West Seattle, Washington
04 Friday
(2007 WSB photo of Fauntleroy Cove, looking toward Lincoln Park)
Since our report about last night’s Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting, there’s one more note from that neighborhood – requesting help ASAP on a hot topic that’s coming up right now in the Legislature – FCA president Bruce Butterfield has sent this from Judy Pickens, who works with Fauntleroy Creek among other local environmental issues:
SUPPORT ONGOING FUNDING FOR ‘THE STENCH’
Rep. Sharon Nelson from our district has introduced, with others, a bill that would provide ongoing funding for research and emergency response to sea-lettuce blooms in Puget Sound (“the stench”). E-mails in support of the bill from Fauntleroy residents could greatly increase its chance of passage.
HB 1231 (“Controlling saltwater algae”) and the Senate version (SB 5412) would assign 25 cents of every dollar that the state now collects from boat registrations for controlling algae in freshwater to doing the same in saltwater. This diversion would result in an estimated $140,000 per year for a grant program that cities and counties could tap for research on sea lettuce and emergency response when public-health concerns warrant haul-out of rotting seaweed. By tapping the existing revenue stream from a related program, the legislation would not require new funding. Read the full text of HB 1231 and analysis at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?year=2009&bill=1231.
The Washington State Lake Protection Association is opposing these bills on the grounds that sea lettuce is merely a nuisance, not a public-health threat comparable to algae growth in freshwater. I have updated FCA’s “white paper,” to emphasize Fauntleroy’s experience with hydrogen sulfide from rotting sea lettuce and included data from air-quality studies here. While lake advocates understandably don’t want to lose some of their funding, their position is ill-informed.
If you have a personal story to tell about “the stench” at its worst on a hot summer day in Fauntleroy, please send a quick e-mail to the committee chairmen:
House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee
Rep. Brian Blake, chairman
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/memberemail/MailForm.aspx?Chamber=H&District=19&Position=2Senate Environment, Water, and Energy Committee
Sen. Phil Rockefeller, chairman
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/memberemail/MailForm.aspx?Chamber=S&District=23Send a copy of your e-mail to Rep. Nelson at
apps.leg.wa.gov/memberemail/MailForm.aspx?Chamber=H&District=34&Position=2 (corrected from original publication)For more information, please e-mail Judy_Pickens@msn.com
ADDED 1:53 PM: Since there seems to be an intense amount of interest in this, we’ve also uploaded the “white paper” mentioned above, which explains that this goes beyond what you might assume is a smelly natural phenomenon. Read it here.
From tonight’s Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting: FCA leaders are ready for next week’s big neighborhood meeting, with three key items highlighting the agenda — 
the latest on the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse purchase, emergency-preparedness information from SNAP (Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare), and the status of the Washington State Ferries Long-Range Plan (which no longer calls for a Fauntleroy dock expansion, as we first reported Jan. 31st, but still calls for Southworth traffic to continue through Fauntleroy TFN). Information also will be available on the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement proposal’s status, The Kenney‘s redevelopment project, and the Fauntleroy Way “rechannelization” plan, among other community issues; the community gathering starts at 6:30 pm Wednesday 2/18 in the Fauntleroy Church Fellowship Hall, with presentations scheduled to start just after 7 pm. More toplines from tonight’s meeting, ahead:Read More
The latest quarterly newsletter from the Fauntleroy Community Association is now available online (via PDF, here). Some of the issues covered are ones that we’ve kept you up to date on as well, including the latest on the Washington State Ferries Long-Range Plan (newest updates here and here; our Fauntleroy coverage is all archived here). But there’s also news you may not have heard, including the latest on a traffic-calming effort along 47th between Brace Point and SW 98th, seen here in Google Street View:
And the newsletter announces a series of conversations and events at Fauntleroy Church on a subject that’s so near and dear to us, we’re honored to have been asked to be part of it: “Re-creating Community in Our Day.” For six successive Wednesday nights starting February 25th, this topic will be tackled in a variety of ways, from the 2/25 kickoff screening of the acclaimed “Fauntleroy Story” documentary, to author/former city Department of Neighborhoods leader Jim Diers speaking on 3/25. (Your WSB co-publishers will be the speakers on 3/11, for the topic “the impact of media on our sense of belonging to a community.” Full list of events is on the Fauntleroy Church home page; other Fauntleroy community events are on the FCA website, including a reminder of the all-community, multi-topic meeting coming up February 18th, which will include an SDOT rep discussing the recently announced “rechannelization” of Fauntleroy Way between California and Edmunds.
It’s been more than a year in the making now, and the West Seattle Trails Alliance continues marching ahead, with a focus now on kiosks around the area to point out walking routes and their highlights. The flyer above is for the first of the “next steps,” a Fauntleroy gathering next week described by Chas Redmond at westseattlewalks.org:
The three kiosks to be sited in the general Fauntleroy area are the first to be designed and located for the 10 kiosks which are part of this project. The three kiosks are associated with up to 20 on-street wayfinding markers (think street pole and sign but for trails rather than roads).
One of the locations suggested in previous charrettes is in front of Lincoln Park – but exactly where and on which side of the street is undecided. Another recommended location is near the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal, but again the specifics are to be determined by the community. The last of the three kiosks in the Fauntleroy area is to be sited somewhere in the vicinity of Endolyne – by the bakery or by the church or by the school – again, where is to be determined.
The meeting at Fauntleroy Church will be the kick-off event for the design and determining the exact location of the three Fauntleroy-area kiosks. Each of the on-street markers must also be addressed – where and what should the marker blades say is one question. Thinking of the three kiosks as wayfinding beacons, the on-street markers are the guides from beacon to beacon. Where are these on-street guides and what do the blades actually say? As an example, the on-street markers between the Ferry location and Lincoln Park can point out shortcuts up Gatewood Hill to the Myrtle Street Reservoir – the highest point in the city. Other ideas are both sought and welcome at the charrette.
The Fauntleroy-area kiosks are the first in this series and will be followed by design and location charrettes for kiosks located in the Alki and Admiral areas later this Spring.
Second “step forward”: Chas also tells WSB that after 10 months of distributing the printed West Seattle Trails map (last year, WSB readers got a chance to comment on early versions), 19,000 copies – almost the entire 20K print run – are out there, placed in 64 locations (listed here), “almost one for every two households.” He adds, “We’re compiling changes and recommendations and are anticipating printing a new version by the end of this year” — once the final kiosks in the first round are up; a second city matching-funds grant is being pursued for the second round of kiosks, on the eastern half of the West Seattle peninsula.
Over the weekend, we reported on a big change in Washington State Ferries‘ revised Draft Long-Range Plan — WSF has dropped its proposal to expand the Fauntleroy dock (though it’s still hoping to install an elevated passenger walkway so that car and passenger loading could be done simultaneously). We asked Gary Dawson of the Fauntleroy Community Association, who represents this area on WSF’s Ferry Advisory Committee , for reaction; he tells WSB the neighborhood still has reason to be concerned:
The current revision in the WSF LRP to no longer expand the Fauntleroy dock is good news for the residents of Fauntleroy.
However, the objection remains about the WSF decision to allow the Southworth route to remain in Fauntleroy instead of routing directly to downtown as the original draft proposed. This reversal of decision not only continues to affect Fauntleroy, it affects all of West Seattle.
Option A of the plan essentially provides no increase in service on the Vashon/Southworth/Fauntleroy route. With the proposed ferry traffic from Southworth to nearly double between the years 2020 and 2030, West Seattle, by default, must suffer all the increase in vehicles on an already congested to and over the high bridge from all areas of West Seattle.
According to recent surveys, many Southworth commuters want to go directly downtown. And they want to walk on or take a passenger only ferry. As neither option is available at this time, most are forced to commute in single occupant vehicles.
Although the Mayor’s office did not originally support expansion of the Colman Dock downtown for Southworth service, the Mayor did ask WSF to not expand at Fauntleroy and mitigate the future ferry traffic growth to West Seattle. The draft plan does leave an opening for a future route change to downtown and WSF has stated that they will continue to work with the City to arrive at an agreeable solution.
Letters of support for the redirecting of the Southworth route have been sent to the Mayor’s office from business and community groups in West Seattle. The traffic congestion in and out of West Seattle from other parts of the city are painfully apparent everyday and we can expect it to worsen with ferry traffic growth.
The Fauntleroy Ferry Advisory Committee will continue to work with WSF, the City of Seattle, West Seattle business and community groups, and any other entity necessary to help resolve this difficult problem.
Gary Dawson
As we mentioned over the weekend, both Transportation Committees in the Legislature have work sessions scheduled this week to review the revised WSF plan. The ferry system is also still collecting comments at wsfplanning@wsdot.wa.gov. In Fauntleroy, updates on the plan’s status are expected at the regular monthly FCA meeting at 7 pm February 10th and an FCA-sponsored community gathering at 7 pm February 18th.
As we reported a few hours ago, Washington State Ferries has gone public with the revised version of its Draft Long-Range Plan (see it here). It includes significant changes to the proposals for the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run – most notably, the proposal to expand the Fauntleroy dock is out. Here’s the excerpt:
WSF concurs that the draft Scenario A did not adequately address the growth and operational issues associated with the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route. The revised proposal adds a fourth, small vessel to the route, operating as a shuttle between Vashon and Southworth. This allows the other three vessels on the route to operate in direct service between Fauntleroy and Vashon and between Fauntleroy and Southworth, better utilizing the capacity on those vessels and increasing overall efficiency on the route. It also increases capacity for Southworth, which is one of the areas slated
for high growth.Based on comments heard at the Fauntleroy public hearing and comments received by the City of Seattle, the concept of expanding the Fauntleroy dock (as proposed in the draft Scenario A) is not viewed as feasible. As a result, the project has been removed from the Revised Draft Plan, and WSF will investigate all possible roadway and right-of-way options, if expanded vehicle holding is needed.
The other major proposal for the Fauntleroy dock, adding an overhead loading system for walk-on passengers, is still in the plan. Meantime, under Scenario A, here are more specifics on what size ferries would serve the broken-up “Triangle” route:
Fauntleroy-Vashon
• Two 124-car vessels, operating in direct service between Fauntleroy and Vashon
• The two 87-car Evergreen Class vessels would be retired in 2015 and 2017 and replaced on the route with 124-car vesselsFauntleroy-Southworth
• One 124-car vessel, operating in direct service between Fauntleroy and SouthworthVashon-Southworth
• A small vessel, operating between Vashon and Southworth to allow for direct service on Fauntleroy-Vashon and Fauntleroy-Southworth and increase the overall capacity on both of these routes.
The proposal says that “small vessel” would be the Hiyu, which carries 34 cars, until it’s potentially replaced “in 2027 with a used 40-50 car vessel at a cost of $12 million” (2008 dollars). Next steps: As detailed in our earlier report, both Transportation Committees in the Legislature have work sessions scheduled in the coming week to review the revised WSF plan. The ferry system says it’s also continuing to collect and forward comments at wsfplanning@wsdot.wa.gov. Meantime, the plan’s status also will be on the agenda at the regular monthly FCA meeting at 7 pm February 10th and an FCA-sponsored community gathering at 7 pm February 18th.
While covering the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s meeting earlier this month, we heard that installation had just been finished for the bus-shelter art created by community members during the last Fauntleroy Fall Festival (FFF coverage here). Today we received a photo from Jason Sutherland (thank you!), who says, “Anybody who participated should take a walk to see if their work is nearby. We lucked out in that a few of the ones we painted were at the shelter closest to our house.” (If you don’t recognize it on sight, that’s the shelter across the street from the ferry terminal.)
Fauntleroy resident Brian Bershad was one of 31 people who gave Washington State Ferries an earful last night during the final stop on WSF’s tour to gather public comment before taking its Draft Long-Range Plan to state legislators.
As we have been reporting over the past few months, the Fauntleroy Community Association has led the charge of concern over WSF’s decision to dump the concept of running Southworth ferries to downtown, which was previously under consideration since so much of the drive-off traffic arriving at Fauntleroy is headed that way anyway. Total turnout for tonight was about 125, and half of the 31 speakers asked WSF to reopen the idea of having a Southworth/(Downtown) Seattle run. Without it, the ferry system is now looking at expanding the dock and adding overhead passenger walkways. Fauntleroy Creek volunteer overseer Judy Pickens said dock expansion could harm the creek’s fragile salmon runs; pollution was one of the concerns voiced by others, along with potential Cove Park encroachment, view loss, noise, increased traffic, and transit-coordination challenges. Also expressing concern : A city representative, SDOT’s Ann Sutphin:
WSF reps had one notable announcement before night’s end: They’ve extended the time for public comments on the draft long-range plan by a few extra days; instead of ending tomorrow, it’ll end Monday. Read the full plan here; it contains two basic options – Plan A is similar to the current level of service; Plan B would include cuts, such as reducing Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth to two boats. Both would be sailing in a sea of red; WSF says A has a $3.5 billion shortfall over the next couple decades, while B is just under half that. To e-mail your comments: wsfplanning@wsdot.wa.gov
Three meetings in West Seattle tonight that we wanted to remind you about before the day got too old:
STATE FERRIES’ FUTURE, AND WEST SEATTLE TRAFFIC EFFECTS: 6 pm tonight, The Hall at Fauntleroy, reps from Washington State Ferries are here to hear what you think about the system’s Draft Long-Range Plan, which could mean more ferry-related traffic on West Seattle roads, among other changes.
METRO OPEN HOUSE ABOUT ROUTE 50: This is the new route we’ve been telling you about which includes a Delridge-to-The-Junction leg. Tonight you can find out more, directly from Metro, by visiting Youngstown Arts Center between 6:30 and 8:30.
DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOODS DISTRICT COUNCIL: Reps from neighborhood and community groups in the neighborhoods that the city considers the “Delridge District” will gather as they do every month for updates and discussions, and you’re more than welcome – 7 pm, Southwest Precinct.
More of what’s happening today and tonight can be found on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar.
(Photo by Matt Durham of MattDurhamPhotography.com)
We’ve mentioned it a few times before – now it’s just days away: Washington State Ferries is almost done collecting public comment on its Draft Long-Range Plan, which includes some potentially major operational changes, but there’s one last public hearing – right here in West Seattle, 6 pm this Wednesday night at The Hall at Fauntleroy. The community group responsible for the ferry system’s local dock, the Fauntleroy Community Association, says that plan could have far-reaching traffic effects on all of West Seattle, not just Fauntleroy – here’s one of the documents it’s circulating ahead of the hearing:
The Washington State Ferries’ hearing at Fauntleroy on January 21 is a very important meeting for West Seattle. It discloses their Long Range Plan (LRP) that affects our peninsula for 30 years and beyond. Some of the details of the plan will be presented at the meeting followed by an opportunity by any and all who wish to speak. The audience turnout is also crucial as it shows this is an urgent matter, dealing with our quality of life and effects on traffic and property values. Spread the word!
As this is a testimonial hearing, questions and answers with dialogue will not take place. Testimony, however, will be recorded and become a permanent part of the LRP presented to the Legislature for approval January 31. Reviewing the plan at www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries reveals that some major points of conflict for discussion and rebuttal are apparent.
1. After years of seeing the LRP proposing to shift the Southworth route directly to Colman Dock, at the last minute the plan reversed that proposal and the Southworth traffic remains in West Seattle indefinitely.
This is unacceptable.2. The plan cements in place the existing traffic and all future growth from Southworth at the Fauntleroy facility that is already operating at capacity.
This is unacceptable.3. The projected combined population growth for West Seattle and Vashon Island will substantially increase traffic congestion both approaching and on the West Seattle Bridge in years to come. Continuing to route Southworth/Kitsap County vehicles here indefinitely means their population explosion will impact our transportation needs and livability of our neighborhoods.
This is unacceptable.4. The plan to widen the Fauntleroy dock and erect an overhead walk-on loading ramp is detrimental to the environment of Fauntleroy Cove, shields and distorts personal property views and adversely affects local property values.
This is unacceptable.5. On April 28, 1997, Seattle City Council Resolution 29566 stated that WSF initiate no expansion of the Fauntleroy Ferry Dock and to take all steps to reduce existing traffic.
To ignore that resolution is unacceptable.6. A complex component of the plan is a Reservation Ticketing System that can add more traffic snarls, safety hazards and confusion around the dock and neighboring residential streets. (WSB note: Read more about that system here)
These and other details of the LRP are detrimental to businesses, residents and taxpayers of West Seattle. We are paying for their growth. Please express your opinion at this urgent meeting so your voice is heard before decisions are made. Notify our state and local elected officials of your concerns.
Also, attendance is crucial at this meeting. Share this flyer with friends, neighbors, co-workers and anyone you know living or doing business on the West Seattle peninsula and encourage their attendance. The deadline for comments is at this meeting of the Ferry Advisory Committee: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at The Hall at Fauntleroy, 9131 California Ave SW, at 6 PM.
Gary Dawson, Chair
Fauntleroy Ferry Advisory Committee
garyann@quidnunc.netBruce Butterfield, President
Fauntleroy Community Association
Bruce@BruceButterfield.com
Thanks to the 34th District Democrats for sharing that shot of their new Executive Board: left to right, 2nd vice chair David Ginsberg, state committeeman Chris Porter, state committeewoman Marcee Stone, district chair Tim Nuse, alternate county committeeman Robin Hess, county committeewoman Lisa Plymate, first vice chair Kim Becklund, treasurer Stu Yarfitz, county committeeman Ivan Weiss, secretary Miki Meahan (and, not pictured, alternate county committeewoman Asha Mohamed). They’ve moved into those roles after the 34th DDs’ reorganization meeting last night at The Hall at Fauntleroy, a lively gathering as is the tradition for our area’s largest political group; here’s a video crowd shot:
(video no longer available due to blip.tv shutdown)
Now, one more group with leadership responsibilities — the committee chairs:
Left to right, it’s Jackie Dupras (newsletter), Greg Doss (legislative action), Beth Grieser, Brian Earl (bylaws), Les Treall (outreach), Jeff Upthegrove (membership), and Walter Sive (finance).
Another headline from the meeting: Read More
From Tuesday night’s Fauntleroy Community Association meeting: Next week’s Washington State Ferries public hearing at The Hall at Fauntleroy is bigger than you may think. If you’re anywhere near Fauntleroy, you’re going to get reminders between now and next Wednesday night about exactly what’s at stake if WSF pursues a proposal to expand the dock and add an overhead walkway – more traffic through West Seattle. Read on for more on this discussion and two other big events FCA wants to make sure are on your radar:Read More
From the WSB West Seattle Events calendar, two major meetings tonight: 6 pm at Youngstown Arts Center, it’s the second design meeting for the Delridge Skatepark; though the city has not currently budgeted the money to build it, the design process is proceeding so the project will be ready when construction money becomes available. (Here’s our coverage of the first meeting last summer.) 7 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy, our area’s biggest political organization, the 34th District Democrats, gather for “reorganization” – choosing the group’s new leaders. More at 34dems.org.
Next week, Washington State Ferries comes to Fauntleroy (1/21; details) for a public hearing on its draft long-range plan, which includes some potentially dramatic changes for the terminal and the route it serves. Hearings are happening in other ferry communities, too, such as Southworth last night —here’s what the Kitsap Sun reports.
Lina Rose says she and husband Scott Rose are glad they saw the most recent edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup – they decided to go on last night’s low-tide walk across from Me-Kwa-Mooks, organized by Camp Long, and their memorable discoveries included the beautiful creatures shown in Scott’s photos above and below:
Lots of future Camp Long adventures ahead – browse online here. Earlier in the day, a different sight on Puget Sound – the Three Tree Point Yacht Club‘s Duwamish Head Race (thanks to Hopey for the heads-up it was happening), photographed by Gary J:
And first thing Saturday morning, dozens of volunteers — including the mayor — fanned out in the South Delridge/White Center business district for a Clean-and-Green spruce-up event:
Those two pix are WSB staff photos, but the great Puget Sound pix preceding it came from WSB’ers – if you have a photo to share with your West Seattle neighbors (and others who use WSB to keep in touch with WS), please e-mail us any time at editor@westseattleblog.com – thank you!
Caught the classic blustery-day-in-West-Seattle scene at Constellation Park about an hour ago — when high tide meets semi-high wind, the seawall show begins south of Alki Point. (High tide today was around noon.) Also while roaming around to check for any sign of West Seattle storm woes, happened onto a sight that some Fauntleroy and Westwood drivers – among others – will be happy to see:
Along Barton, west of 35th, contractors are picking up some of those huge steel plates that have been (bumpily) covering the street cuts from the gas-line-replacement work, and filling the holes beneath. Traffic is down to one lane controlled by multiple flaggers, so it’s slow going through there while this is under way. (Puget Sound Energy told us in November the work would be done by year’s end, but we’ll spot them a weather delay.)
We just checked with Seattle Police to see about any new information on the 40th/Barton ATV crash we covered very early this morning. In fact, we learned, there are two updates: First, the rider was 45, not 41 as first reported. Second – according to Seattle Police Officer Renee Witt, his injuries are no longer considered to be life-threatening; after evaluation at Harborview Medical Center, he was found to have facial fractures, and that’s it. FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The SPD media unit has now published an item about this on SPD Blotter (which is automatically fed to our Crime Watch page – any time you check that page, you’ll see the newest West Seattle-specific SPD Blotter items right below WSB Crime Watch story links), noting, “The ATV driver was cited for DUI, Negligent Driving, and violation of the helmet law” (police say he wasn’t wearing a helmet).
ORIGINAL 12:20 AM POST: Just got a note from Annie about an accident that’s blocking traffic on SW Barton in Fauntleroy (although a bus was allowed through before the yellow tape was stretched across the road again) – she said Barton/Director, the 911 log says Barton/Henderson (map suggests Annie’s description is more accurate). E-mail suggests ATVs possibly involved. Avoid the area; we’re checking for more info. 12:45 AM UPDATE: Barton’s blocked at 40th (map) to everything but buses, according to people in the area. No official info so far. 1:17 AM UPDATE: Police are still investigating – and a tow truck has been seen taking an ATV away. 1:31 AM UPDATE: Seattle Police spokesperson Officer Jeff Kappel has just left a detailed update on the SPD media line: He says this indeed was a crash involving an ATV. According to the update: When emergency personnel got to the scene, a 41-year-old man, believed to be a West Seattle resident, was lying in the street at 40th/Barton; his 4-wheel ATV was overturned nearby. He may have been riding with a friend but that friend did not see the crash and wasn’t involved. The victim has a head injury that police describe as “life-threatening,” and he was rushed to Harborview Medical Center. The department’s traffic-collision investigators are on the scene now to try to figure out what happened. Officer Kappel said he didn’t expect an update for several hours.
Till the snow rolled in last week, last Thursday was supposed to include the next Southwest Design Review Board meeting – with 4502 42nd SW in The Junction and The Kenney‘s $150 million redevelopment both on the agenda. The meeting was canceled, but now it’s rescheduled for January 8th, per the “Upcoming Design Review” section of the city’s website. Though the links haven’t been carried over, the presentations that were to be made at the meeting are still online — here’s the one for The Kenney, including this “preferred option”:
Here’s the presentation for 4502 42nd, with this proposed design for the residential/commercial/office building:
If you’re new to WSB and haven’t followed Design Review proceedings before – certain types/sizes of developments get these public reviews, with your attendance and comments encouraged, specifically regarding aspects of the projects’ design. This city publication explains the DR process. The Kenney’s project is one we have been covering closely for four months now; that coverage is archived here (newest to oldest, since we publish in “blog format”); all WSB coverage of West Seattle development is archived here.
We first told you two weeks ago that Fauntleroy Community Association leadership had announced Washington State Ferries officials will be in Fauntleroy January 21st for a hearing on the WSF draft long-range plan — which includes some major changes in direction for the West Seattle dock’s future, such as adding overhead passenger ramps and scrapping the idea of moving Southworth traffic to downtown. Today, WSF has issued the official news release announcing the plan and all hearings systemwide, so we wanted to make sure you saw that too:Read More
Tomorrow night, the Southwest Design Review Board is scheduled to meet at the Madison Middle School library, with two projects to review, including the $150 million redevelopment proposal for The Kenney in Fauntleroy. Design proposals are often made available online before DRB meetings, and we wanted to let you know that the presentation The Kenney will make tomorrow night has just been posted. See it here; it’s shorter than most of these “packets” — six pages, showing five possible configurations of the project – one that The Kenney showed as its “preferred alternative” at the October 23 meeting (WSB coverage here), one that would be “code compliant” (not requiring zoning changes or other “departures”), one that is self-explanatorily titled the “Saving Seaview Alternative” (that’s the historic Kenney building with the cupola), one called the “L3 Perimeter Alternative Plan” (subtitled as “permitting better transition to adjacent single-family structures,” and finally the “December 18 preferred plan” (shown above; tallest structure would be 5 stories, west-east wing in the middle of the campus). Again, you can get a closer look at that, and all five versions, here. The Kenney is on tomorrow night’s agenda at 8 pm, following a 6:30 pm review for 4502 42nd SW (as reported here, with links to the previous review as well as the new presentation). Here’s a map to Madison MS. And you can see all WSB coverage of The Kenney’s redevelopment plan (dating back to our first in-depth preview four months ago) archived here.
As you likely have heard by now (if not, catch up on our archive here), the nonprofit Fauntleroy retirement center The Kenney has a $150 million redevelopment project on the drawing boards – one that would demolish almost every building on the site, even the century-old Seaview (above), famous far and wide for its cupola (which The Kenney promises would return somewhere in the project). Two weeks before its architects and developers return for the next Design Review meeting, neighbors and community leaders gathered at Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor) last night to talk about their concerns about, and hopes for, the project, while also getting insight into the process the project must follow before any sort of green lights are given:Read More
At the end of tonight’s Fauntleroy Community Association–Morgan Community Association meeting about The Kenney’s $150 million redevelopment proposal (that report’s coming up later), FCA president Bruce Butterfield announced the date for another major meeting next month: A Washington State Ferries public hearing on proposed changes to the Fauntleroy dock and the future of the route it serves. We brought you first word of the proposals last month, in this report from FCA’s ferry-system liaison Gary Dawson, saying that WSF was no longer considering routing Southworth ferries to downtown, and instead wants to expand the Fauntleroy holding area and add overhead walkways for the passenger deck. It’s all in the proposed long-range plan (read it here); now FCA says a public hearing on that plan will be at 6 pm January 21st, The Hall at Fauntleroy.
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