts within this
highly constrained and unique setting is needed” and that the decision is “returned to the
Department” for proceedings consistent with the decision. This was not a denial of the requested
parking departure. It was a remand for more/better information before a more informed decision can
be made.

Based on the foregoing, pursuant to Civil Rule (“CR”) 12(b)(1) the Court ORDERS that:
1. Respondent Seattle’s Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED; and
2. Petitioner Seattle School District’s Land Use Petition Act Petition is dismissed.

This does NOT necessarily mean the district has to provide the required parking – it does mean that the city and the district have to work on the issue, as the hearing-examiner ruling ordered. We’ll be seeking comment on Monday.

When: Friday November 3rd – doors open at 5:30 pm
Where: The Hall at Fauntleroy
Theme: Simply The Best Night Ever
Why: To raise funds for our kids to bridge the gap from district funding. We will be focusing the funds on all school experiences, assemblies, and art and music.
Tickets are $70 each and include dinner and a drink.
Website is: alki.schoolauction.net/bestnight

(WSB photo, Alki Elementary demolition site last Friday)

After three weeks, Seattle Public Schools has made its decision about how to respond to the city Hearing Examiner ruling granting neighbors’ appeal of a zoning exception that would allow the new Alki Elementary to be built without off-street parking: It’s going to court. That’s one of the options if you lose a case before the Hearing Examiner – going to King County Superior Court with a “petition seeking review of a land-use decision.” That’s what SPS filed today, according to documents we obtained tonight. The petition contends in part:

… The Examiner concluded that the SDCI [Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections] Decision lacked sufficient supporting information on this issue alone. The Examiner’s conclusion regarding the vehicle parking departure is incorrect. … Petitioner is aggrieved and adversely affected by the Decision because the Decision prejudices Petitioner’s ability to use its Property and is intended to interfere with the Petitioner’s legal use and enjoyment of the Property and the ability to develop the Project … the Examiner engaged in unlawful procedure, erroneously interpreted the law, made a decision that is not supported by substantial evidence, and committed clear error where it concluded that the Appellants met their burden to demonstrate that it is not necessary to eliminate all parking to meet the school’s educational needs. … The Decision’s determination that the parking analysis did not accurately reflect parking conditions was not supported by substantial evidence in the record. … The Examiner chose to give greater weight to anecdotal statements that parking conditions in December 2021 must not reflect normal parking conditions instead of expert analysis that concluded, in both the report and in testimony, that the parking conditions in December 2021 were likely higher than normal conditions given that many people chose to stay home (and park on the street) rather than leave due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the West Seattle Bridge closure.

This is not likely to end quickly. The initial schedule set for the case requires a hearing by October 20th, but the case itself might not be fully heard until next January. The district has a permit for demolition, excavation, and grading of the school site, and has completed most of the demolition, but can’t get a permit to build the new school until this issue is settled. Building the school without a zoning exception for parking would require 48 spaces, and presenting a revised plan providing them was one of the other options the district had for responding to the Hearing Examiner’s ruling.

(WSB photo)

As of tonight, the old Alki Elementary is almost completely demolished, but a matter that must be settled before the new one is built is still in question. More than two weeks have now passed since a city hearing examiner ruled in favor of neighbors challenging the city decision to allow a zoning exception so the replacement school – with a higher capacity – can be built without parking. We’ve been asking both the city Department of Construction and Inspections and Seattle Public Schools what they plan to do to respond to the ruling. We finally got an answer today from SDCI; spokesperson Wendy Shark tells WSB, “SDCI has communicated to the district to revise the project proposal to include the required parking or provide additional information to supplement a revised decision. A revised decision would be appealable to the Hearing Examiner. Timing of these actions is dependent on the district.” The required parking, per city code, is 48 spaces. The district has one other option – they could appeal the hearing examiner’s decision in King County Superior Court; so far court records show no indication they’re doing that. What they do plan to do, we don’t know yet, as we asked again as soon as we heard from SDCI this morning, but we hadn’t received a district response by day’s end. The building permit can’t be finalized until the issue is settled. The new school is supposed to be ready in two years.

Thanks to Misa for the photos. If you want to take one last look at Alki Elementary School before it’s all gone, time is running out – demolition continued today, and this is what’s left.

While demolition is ongoing, permits for building its replacement aren’t finalized yet.

We expect to learn this week how Seattle Public Schools and the city Department of Construction and Inspections will proceed in dealing with the hearing examiner’s decision granting neighbors’ appeal of one requested zoning exception, the proposal to build the school without offstreet parking (without a zoning exception, 48 spaces would be required). Meantime, Alki Elementary classes will be temporarily moved starting this fall to the former Schmitz Park Elementary.

(WSB photo, today)

One week has passed since a city hearing examiner told Seattle Public Schools that it has to “revisit” the plan to rebuild Alki Elementary with no off-street parking. But we don’t know yet how that “revisiting” will be done. The district has said only that it’s “reviewing” the decision, which was in favor of an appeal filed by nearby residents, following the city’s decision to grant nine zoning exceptions for the project (the appeals of six of the other eight were rejected). So we checked with the city’s permitting authority, the Department of Construction and Inspections. SDCI spokesperson Wendy Shark tells us that “they are having their first meeting to determine next steps” by the end of this week, so they should know next week how they’ll be proceeding. Meantime, we just went by the site, and at least from 59th, it appears idle after a second burst of demolition earlier this week.

Thanks for the tip. Demolition has resumed at Alki Elementary, four days after a city hearing examiner’s ruling granting an appeal of the zoning exception needed to build the new school without off-street parking. A week and a half ago, Charter Construction crews had demolished the old portable on the north side of the school and installed an office trailer; Seattle Public Schools had told us at the time that the permits were being granted in phases, so some grading and shoring work also would be done on the site regardless of the appeal process. So far, the district’s comment on the appeal decision has been only that they were “reviewing” it. Alki classes are currently planned to be held in the former Schmitz Park Elementary for the next two years while the new expanded, levy-funded building is constructed.

(Rendering by Mahlum Architects – north side of school)

4 PM: The ruling is just in on the appeal of seven of the nine zoning exceptions (“departures”) sought by Seattle Public Schools for the rebuild of Alki Elementary. City assistant hearing examiner Susan Drummond, who heard the case July 25th (WSB coverage here), denied the appeals of six of the exceptions – but granted the appeal on arguably the most fervently argued point, the plan to rebuild and expand the school with no off-street parking. From the 11-page decision:

The Appellants met their burden to demonstrate that the impacts the neighborhood would bear from no on-site parking has not been sufficiently considered in relation to the site’s unique and constrained conditions. Appellants also met their burden to demonstrate that it is not necessary to eliminate all parking to meet educational needs. The approach exacerbates the difficult parking and circulation issues already present in the immediate area even without the expansion. The parking analysis was completed during an extraordinary time-period that does not reflect current or expected conditions. This issue should be revisited, with further thought given to how to improve the balance between school needs against the parking and circulation challenges the area faces.

As the appellants – four nearby residents – pointed out (and is also noted in the decision), Alki’s parking crunch is so intense, the area has a city-imposed “parking overlay” in which one and a half spaces must be provided for every residential unit built.

So what happens now? The decision concludes, “The decision is returned to the Department for proceedings consistent with the Examiner’s decision.” That would be the Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), whose original decision to grant the nine requested zoning exceptions is what was appealed (two of the nine – the new school’s height and a driveway configuration issue – were no longer at issue at the time of the hearing). We’ll be following up with SDCI and other parties.

6:07 PM: We asked the appellants via email for their thoughts. This is from Shauna Causey:

We were up against lawyers hired by Seattle Public Schools and it felt like an impossible situation but in the end, I’m glad the hearing examiner listened to the community.

I started an online petition before the hearing and 492 people responded in just 48 hours asking they reconsider the plan to remove ALL on-site parking. Some of the comments from the petition were shared during the hearing. From elderly who live near the school who have already had a tough time with ambulances reaching them, families with special needs who use ADA parking, to bus drivers, teachers, and parents at Alki Elementary who are frustrated, to seal sitters who help on the beach who felt like they could no longer volunteer if the accessibility and parking situation gets any worse. The community response and personal stories and comments were truly overwhelming.

Right now, most teachers have parking on-site. The new plan would come close to doubling staff (from current staff numbers) with zero parking — all just one block from the beach. It’s hard to believe this plan was even approved in the first place.

9:22 PM: Here’s context on how much parking would be required without a zoning exception – another section of today’s ruling, which refers to some of the evidence and testimony presented:

The code requires 48 parking spaces. With the removal of all on-site parking, the School is proposing no parking. Current on-site parking allows for over 20 parking spaces and the lot is “always completely full” with the parking space “well used.” As the striping is old, there is not an exact parking space number. This parking is coupled with a space to the north (but owned by the City) which can accommodate about 27 vehicles and is used for school events.

A paved surface with room to park about 20 vehicles is located on the south side of the school buildings and is accessed from a driveway at the south edge of the site on 59th Avenue SW. Much of the parking lot striping has faded, but historical aerial images indicate the area has been used for parking 20 or more vehicles. This area is also used for trash and recycling container storage and pick up.

The hard-surface area north of the building is City of Seattle Property … but is also used for school-event parking. Historical aerials indicate the surface can accommodate about 27 parked vehicles.

Public school parking requirements are based on new assembly space (commons and gymnasium) rather than daily school day demand, so do not necessarily account for day-to-day needs. For Alki, the calculation is based on the 3,800 square feet of dining commons and excludes the 6,000 gym square foot gym as total gym space is not being increased.14 If included, 123 spaces would be required. For private schools without assembly space, one space per each staff member would be required (75 spaces).

We’ll be contacting SDCI and SPS tomorrow to find out about what will happen next as a result of today’s ruling.

ADDED FRIDAY AFTERNOON: SPS says only, “The district is reviewing the ruling.” (We’ll check again next week.)