West Seattle, Washington
12 Sunday
(2018 Night Out party at North Delridge’s Dragonfly Pavilion; photo courtesy Laura)
Eight weeks from tomorrow, on Tuesday, August 6th, neighbors will gather all around West Seattle and beyond for Night Out parties. If you want to close a (non-arterial) street for yours, you need to register, and Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Danner sends word this morning that you can do it now by going here. You can also apply for a city grant to support your event – the Department of Neighborhoods announcement with details on that is here.
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
“We have a real opportunity here.”
With regard to light rail and community planning in the Alaska Junction (and in West Seattle as a whole), that was one of the key themes Thursday night at the Junction Neighborhood Organization (JuNO) meeting at the Senior Center of West Seattle.
JuNO’s guest speaker was Lauren Flemister (pictured above), community planning manager from Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD), who gave an overview of the processes, how her office works with Sound Transit and how the public can get involved.
Flemister, along with leaders in attendance such as JuNO director Amanda Sawyer and Deb Barker (who was on the light-rail project Stakeholder Advisory Group and is on the West Seattle Transportation Coalition‘s board), agreed that with light rail coming to West Seattle in 2030, this will be a “long process” with many opportunities for public input. When Flemister was asked by Sawyer if the planning processes for the Alaska Junction and West Seattle are likely to be “typical” compared to other regional rail-expansion projects in the past, Flemister said no, because her office expects this latest process to be “much more robust.”
The junction has been a focal point for these light rail discussions — as we reported back in March, an overflow crowd gathered at the Senior Center to hear from Sound Transit officials, and back in November 2017 a top ST manager spoke at a JuNO meeting and promised “an interesting year and a half” ahead. (See our comprehensive light rail coverage here.)
Sawyer kicked off the Thursday meeting by putting in a plug for neighbors interested in serving as a JuNO officer to email juno@wsjuno.org or go to wsjuno.org. The group will be holding elections during their September meeting for the positions of president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. With all of the development and growth in the area, Sawyer said, now is a great time to get involved to “help create a collaborative vision and future for the Alaska Junction.” Sawyer noted that it’s an intentional effort to have a slate of elected officers for JuNO, and that although she’s currently the leader of the group, she wasn’t “elected” officially. She added that the group needs strong voices, representing both longtime residents as well as new neighbors and renters and business owners, particularly as light rail will be bringing transit stations and added density to the neighborhood. “It’s a decade-plus of discussion,” she said, “we’ll have some decisions to make soon but for much of it we’ll be waiting until much later,”
Sawyer then turned things over to Flemister for the remainder of the meeting, to lead the discussion on neighborhood planning and light rail. Flemister acknowledged that she was relatively new to Seattle and that this was her first community presentation of this type in the city, but is no stranger to large regional transit projects in the area, having worked on projects in the Tacoma area and south sound (focusing partially on property value impacts). She stepped through a slide presentation (see below) and took questions from attendees.
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
It’s a time of change for the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights (WWRHAH) Community Coalition, which met Tuesday night at the Southwest Library to discuss issues and to talk about the group’s future.
As previewed here, it was the last WWRHAH meeting to be led by coordinator Kim Barnes, who is stepping down to focus on other endeavors such as her work to make Delridge Triangle a safer and more usable space for the community, as well as involvement with Roxhill Park along with her fulltime job. She said it “has been an honor to serve our community” and would still be available and ready to help answer questions in the future.
Attendees thanked Barnes (and gave her a hearty round of applause) for her two years of service leading the group, which she has led since Amanda Kay Helmick (who also ran for City Council) stepped down. Although nobody in attendance on Tuesday night signed up to immediately lead the group (at least one person expressed potential interest), several attendees pledged to attend the next two already-scheduled group meetings at Southwest Library on the first Tuesdays of the month (July 2 and August 6) and to see how things go. Group members also committed to keep the WWRHAH email list active, and Barnes noted that their website and Facebook page would remain accessible and would just need someone to maintain it.
Departing WWRHAH coordinator Kim Barnes with Roxhill Park volunteer Scott.
Neighborhood news from the meeting:
Tuesday night, whoever shows up at the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting will help decide how it will change. Coordinator Kim Barnes is stepping down. Will anyone step up?
Please join us on Tuesday, June 4th, 6:15 pm upstairs at the Southwest Library, 9010 35th Ave SW.
After two years of coordinating and hosting meetings for WWRHAH, it’s time to relinquish the role to new faces with a fresh vision. At the June 4th meeting, I will be happy to answer questions about the routine tasks and outline the support tools and documentation. The community will then decide how if it wishes to proceed with the appointment of a new coordinator, or if it will adjourn until a new coordinator is identified. This meeting is open to anyone interested in the future direction of WWRHAH.
It has been an honor to serve our community.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
$7.3 million.
You could almost hear the proverbial jaws drop last night when SDOT announced that new estimated cost for a Highland Park Way/Holden roundabout. It’s more than triple the long-cited estimate.
SDOT’s James Le presented the update to the Highland Park Action Committee meeting. Past chair Michele Witzki, who has long worked on advocacy for the project, could barely contain her shock: “I am so frustrated right now. I am beyond frustrated. … It’s almost impossible to get money when you keep on moving the target. … You keep on putting more roadblocks in the way of making this happen.”
As the one-sheet distributed by Le (PDF here, embedded below) says, there’s an option – a $3 million signalization plan.
But that’s not funded either.
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Neighbors and community leaders gathered Tuesday night at the Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting to talk about neighborhood outreach, music, the local library, emergency preparedness and other topics.
The ANA meeting, held at The Sanctuary at Admiral, was the group’s first meeting since March, and was led by president David Hancock. Highlights below:
COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT & ADMIRAL UCC CHURCH SITE: Hancock gave an update on efforts that have ramped up in the past 4-6 weeks to do a full “community needs assessment” of Admiral residents and business owners, the goal being to identify ways to make the area a better place to live and work. Hancock said the approach would be to do a “deep dive” survey, likely a combination of doorbelling and tabling at events along with an online survey, throughout the neighborhood including the Admiral urban village (where there is a higher percentage of renters and businesses) as well as homes across the area (see more about the neighborhood on ANA’s website and the city’s 2018 Admiral Snapshot.) Hancock said the idea was prompted by discussions with Pastor Rev. Andrew Conley-Holcom, whose Admiral Congregational UCC Church is in the midst of evaluating options for its own future as it relates to how the 27,000-square-foot property could best serve the community, as we reported from ANA’s December meeting.
The week ahead brings multiple opportunities for you to dive a little deeper into what’s happening in several local neighborhoods. For one – Admiral! Here’s the announcement:
Admiral Neighborhood Association Community Meeting
Tuesday, May 14th 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
The Sanctuary at Admiral (2656 42nd Ave SW)This month at the ANA meeting, we’ll be discussing:
1. Seattle Public Libraries: learn more about the services you know and love, and find out about some that you’ve never even heard of.
2. Brookdale Admiral Heights: assisted living facility in the heart of the Admiral District.
3. Admiral outreach: ANA wants to know: how do residents and businesses in the community want Admiral to be an even better place to live and work? Find out how we’re going about it, and contribute your voice to the mix.
Come and meet your neighbors and discuss issues and events in our area!
See you there!
-Admiral Neighborhood Association
Craig Rankin from the Highland Park Action Committee sent this report on, and photos from, today’s community cleanup:
Thanks to everyone who participated in this morning’s cleanup along the south side of Highland Park Way.
The group managed to pick up roughly 20 bags of garbage, and a large assortment of debris including tires, furniture, and a chopped-up Lime bike.
If you haven’t planned YOUR neighborhood cleanup yet, there’s still time to get city support – here’s how.
It’s Neighbor Day! One way to be neighborly – go check out the celebration at High Point Library with the West Seattle Timebank and friends. When we stopped in, Tara was teaching origami:
Tamsen Spengler from the Timebank adds that there’s ice cream at Neighborhood House (6400 Sylvan Way) at 4 pm!
6:45 PM: Announced by City Councilmember Lisa Herbold in her weekly update, posted tonight:
Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) will have their first meeting with the Junction Neighborhood Origination to discuss community planning around ST3 and updating the neighborhood plan to reflect the final route and location of the light rail station. As I wrote about in a previous MHA update, the community has expressed a desire for additional zoning capacity, but informed by community planning efforts and with understanding of the likely location of a future light rail station. OPCD committed to beginning to scope out this process in 2019, with planning starting in earnest in 2020. This is the first meeting.
When:
MayJune 6, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pmWhere: Senior Center of West Seattle, 4217 SW Oregon
10:09 PM: JuNO director Amanda Sawyer tells WSB the councilmember’s announcement is one month off – the meeting is actually set for *JUNE* 6th. We have updated above.
At the Highland Park Action Committee‘s regular meeting this past week, the group followed up on its special Riverview Playfield gathering two weeks earlier:
PLAYFIELD PROTECTION: The issue is figuring out what would be the best way to keep vehicles off the playfield, where some drivers do donuts on the grass in the warm months, on the snow in wintertime. Recently chain-link fencing suddenly appeared, much to residents’ surprise; Seattle Parks explained that the idea went back to the Find-It Fix-It Walk two years ago. But Parks quickly got the message that it wasn’t welcome, and so now the neighborhood is talking about options for replacing the 100+ old creosote-contaminated utility poles that currently serve as a low barrier between parking and playfield. The conversation at the meeting will continue this week, and interested neighbors will be looking at other parks for ideas, as well as considering CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) ideas, before HPAC talks abaut it again next month.
EVENTS: Much happening in Highland Park and vicinity. Corner Bar at HPIC on May 3rd; neighborhood cleanup May 4th; Art Lounge at HPIC on May 10th; the annual wine fundraiser Uncorked at HPIC on May 18th. Two West Duwamish Greenbelt walks of interest, too – bugs on May 4th, “Walking on Native Land” with Ken Workman on June 1st. Looking way ahead, a Labor Day weekend bike ride on August 31st will also celebrate history, as HPIC marks its 100th anniversary.
MAY MEETING: May 23rd – also previewed here – HPAC will get a Highland Park Way/Holden update from SDOT and will talk more about the proposal to merge HPAC with Riverview and South Delridge.
Zack Thomas from Board & Vellum presents new concepts for the Morgan park expansion.
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Morgan Junction leaders and neighbors gathered Wednesday night at The Kenney (WSB sponsor).to discuss a wide variety of topics at the quarterly meeting of the Morgan Community Association.
Highlights included presentations about Morgan Junction Park expansion and the proposed development at 5917 California Ave, as well as updates about upcoming Morgan events, affordable housing, and light rail.
Vice president Phillip Tavel ran the first half of the meeting, then president Deb Barker (rushing from the Sound Transit Stakeholder Advisory Group meeting downtown) took over for the second half.
It’s never too soon to look ahead to … fall? That was part of the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s April agenda this past Tuesday.
(WSB photo from 2018 Fauntleroy Fall Festival)
FALL FESTIVAL FUNDRAISER: The FCA is a major supporter of the annual festival and is involved in its major fundraiser coming up May 7th at Endolyne Joe’s (9261 45th SW; WSB sponsor) – dine there that day/night and part of the proceeds benefit this year’s festival! FCA board members donate baskets to be raffled during the benefit, and spent some time Tuesday discussing that.
POLICE UPDATE: Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand was in attendance. He mentioned a noise-enforcement patrol is planned in Fauntleroy soon. As precinct leadership have been telling community groups, they’re providing special attention in other trouble spots too. He also had another update on the fire-ravaged problem house across from Lincoln Park – it’s boarded up, with “no trespassing” signage, and ready for sale or demolition. (No permits are in the city files but we did see the “emergency order” mandating it to be vacated a month ago.)
As happens at just about every community meeting with police in attendance, the subject of RV camping came up. Lt. Strand said “new directives” are in progress for dealing with that and should be in place within a few weeks.
FERRY DOCK’S FUTURE: Though the Fauntleroy dock rebuild is still a decade or so away, conversations about the project are already happening. A rep from one of the engineering firms already talking with Washington State Ferries, Harbor Consulting Engineers, was at the FCA meeting. He said the state is currently looking at a nearly $100 million investment in the project, starting with an environmental study that alone would likely take about four years. His main message was that the state wants to get community opinion about the dock’s future and impacts including traffic. The FCA’s longtime ferry liaison Gary Dawson pointed out that all this has long been on the FCA’s radar. Another significant issue: The dock project’s effect on salmon, with Fauntleroy Creek’s mouth right next door.
The Fauntleroy Community Association board meets second Tuesdays most months, 7 pm, at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse; community members always welcome. Watch fauntleroy.net for updates between meetings.
About two hours into Saturday morning’s 27th annual Fairmount Ravine cleanup, we stopped by the main site beneath the bridge to see how things were going. Down by the roadside, a pile of filled bags; up under the bridge, neighbors and friends still hard at work.
Joining the volunteers this year, our photographer discovered with that zoom view (we’re admittedly not much for climbing), City Councilmember Lisa Herbold. The SPD Community Police Team was represented too. But the heart of the cleanup crew is comprised of the nearby residents who have over the past quarter-century-plus pulled tons of debris and trash out of the area along the road used by drivers, runners, and riders to get between Admiral and east Alki.
P.S. If you’re thinking about a neighborhood cleanup, the city’s Spring Clean program offers support – info’s here.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Crime concerns sparked a bigger turnout than usual at this month’s Highland Park Action Committee meeting, including some who identified themselves in around-the-room intros as first-time attendees, some from South Delridge and White Center, as well as HP residents.
Q&A WITH POLICE: Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand briefed the group. Since the year’s start, HP is down double digits in many categories, but property crimes – primarily thefts and burglaries – are up. He said recent arrests included burglary suspects who might be linked to multiple crimes, including a carjacking at the 35th/Barton 7-11. He reminded attendees that SPD can’t see walled social media (but can see WSB) so please don’t just report crimes/suspicions on social media – call it in! Westwood Village will be one of this summer’s big emphasis points, “mostly due to the property crimes they have” especially shoplifting. They also, as weather warms, plan emphasis patrols in places where people gather, from Alki to Highland Park.
HPAC chair Gunner Scott asked about police staffing for the precinct. “Down a handful,” replied Lt. Strand.
What kind of cooperation between city and county law enforcement? Depends on the incident, he said – for example, both were involved after the shooting on 16th SW on Monday. Detectives on both sides of the line will often share information in case they’re both working similar cases, he added. Another attendee asked about South Delridge shooting cases, including that Monday incident.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Back in November 2017, the Junction Neighborhood Organization hosted a briefing with Sound Transit, at which a top ST manager promised “an interesting year and a half” ahead.
That year and a half is almost over; May is when the ST Board will decide which routing/station locations for West Seattle light rail will go into environmental studies. But as another JuNO briefing with ST showed last night, some local residents are just starting to sit up and take notice, especially since multiple locations are now in play for the Junction station.
An upstairs meeting room at the Senior Center/Sisson Building in The Junction filled to overflow capacity for last night’s briefing and Q&A. ST’s Leda Chahim reassured them that “this is a really good time to be engaging,” though the “scoping period” for public comment ends one week from today.
First – here’s the slide deck Chahim and other ST reps used to recap where things stand.
(WSB photos)
6:47 PM: Until 8 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW) is abuzz with the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s annual membership meeting and Food Fest. In addition to tastes from local food/drink purveyors, you’ll find info tables from community and government organizations – just stop in! Updates to come.
ADDED EARLY WEDNESDAY: A few more scenes from the event:
ANA president David Hancock and membership co-chair Susan Staples, Lynell Ray of Counterforce West, and ANA secretary Delores Kannas.
Story and photos by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Admiral neighbors and community leaders came together Tuesday night for a meeting of the Admiral Neighborhood Association, to discuss music, regional transit, neighborhood improvement, business community support and a variety of topics.
The ANA meeting, held at The Sanctuary at Admiral, was the second meeting as president for David Hancock, the group’s new leader.
Toplines from the meeting are below:
SUMMER CONCERTS: Stephanie Jordan, ANA’s coordinator for the popular Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series (happening Thursday nights from July 18 through August 22 on the east lawn of Hiawatha Community Center), shared the names of the 4 musical acts currently scheduled to appear, with a couple of dates to be announced soon:
Jordan also gave an update on the positive collaboration with the community center (which provides the stage for the event, and a portion of the publicity) and reiterated the need for volunteers — she said that she would finalize the list of needed volunteer roles in time for ANA’s May meeting.
Toplines from last night’s Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting:
CULVERT REPLACEMENT: As noted here last weekend, the Seattle Public Utilities project to replace century-old culverts that take Fauntleroy Creek under 45th SW and California SW is approaching the design phase, and the FCA board meeting was the first of three stops in less than two weeks for project manager Cody Nelson. Construction is likely in multiple phases between 2021 and 2024, each several weeks long, since it has to take into account the windows with least effect on the creek’s fish as well as neighborhood impacts.
Nelson showed images from a video survey of the existing culverts, showing damage and wear. New laws require the culverts to be much wider than the current ones so that fish have fewer barriers to passage. The replacements will still be 30 to 40 feet underground, as are the current ones, but they’ll be at least 11 feet wide as required. SPU is also talking with Fauntleroy Church, as part of the California culvert is on church-owned property, so the work would affect the church/YMCA parking lot as well as the road.
The design process isn’t expected to start before the end of this year, so there’s plenty of time to ask questions and voice concerns, starting with two events next week: SPU will have an informational table at the FCA’s annual Food Fest membership meeting (6-8 pm Tuesday, March 19th, The Hall at Fauntleroy) and then a project-specific open house the next night, also at The Hall, 5-7 pm Wednesday, March 20th.
CRIME/SAFETY UPDATE: Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand was in attendance. He said SDCI has taken action against the “problem house” across from the main Lincoln Park parking lot, unsafe for occupancy because of a fire a while back, and said those in the house were supposed to be out by last Friday. No reports of trespassers since then. He also mentioned Westwood Village, saying it’s had signs of improvement, with shoplifting starting to drop, but they’re keeping up the pressure, including another attempt at an observation tower/platform on the grounds.
FOOD FEST NEXT WEEK: The FCA’s annual all-community meeting, famous for food samples from local businesses, is next Tuesday (March 19th) at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW). No list yet of participants – the FCA board member organizing that is out of town. This is a night for renewing FCA membership ($25 a year for residents) and for a bit of official business like board elections, which are planned at 7 pm.
(Southwestern side of Roxhill Bog, 2014 WSB photo)
From Roxhill Park to the Delridge Triangle, public spaces are part of our toplines from last night’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meeting:
BOG PROGRESS: WWRHAH and other community advocates have worked for many years to get action for Roxhill Bog in Roxhill Park, which is compromised by hydrology problems (as outlined in a report we published in 2014). Now there’s word of progress toward getting a study funded, with the first step being outlining the scope of work.
ARTS IN THE PARKS: WWRHAH’s Kim Barnes said a grant from this program will help make the recently announced World Music Day happen this summer. She’s hoping it will be a multicultural celebration as well as a music festival.
DELRIDGE TRIANGLE: The next step in improving this public space is a community workshop on March 23rd, as announced last month. Details of the Saturday morning event at Highland Park Improvement Club are expected before week’s end; other events will follow this spring as community participants plan the space’s future.
POLICE UPDATE: Southwest Precinct operations commander Lt. Steve Strand says crime in the area is down so far this year; police are continuing their emphasis patrols at Westwood Village. Strong-arm robbery is the current focus, because – as precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis mentioned at the recent West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting – teens are getting targeted for their phones. The suspects also are juveniles, he said, adding that some arrests have been made.
OTHER RECENT MEETINGS: Recapped were the Southwest Design Review Board meeting for the 9201 Delridge Way SW self-storage project (WSB coverage here), attended by Barnes, and the February D-1 Community Network meeting (WSB coverage here), attended by WWRHAH’s Eric Iwamoto.
The Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Coalition meets first Tuesdays most months, 6:15 pm at Southwest Library (9010 35th SW).
(WSB photo, Tuesday night)
City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda was the spotlight guest at this month’s West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network meeting. Before the Q&A with her, WSBWCN heard the local crime/safety update:
CAPTAIN’S UPDATE: Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis said they’re working on strategy for the warmer months and also planning a variety of “emphasis” enforcement focuses. Crime dropped during the recent snow, he noted. “Rogue street robberies” centered on cell-phone thefts continue to be an issue but they’ve identified suspects and are “developing the probable cause” to make arrests.
This past week, the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council met for the first time this year. It was a chance to look ahead, in multiple ways.
POLICING PLANS: Taylor Lowery, this year’s Seattle University public-safety intern at the Southwest Precinct, said they’re now crunching the data and comments from the recent citywide Public Safety Survey. Related to that work the precinct’s operations commander Lt. Steve Strand said the precinct’s Microcommunity Policing Plan priorities for the year – three for each microneighborhood – is due March 6th, so starting next week they’ll be circulating drafts to the neighborhood groups with which police have partnered on those plans. Police capacity – response time, for example – so far is shaping up as a top concern.
We know, it might seem a little confusing – while the city is asking for your help prioritizing Neighborhood Street Fund proposals (as we reported back on Monday), it’s also launching a separate yet similar process, asking for your ideas for street and park projects. This process is for the funding program that’s now known as Your Voice, Your Choice: Parks and Streets, and it’s a chance to propose projects every year, while the one we mentioned on Monday is a every-three-year process. So now, the YVYC announcement:
Idea collection is officially open for the 2019 Your Voice, Your Choice (YVYC): Parks & Streets program.
From now to February 22, you can submit your project ideas online or in-person at any Seattle Public Library branch.
Project ideas can include park benches, trail improvements, flashing beacons, or curb ramps … just to name a few. Check out our list of project examples for a better understanding. The only criteria are that ideas be physical improvements for Seattle’s parks or streets, benefit the public, and cost $90,000 or less.
Once ideas are submitted, volunteers will be recruited to turn the ideas into 8 – 10 proposals per Council District. Then this summer, everyone will have the opportunity to vote for the top projects within their district.
You can learn more about the YVYC process and how to get involved on our webpage, and for questions, email amy.nguyen@seattle.gov.
Here are the nine District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) projects that won the voting last year.
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