West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
In report #1, we showed you the pix we took and posted while traveling around West Seattle 6-9:30 pm last night to visit Night Out parties. Only made it to a dozen of the 32-ish stops we’d hoped to visit – next year we’ll split up AND recruit reinforcements! But luckily pix are starting to come in from places we didn’t get to – like the Pigeon Point party with almost 100 participants — Pete Spalding, shown below with Southwest Precinct Captain Joe Kessler, sent some pix:
Capt. Kessler and other precinct leaders made the rounds to other Night Out events around West Seattle; we’ve heard of at least a few other sightings. Back to Pigeon Point, here are three other shots Pete sent – note they had Fire Department representation too – in this next photo, Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council president Matt Swenson is in the foreground, with longtime neighborhood volunteer Ed Doyne in the center:
Now, from Arbor Heights, State Sen. Joe McDermott sends a photo of Joy and Anna, whose karaoke number he found himself introducing when he stopped by their neighborhood’s block party near 100th/California:
Speaking of music, here’s that video we promised with the jam by the 40th Street Band, headlining the Fairmount Springs block party we featured in our first report:
And we have a block-party report from Arbor Heights Elementary teacher Mark Ahlness, who shows us what happened in his Gatewood neighborhood:
Mark also shared this report:
OMG what a beautiful night! At the corner of SW Elmgrove and 39th SW we had our annual Night Out. We were definitely feeling the absence of co-host for so many years Wilma, but husband Wally, son Ed, and neighbors carried on. We wished Wilma a speedy return from the hospital – sent her a banner and a group “Hi†picture tonight. Our local fire department spent some time with us again – a tradition we really appreciate and enjoy.
Here’s the banner they made for Wilma, followed by the visit from Engine 37 (which is getting a new station at 35th/Holden – city status reports say construction starts soon), and the group shot Mark mentioned:
Next chance to meet neighbors and local law enforcers: Picnic at the Precinct, Saturday 8/16, 1-4 pm at the Southwest Precinct (Delridge/Webster; map).
(refresh and/or scroll to the bottom for frequent updates as we report Night Out ’08 in West Seattle from the road!)
More than 30 stops in three-plus hours, can we do it? We’re going to try! Just before 6 pm, we left WSB headquarters in Upper Fauntleroy, headed north. First stop, a North Admiral bash that sounded like it would start on the early side of the time frame – many folks warned us they wouldn’t get going before 6:30 because everyone needed to get home from work and get settled. Updates in this post as we get them …
6:16 PM UPDATE: That party on Prescott is just getting going – with a giveaway for emergency preparedness supplies – but we’re going to have to change our route; there’s a big callout to 2615 SW Barton, near Westwood Village, “fire in building,” we’ve even seen engines heading out from this side. So we’re heading back to south West Seattle to check it out.
6:21 PM UPDATE: Probably not too huge – scanner says Ladder 11 has just been dismissed from the scene. We’ve had to sit through three lights from Avalon to turn left on 35th – should have taken Delridge.
6:32 PM UPDATE: Looks like a fire truck at Daystar across from Westwood Village, way back on the south side. Getting out to investigate, no smoke visible or other signs of a major emergency. We have Highland Park Night Out parties on the list so we’ll just go there next if nothing’s seriously wrong here.
6:35 PM UPDATE: “Food on the stove,” the verdict from firefighters. Nothing to see here, moving along.
6:40 PM UPDATE: Adding a photo of organizer Meredith from the North Admiral block party:
6:46 PM UPDATE: We’re in Highland Park, where Dina and Blair Johnson of the Highland Park Action Committee let us know about their block party. Photo to come, before we head to another HP stop. 7:02 PM UPDATE: First photo is from the party on the Johnsons’ block; next two, from the 8600 block of 12th a few blocks away, where Michelle tells us it’s the third year they’ve had a Night Out party, and this year several new families have just moved in and are participating.
Saw yet another party in the middle of the street in Highland Park as we headed back westward; snapped a quick pic, will use that later.
7:08 PM UPDATE: Now we’re in Fauntleroy, to check out a block party a few blocks east of the ferry dock. An SPD car is parked here — we know some of the folks from the precinct are out making the rounds tonight. (Added a few minutes later …) Here’s who we found at this party — Officer John Nark, standing with neighbor Will Castillo; the party was outside the home of John Bartell:
7:18 PM UPDATE: We’re in Arbor Heights now – southwestern most stop on the tour, party at 102nd and 44th. After that, Westwood. We’ve driven by two locations that unfortunately aren’t quite up and running yet – we’ll get back this way later if we can, but in the meantime, heading north toward Morgan and Fairmount. Here’s the Arbor Heights party we visited:
7:34 PM UPDATE: Still in Westwood, checking out the party Kelly told us about, off Thistle, just a few blocks west of Denny Middle School and Southwest Community Center. They’re having fun at this one – check out the pig pinata, and the cards for “Know Your Neighbor Bingo”:
7:42 PM UPDATE: Now we’re near 31st/Myrtle, just east of Our Lady of Guadalupe, south of High Point playfield, where Ingrid invited us to stop by for pix. We passed by Mars Hill Church-West Seattle and they seem to have quite the gathering going to – we’ll catch a photo later if it’s still happening when we head back this way. Here’s a photo from Ingrid’s party – tiki torches and barbecued ribs; lucky the weather is matching the tropical motif:
7:55 PM UPDATE: Now we’re in Morgan Junction to check in on a neighborhood-radio test that’s happening as part of Night Out. More on that shortly.
8:21 PM UPDATE: We’re stopping now at one of the biggest block parties yet – Fairmount Springs, just off Fauntleroy, in the 5600 block of 40th SW. Live band and all. Photos in a moment – but first, Ron Zuber, heading up the neighborhood radio test a short time ago from his deck in upper Morgan Junction – beautiful sunset:
More later on how the test went – there were about half a dozen neighborhood reps stationed all over West Seattle testing to see if they could communicate neighborhood-to-neighborhood with simple handheld walkie-talkie-type “family radios,” in case of catastrophe. After that, on the way from Ron’s house to Fairmount Springs, we caught this flyby on cam – coincidence, or Night Out special feature?
8:33 PM UPDATE: Stopping now in the 42nd/Brandon vicinity – here’s a photo from Fairmount Springs, featuring the 40th Street Band (got them on video too, will post that later):
8:42 PM UPDATE: From 42nd/Brandon – first a group shot, then Susie and husband holding rare commodities – West Seattle Hard Core bumper stickers (It’s a Bridge, Not a Freeway and West Seattle Hardcore) – they gave us some to take home – thanks!
Next stop, 5400 block of 45th, invited by Kristina – and then we’re going to see if the Junction Neighborhood Organization block party’s still in full swing before it gets too dark …
9 PM UPDATE: Our camera doesn’t handle dusk too well so the photo you see at left is the best one we have of the 5400 block of 45th; we’re in the Admiral District now, hoping flash will work for one of the parties still going at this semi-late hour, in the neighborhood where Admiral Neighborhood Association president Mark Wainwright lives. Meantime, speaking of neighborhood-association leaders, JuNO president Erica Karlovits was at her group’s gathering in The Junction; they’re collecting signatures on some of those petitions we told you about last week (which also got a writeup on Slog today). And that party is where we met Zukor the puppy (not sure if we’re spelling the name right – nobody there really knew for sure – Zukor belongs to a partygoer’s roommate, we were informed!):
9:17 PM UPDATE: Turns out that wasn’t Mark’s party – we were a block or two off (eyes failing in the dimming light), and we found Al Vincent and his neighbors – also in a tropical mood (as are parts of Al’s house, see photo below right):
Bonnie in the WSB Forums is asking how to sign up for next year – as we replied there, just keep an eye on the Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention webpage (and of course, on WSB too, as we will give you lots of advance notice – and you can find the crime prevention link any time from the resources at the bottom of our Crime Watch page) – you can sign up online to close off your (non-arterial) street for a block party on Night Out, which is usually the first night in August. We didn’t make our unrealistic goal of hitting all 30-plus parties at which we would have been welcome – but we got to as many as we could – and we welcome you to send us your pix of your party, wherever it was, as we will post more pix as we get them! Meantime, we’ll wrap up this part of the coverage with another beautiful sunset photo, taken by Brian Hawksford from Fauntleroy:
Thanks to more than 30 neighborhoods who’ve e-mailed to say they’re OK with WSB stopping by for Night Out block-party pix tonight – we’re plotting our travels at this very moment in hopes we can get to them all – But if we don’t, or if you didn’t e-mail to give us permission to come by, we would love to put up photos you send us – be sure to include the general neighborhood ID info (nearest intersection is fine), names of people in the pix are preferred but optional – editor@westseattleblog.com is the best address; thanks, have a great time tonight, and if you’re online, check back here for our frequently updated coverage as we make the rounds! (P.S. Crimefighting info is available year-round at the crime-prevention page on the Southwest Precinct website.)
By this time tomorrow night, dozens of neighborhoods all around West Seattle will be finishing up, or cleaning up after, their Night Out block parties – more than 200 registered for the right to block off their (non-arterial) streets, 
according to what we heard from Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow a few days ago. (And thanks to everyone who e-mailed us when we asked to hear from block-party-throwers who wouldn’t mind WSB showing up for a photo or two – we hope to see many, hopefully all, of you tomorrow night!) But one other thing worth noting – while the main purpose of Night Out is to get people together to celebrate neighborhood solidarity and raise awareness about safety and crimefighting, more than half a dozen areas of West Seattle are also participating in a test of radio communications in case of a disaster or other major emergency – they’ll be doing a relay of sorts using simple walkie-talkie-type “family radios,” to see how well information could be relayed neighborhood to neighborhood across the peninsula if necessary. This is a spinoff from some of the emergency-preparedness events we told you about a few months back; we’ll let you know how the test goes – and we’ll be posting in-progress updates on Night Out tomorrow as we travel around West Seattle! (Just found out it’s the nationwide event’s 25th anniversary.)
That’s a page from Google Earth, mounted and marked with push pins – each color denoting an attribute of a little bit of land in a certain Sunrise Heights neighborhood – a house with kids, a school, a playground. It was shown to us tonight at High Point Community Center, after a meeting that a weary but victorious group of neighbors decided to have even though the original reason for it had become a moot point. Those are the neighbors from the 32nd/Holden vicinity, who went into hyperdrive when a chance conversation with visiting strangers revealed that a house had been rented for likely use as a new home for up to five former “high-risk, high-need” inmates (original WSB story here). Read ahead to see what was said tonight and what they hope you might learn from their experience:Read More
Talked with Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Benjamin Kinlow at tonight’s meeting for the neighborhood that almost had a Re-entry Housing Pilot Project house moving in (original WSB story here; last night’s followup here). We asked him how “Night Out” preparations were going; he said it looks like registrations have eclipsed the record set last year, around 200 so far. You’ve still got a full day to sign up your block party for next Tuesday night (which gets you the right to close off the street); here’s how to do it. And as we mentioned earlier today, if you wouldn’t mind WSB stopping by for a quick pic, please send us your block party’s address/time frame — we want to make sure our coverage next Tuesday night shows the world that West Seattle neighbors are serious about watching out for each other and staying safe. (Meantime, more on the aforementioned meeting, in a bit.)
If the opinions voiced tonight at the first community meeting about the Delridge skatepark-to-be hold sway, that’s the spot where you’ll see skateboarders in the next year or two – the northeast corner of the park, at Delridge and Genesee, immediately north of the parking lot and wading pool (which made news earlier today). Less than two months after the sudden Parks Department decision to place a skatepark in Delridge, rather than High Point (briefly under consideration) or Myrtle Reservoir (not so briefly, but highly controversially, under consideration), the process is moving along with high hopes and seemingly abundant goodwill. Ahead, what tonight’s meeting was for, how much the skatepark project is expected to cost, and what happens next:Read More
Just out of the WSB inbox, an update from Bill, who had sent us first word of Sound Mental Health renting a house near 32nd/Holden for potential use in the Re-entry Housing Pilot Program for people released from jail/prison (original WSB story, with more than 70 comments, can be found here): Bill says SMH told neighbors it is pulling out of the lease, with the homeowner’s agreement. Bill adds, “Our neighborhood is relieved we won’t have to deal with this experiment but we are nonetheless saddened that this could be thrust upon another block in the community without any prior notice. The program has some serious flaws and needs further media, political and public scrutiny.”
It’s been a challenging summer for the Southwest Precinct, dealing with some officer injuries (like this one) that have affected staffing, and forced some difficult choices. The precinct leader we mention the most, Lt. Steve Paulsen — who’s in charge of precinct operations, which means logistics, scheduling, and other planning/execution to keep West Seattle (and South Park) safe — has just written with a message for you about one resulting short-term change:
For the next month to month and a half, we are going to pretty much shut down our Community Police Team office. I have made the tough decision to put our Community Police Team back into patrol to get us through the rest of the summer. Given this temporary situation, I believe it is more important that our citizens have the officers in the field. The CPT officers will be working the areas they normally serve so they can keep current with issues to their assigned neighborhoods. What they won’t be able to do is answer/monitor their office telephone calls from citizens in the Precinct.
The good part is that we will be in the field, enhancing our current ability to provide a responsive service. If our citizens have non-emergency neighborhood issues that requires our attention — please feel free to contact Crime Prevention Specialist Benjamin Kinlow at 206-684-7724. Any other concerns, please contact the Southwest Precinct at 206-733-9800.
Again, thank you for your patience and support … We truly enjoy our partnership with our West Seattle community.
If you’re wondering “what’s the Community Police Team?” — these are officers assigned to certain sectors of the precinct’s area with primarily proactive, rather than reactive, duties — from working with community groups to address their concerns (we see CPT reps at many key meetings), to keeping close watch on potential trouble spots, even repeat visits to make themselves known. You can read about the CPT at this page on the SW Precinct website. Meantime, as Lt. Paulsen mentioned, it’s a “partnership” with you — and the next action you can take in this partnership is participating in Night Out, next Tuesday; it’s not too late to register your block (which gets you the right to close it down for the evening) – here’s the place to start.
Re: last night’s WSB story about a local home that might be used for the Re-entry Housing Pilot Project: For those who have asked, the neighborhood is keeping its Thursday meeting as a block-level meeting, so they are not publicizing the time/place; WSB will be there to cover it and report back on what’s next. Meantime, speaking of coverage, one of the neighbors tells us KIRO TV picked up the story from WSB and is working on its own version to air tonight.
A neighborhood in Sunrise Heights, in the 32nd/Holden area (map), is nervously watching a newly rented house. It’s been rented by an agency called Sound Mental Health, to use as housing for some of its clients. And one of the programs from which those clients might come is the Re=entry Housing Pilot Project — a relatively new, state-funded program (described here) to help people make the transition from jail/prison to the rest of their life. Of course, once they’ve done their time, they have to go somewhere. But these neighbors are worried their street isn’t the right “somewhere” – partly because of schools and day-cares nearby, and 10 small children on the block. But they also wonder why they got no notice – till this happened, as explained by Bill:
A couple of my neighbors were in front of their house doing yard work when they noticed two young people walk up to the house that is right next door to them. They knew the house was recently for sale and/or for rent so the said “hello” thinking that these might be their new neighbors. What they quickly learned was that they were actually County employees doing a site inspection for the house because this home had been leased out to the County to house 5 convicted felons who will be released from prison. The County employees stated that these were not sex offenders but simply “convicts who committed violent crimes, domestic abuse, are recovering drug addicts or have mental health issues. Our neighbors quickly informed the rest of our block about this and we just had a neighborhood meeting (over the weekend) to discuss this. Nobody in our neighborhood was contacted by the County or anyone else for that matter to inform us that felons convicted of violent crimes would be moving in right next door to us.
We’ve learned a lot more since that first note came in — including the fact those weren’t county employees — an explanation of why neighbors didn’t get notice – and whether felons really might be moving in, ahead:Read More
The bell-ringing countdown to the centennial celebration of Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor) is almost over, and the big events start tomorrow. Judy Pickens details what’s happening tomorrow night (and you’re invited), and the historical events it celebrates:
The community bean feed in Fauntleroy tomorrow will reprise a popular event, especially with neighborhood children, that had its heyday in the 1930s and 40s. The original bean feed was a celebration for the entire community when most households there were involved in the Fauntleroy Church and YMCA. The idea came from the fact that, in the earliest days of the church (observing its centennial this year), women cooked beans in a big kettle over an outdoor fire to serve at church dinners.
The menu was always baked beans, some sort of meat (ham in fat years, wieners in lean). Jello, coleslaw, and cake from home kitchens rounded out the meal. Upward of 250 youngsters would crowd tables set up in the gymnasium and were known to pound their forks impatiently, shouting “Beans! Beans! Beans!” When the meal was over, the tables were pushed aside and the entertainment began. Timed for the end of the Y’s program year, the event featured an act from every age group, from the Friendly Indians on up. Dancing, skits, recitations – whatever the kids could think of to strut their stuff – were appreciated by all.
The July 25 bean feed promises much the same menu and much the same enthusiasm for the talent show that follows. For ease of serving, the event will be in Fellowship Hall at the church, starting at 6 pm. It will be by-donation but, if you plan to attend, call the church office (932-5600) so that they’ll be sure to have enough beans. The talent show will end in time for folks to walk or take a shuttle to Fauntleroy Cove for 8:30 vespers on the beach (Brace Point SW and Fauntleroy Way SW; map) to reprise the early gatherings that led to founding of the church. Sing old hymns, say a prayer or two, and (a modern addition) make ‘smores around the bonfire. Bring a flashlight or lantern and dress for the weather.
Saturday is the 100th anniversary of the first service at Fauntleroy Church; that day, Fauntleroy historian Ron Richardson will lead an area walking tour (10 am; call 938-5293 to RSVP; tour starts from the south parking lot at Lincoln Park).
In its two-months-so-far fight against two proposed city-jail sites in southeast West Seattle, the Highland Park Action Committee has seen some of the same city reps more than once, particularly Doug Carey, the main person on the hot seat at the contentious South Park forum June 26th (WSB coverage here). But tonight, the city sent in a different team to represent its side of the jail-site story: Fleets and Facilities deputy director Mary Pearson (photo left) and Office of Policy and Management senior policy adviser Catherine Cornwall. They took questions for about 40 minutes, after opening remarks. Toplines ahead:Read More
The intersection of Bronson and Harbor doesn’t show up on online maps – or else we’d have one above this sentence. But it’s a real place – on the water side, a city-owned “street end” – and the Seattle Department of Transportation is finally ready to turn it into a park. SDOT “shoreline street ends” program manager Patti Quirk, who’s a West Seattleite, came to last night’s Alki Community Council meeting to talk about the plan – something community leaders have long pushed for, but couldn’t quite get approved, till now. Read on to find out more, plus other toplines from the ACC meeting:Read More
7 pm, Alki Community Center. Agenda is previewed here (where you also can download the latest Alki News Beacon if you haven’t read it yet). Many more events for today, tonight, the jampacked weekend that’s around the corner, and way beyond – all on our Events calendar page (including even more Saturday additions).
MORGAN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION MEETING: Want the latest scoop on what’s happening in the greater Morgan Junction area? Be at The Kenney (map), 7 pm tonight, for the quarterly Morgan Community Association meeting, with updates on a variety of issues and projects.
PR5 PARTY: One month after we all learned West Seattle has a stake in the new season of “Project Runway,“ via Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) barista Blayne, you’re invited to watch the premiere with his boss Lora Lewis and a cheering crowd at the community room of Ginomai, right around the corner from Hotwire, southwest corner of 42nd/Genesee (with a good-sized FREE parking lot on the building’s south side), bring a non-alcoholic beverage to share and a small dessert, doors open 8 pm.
PARK $ HEARING: Will your ballot this November include a new city park levy to pick up where the expiring Pro Parks Levy is leaving off? The City Council’s getting closer to deciding whether to try to get the Parks and Green Spaces Levy onto the ballot despite the mayor’s objections; tonight is your last chance to speak out at a public hearing, 5:30 pm, City Hall downtown.
These aren’t the only West Seattle events tonight (as reported the other day, you’re also invited to tonight’s Delridge District Council screening of the mini-documentary involving High Point), of course; the full list, also stretching well into the future, can be found on our West Seattle Events calendar.
From time to time, someone will e-mail or call about a disturbing/unexplained smell of some type, somewhere. Someone who talked with us at Summer Fest even asked about something he’d noticed repeatedly. We don’t always publish these reports – we’ve referred people directly to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency – but now we’re thinking “crowdsourcing” just might help solve the mystery, so here’s one that just came in from Heather:
I’m not sure whether this is the sort of thing that justifies a request for information from the readers, but this morning there’s a terrible, noxious, plasticky smell over our neighborhood (west side of 35th and Holden) [map], and I wonder if anyone else notices it, and whether anyone knows what it is. This is maybe the third time I’ve noticed this, and it worries me. It reminds me of the smell of pesticides sprayed by crop dusters.
Our first line of advice was to complain to PSCAA so they at least have a record of it. Here’s how to do that.
As reported here last month, SDOT is proceeding with the Alki Point sidewalk project, which has sparked controversy on the partly-sidewalkless side of the west end of Alki Avenue. Project manager Sandra Woods expects to present the next major update at September’s Alki Community Council meeting, but in the meantime, resident Bill Leaming wrote to ask what’s in the plan for “traffic calming” — Woods replied, “We are moving forward with a design that maintains existing traffic conditions and provides accessible sidewalks for the entire project area using public right of way. We are also including several traffic calming measures in the design including improvements to the intersection of Alki Ave SW and 63rd Ave SW and raised crosswalks at both ends of the project.” Bill also inquired about the possibility of a Residential Parking Zone (RPZ); the city notes those have to be “community-initiated’ (more info here). He plans to bring it up for discussion at this week’s ACC meeting (7 pm Thursday, Alki Community Center).
As you can see in that video, not an easy task to move an iguana from one container to another. That’s Seattle Animal Shelter animal-care officer Michael Kokernak making the transfer earlier this afternoon at the shelter’s HQ in Interbay, watched by Sean, the High Point resident who rescued the iguana he’s nicknamed “Lucky.” If you missed it over the past few days, the story first started unfolding here with this post early Saturday, after another High Point neighbor, Ann, saw a couple drive up to the High Point pond, where they abandoned “Lucky.” She and others worried about the iguana’s fate, went looking for it; then Sunday, Sean wound up finding it in a tree near his home – appropriately enough, since he’s an arborist; here’s the photo he took after the rescue, which left him fairly scratched up because “Lucky” was somewhat stuck in that tree:
Sean didn’t want to talk to us on camera; he just wants to make sure “Lucky” finds a good home, and Seattle Animal Shelter is fairly confident it can help make that happen. So if you ever find yourself with a pet you can no longer care for – please don’t just abandon it somewhere – most such cases don’t turn out as well as this one. The shelter promises to let us know when “Lucky” gets adopted. And re: “citywide fame” – at least two citywide-media outlets picked up this tale of neighborliness and animal-welfare concern after seeing it on WSB; the first bit of coverage we know of for sure is via our ex-co-workers at Q13, who were at the shelter for the handoff, so you might see something at 9/10 pm tonight. 10:23 PM UPDATE: Short story on Q13, though they didn’t attribute to WSB, just said “according to a local blog.” Our material is copyrighted, FYI, and we have a strong policy of giving credit where credit’s due when we get info somewhere else, so we’re hopeful that will be remedied if the story is rerun.
The Fauntleroy Community Association sends word from FCA members Sherry and Ron Richardson that City Council President Richard Conlin liked their suggestion of “please turn off your engine” signs for the Fauntleroy ferry-queueing zone (first reported here a month ago), and asked SDOT to make it so. So we checked with SDOT communications boss Rick Sheridan today regarding a timetable, and here’s what we heard back:
SDOT did receive the request from Council President Conlin. Following the mayor’s lead on climate change, SDOT is very supportive of reducing vehicle emissions whenever possible. We recently installed signs reminding drivers to turn off engines while waiting for city bridges along the Ship Canal.
SDOT will install signs along Fauntleroy Way SW, near the Fauntleroy ferry terminal. (Though the signs will only be informational as there is no authority provided by the Seattle Municipal Code to force compliance.) We are working on the language and siting for them now, and expect that roadway users should see them within the next month.
(photo courtesy Alma Taylor-Smyth, who lives in one of the “flower houses”)
Followup to yesterday’s story about the Alki Ave “Flower Houses” evergreen tree and the neighboring condo owners’ plan to trim it — which is getting attention in citywide media today (two TV stations and one newspaper counted so far) — the condos’ homeowners association has posted this response:
Hi, I’m Wendy, the president of the 1402 Condo Association. I’d like to make a comment in response to the tree trimming controversy. We have never talked about cutting down the tree, topping it off, or trimming it back so that it would die. In fact, we are willing to give up some of our view so that it can grow. We bought our units having been told by Randie that we had unblockable and wireless views, which is no longer the case for the lower units.
Since the tree has grown to this size in the last four years, the arborists have said that the tree could be blown down in a wind storm–on our building, her house, or the cars below. The root system is beginning to buckle the sidewalk, and will eventually pose a problem for the walkers.
Over the last three years, we have offered to move the tree to the back, which is no longer possible, and replace with a different tree, but Randie refused.
Recently, we tried to meet with Randie to discuss and come up with a solution that would work for both of us, and she refused. We have shared our arborist’s report as well as the legal research with her and her attorney, which we did not have to do.
It is our sincere desire to meet with her and find an amicable resolution.
– 1402 Homeowners Association
We have messages out to those who originally contacted us, seeking a response. 6:21 PM UPDATE: We have heard back from Randie Stone:
Here is the first paragraph of a letter that was left on my front door just prior to the Fourth of July weekend:
Dear Randie:
On behalf of the 1402 Alki HOA I’d like to give you the heads up that we will be trimming the limbs and foliage of the two Douglas Fir trees that encroach our property line as early as Monday, July 7, 2008. Although we are not legally required to do so, we are extending the courtesy of advance notice in hopes that we will be able to maintain a friendly, neighborly relationship.
My only goal is to maintain the health and integrity of my tree which was there before the condo was built. The safety of my tree was my only concern.
Please let the record show that I am acting as a private citizen and protecting my rights as a private citizen.
Randie Stone
Two weeks ago, we reported on a proposal to build a playground at California Place, the mini-park shown above (California/Hill, next to Admiral UCC Church). Now we have word from Manuela Slye, who outlined the idea at the Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting last month, that a new group is forming and has just filed an application with the city Department of Neighborhoods to seek funding for the first phase of the project, including design work. As part of the process, you are now invited to the first community meeting planned by the new group, FANNA (Friends and Neighbors of North Admiral), to “discuss the status of the project, proposed timeline, and (seek) input and help from the community,” says Slye (who operates Cometa Playschool preschool). The meeting is set for 6:30 pm July 23rd at the West Seattle (Admiral) branch of Seattle Public Library; FANNA expects to hear from the city about its grant application by mid-August.
If you’ve ever passed the “Flower Houses” on Alki Ave, you’d remember them – two of the few houses left among the condos (map). We’ve received multiple notes about a protest campaign brewing over the reported plans of the condos next door to trim the big tree you see in the photo. We first heard about it, and received the above photo, from tenant Alma Taylor-Smyth, who wrote:
My husband, nephew, and I live at 1396 Alki (the left-hand house in the attached photo taken by my nephew, William Harman), and our landlady, Randie Stone, lives at 1400. She is the one who turned the flower houses into the gorgeous landmarks that they are today. We moved in in February, and every day someone local comes up to us to tell us how long they’ve loved the houses and how much they enjoy seeing the beautiful plantings, and someone who isn’t local comes up to ask about the houses and tell us how beautiful they are.
Randie was informed last week by the home owners’ association at 1402 Alki (the condo on the right in the photo) that they would be hiring someone to “trim” the branches of the 2 Douglas fir trees on her property that are on their side of the property line, although they admit that this would be something like 80% of the total branches the trees have!
I cannot imagine anyone with a soul who would think this constitutes an improvement to a spot that brings so many people enjoyment every day. Mind you, the trees were there before the condo was ever built.
I’m not a lawyer, and it does seem like the condo owners have the right to trim branches on their side of the property line (although I don’t see how their right can possibly extend to an action that would almost certainly kill the trees). However, my guess is that if they do go on to trim those branches, a great many people will see what they’ve done and wonder how they could have done such a thing and whether it could have been prevented. What I would love is to find a way to let those people know ahead of time that the condo owners want to cut off all those branches, so that they can let the condo owners know how outrageous an act that would be.
Randie has given so much to this community in providing so much beauty year-round. Is there any way that the community can give back, in the form of helping to convince the condo owners not to denude these trees that contribute to the beauty and serenity of this oasis among the condos?
We also heard from Gayle, who wrote, “The residents at the 1402 Condominiums want to butcher this beautiful tree for the sake of improving their view! They say it’s raising and cracking the sidewalk, but the owner says, ‘Not true! The sidewalk was cracked before the tree grew! Now those butchers intend to whack off half of my tree for their view!’ There are indiscriminate tree killers on the loose on Alki and they must be stopped! Please let Condomanagements.com @ 206 937-4856 know that you are pro-nature and anti-pettiness!”
We just passed the site and the tree hasn’t been trimmed yet; there’s now a big pink sign out front of the “Flower House” urging people who enjoy the tree to hang a ribbon to show their opposition to the reported trimming plan. We have a call out to the management company, where we were told the executive “who’s been dealing with this” is out of town, but we told them we’d be posting about this today, and they said they’ll have somebody else get back to us with a comment. We’ll update when we get that call back. Meantime, here’s a closer look at the tree (sent by Gayle):
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