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FOLLOWUP: Voting results delayed in ‘Your Voice, Your Choice’
July 27, 2017 9:24 am
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

From the “in case you were wondering” file: The city Department of Neighborhoods had promised results by July 18th in the “Your Voice, Your Choice” voting for park/street projects – the first time it was trying “participatory budgeting.” The date came and went and the project website changed its languaging, unannounced, to a promise of August. Finally an explanation appeared this week on the department’s Front Porch blog-format website, saying “the delay is caused by more voter participation than expected”: 7,500 votes in all from around the city, with 2,000 of those on paper ballots. The online update did not mention that the project also had a personnel change – it was noted at a local community meeting earlier this month that Jenny Frankl, who had launched and evangelized it, was no longer with the department; the YVYC website now lists Kraig Cook as the project’s coordinator. DON now says it “hope(s) to announce the final vote results in each council district by early August.” Each district was allotted up to $285,000 to fund three park/street projects; we first reported on the plan last January.

P.S. The projects that were in the running in District 1 (West Seattle/South Park) are shown and described in the “voter’s guide.”

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ONE WEEK UNTIL ‘NIGHT OUT’: Still time to plan and register your block party
July 25, 2017 12:09 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Crime | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Exactly one week away from Night Out – the first Tuesday in August, when neighbors around the U.S. organize block parties to celebrate community collaboration toward safety and crime prevention. We have another update from Southwest Precinct Crime Prevention Coordinator Jennifer Burbridge:

As of today, the SW Precinct has 214 registered events!! 2nd-highest number of events of any precinct in the city of Seattle!

Be sure to get your event registered [scroll down this page] before registration closes on Monday, July 31st, at 5 pm!

During the registration process, it will ask if you would like visits from the Police Department, Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management and/or Elected Officials. Please make sure to pay attention to these boxes, as these questions give us helpful information when planning visits. However, due to the high volume of requests – we cannot promise a visit but we will do our best to visit as many events as possible through the evening!

If you have any questions about Night Out – please contact me, your SW Crime Prevention Coordinator, at Jennifer.Burbridge@seattle.gov.

Registering is most important so you can close your (non-arterial) street.

P.S. If you’re planning a Night Out party, let us know if we can stop by for a photo (thanks to those we have heard from already) – editor@westseattleblog.com – thank you!

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HALA REZONING: Junction Land Use Committee plans community workshop July 11
July 5, 2017 3:43 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Development | Neighborhoods | West Seattle housing | West Seattle news

Two and a half weeks left to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the rezoning proposals in the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) component. If you’re in the Junction area and still sorting it out, a local community group invites you to a workshop next Tuesday:

Mark Your Calendar – HALA DEIS Workshop on July 11, 2017 at 6:30 p.m at the West Seattle Senior Center

The Junction Land Use Committee (JLUC) will present a summary of key portions of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement related to the proposed upzones on the Junction Urban Village. The workshop will also include a description of the impact of the upzones, actions you can take, and ways to help you identify additional areas on which you might wish to comment. Location: 4217 SW Oregon.

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@ Highland Park Action Committee: From the city to Congress to campaigning for the roundabout…
June 29, 2017 10:58 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Highland Park | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

(UPDATED FRIDAY AFTERNOON with letter-writing info for roundabout support)

Toplines from the Highland Park Action Committee‘s last meeting before summer break, Wednesday night at Highland Park Improvement Club:

DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS: Yun Pitre visited – she’s an 11-year city employee who was formerly a Neighborhood District Coordinator, now a Community Engagement Coordinator, one of four working with community groups around the city. She’s assigned to Districts 1 and 2. (That’s City Council districts, as in 7 of them, rather than the old not-numbered neighborhood districts, of which West Seattle had two.) “We’re still your liaisons to city government,” she affirmed, when asked what her role now means. HPAC co-chair Michele Witzki said she hopes the department will offer added resources. “One of the reasons they broke everything up was for equity – and now not only are we getting (fewer resources), but it seems we’re competing with some of the other (disadvantaged) neighborhoods that have (greater) needs.”

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TIME TO BEAUTIFY: Morgan Junction community cleanup Saturday
June 23, 2017 9:09 am
|      1 COMMENT
 |   How to help | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news


(Volunteers from May’s Morgan Junction cleanup – photo courtesy Jill Boone)

The weather will be beautiful … might as well beautify the neighborhood too. Tomorrow morning (Saturday, June 24th), you’re invited to join the next volunteer community cleanup in Morgan Junction, organized by Jill Boone. Meet by the ATM on the east side of California SW in the Teriyaki & Wok/Domino’s/gas-station lot for “a quick cleanup of California Ave and the Fauntleroy intersection and bus stops.” 9 am-10:30 am. The city’s providing litter grabbers and bags; Jill adds, “We also have a few kiddie grabbers this time and hopefully some small vests. Kids of all ages are welcome and leashed, friendly dogs. :) I will do a short safety talk at 9 AM so try to be on time. You might want to bring hand sanitizer and gloves too.” RSVP to litterleague@gmail.com with how many adults and how many kids will participate.

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@ Alki Community Council: Crime; noise; Statue of Liberty Plaza…
June 18, 2017 10:56 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

The Alki Community Council met this week for the first time since last month’s deadly shooting.


(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli, May 23)

No arrest yet, Southwest Precinct Lt. Ron Smith told the group on Thursday night.

Aside from that high-profile crime, the area’s main ongoing problems – like the rest of West Seattle – remain car prowls and auto thefts, both of which are up this year from the same time last year. “Crimes against persons,” such as assaults, are down 17 percent. Read More

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@ Admiral Neighborhood Association: From concerts to cleanup
June 15, 2017 9:13 am
|    Comments Off on @ Admiral Neighborhood Association: From concerts to cleanup
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

The Admiral Neighborhood Association should be ready to announce the lineup for this year’s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha within a week or so.

That’s one of the toplines from the June ANA meeting this past Tuesday night at The Sanctuary @ Admiral.

(WSB file photo)

SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: As announced earlier this year, the ANA-presented free concert series is set for six Thursday nights as usual, starting July 20th, 6:30 pm on the east lawn of Hiawatha Community Center – this year new volunteer organizers, Stephanie Jordan and Josephine Davis, are planning it and they told the meeting they’re close to finalizing the lineup.

4TH OF JULY KIDS’ PARADE: While ANA doesn’t coordinate the West Seattle 4th of July Kids’ Parade in North Admiral, it supports the event and participates in the Hamilton Viewpoint Park event that follows, with concession sales, and that was discussed too. FIT4MOM is presenting the parade this year and as noted here last week, a crowdfunding campaign is on to cover the increasing costs of permits – you can donate here. As it does every year, the parade starts at 10 am July 4th (a Tuesday this year) from 44th SW/Sunset (map); no preregistration necessary – kids and their families can just show up and be part of it.

PUBLIC SAFETY: Following up on concerns heightened since last month’s as-yet-unsolved deadly shooting at Alki, ANA and the Alki Community Council are looking at a joint public meeting about public-safety issues. Alex Clardy from Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s office was at the meeting and offered to help coordinate, as Herbold had suggested a community meeting even before that flashpoint incident.

HALA REZONING: An early draft of an official ANA comment letter was circulated and discussed, but final action won’t be taken until next month’s meeting, which is still within the comment timeline for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that the city published a week ago. Also under consideration, an ANA-led walking tour of Admiral to point out key issues.

ADOPT-A-STREET CLEANUP: The rescheduled quarterly community cleanup is this Saturday (June 17th) – be at Metropolitan Market (41st/42nd/Admiral; WSB sponsor) at 9 am; snacks and equipment are provided.

The Admiral Neighborhood Association meets second Tuesdays most months, 7 pm at The Sanctuary; next meeting will be July 11th, then no meeting in August.

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@ Junction Neighborhood Organization: First take on HALA rezoning Draft Environmental Impact Statement; Fauntleroy Boulevard ‘discussion over?’ and more…
June 13, 2017 8:46 pm
|      18 COMMENTS
 |   Development | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news


(WSB photo: JuNO’s land-use chair Rich Koehler and new director Amanda Sawyer)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

This week, we’re getting community councils’ first public take on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement published for the rezoning that’s at the heart of the city Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda‘s Mandatory Housing Affordability component.

Tonight, the Junction Neighborhood Organization talked about it during the first meeting led by new JuNO director Amanda Sawyer, who has taken over for longtime director René Commons, now serving as an advisor for the group. More than 20 people were in attendance.

LAND USE COMMITTEE ON HALA MHA DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT: Five days after the debut of the document (here’s our first report), Rich Koehler from the JuNO Land Use Committee presented a briefing, saying he had read all 400+ pages of the HALA MHA DEIS.

Koehler noted first that some of the MHA-related changes would conflict with the Junction’s longstanding Neighborhood Plan, so JuNO submitted a proposed comprehensive-plan amendment seeking to resolve the conflicts by taking the single-family-zoned areas out of the rezoning proposal. They had almost 250 signatures of support. The Morgan Community Association has done something similar. The amendment’s fate is up to the City Council.

Regarding the Draft EIS itself, he explained that this type of document is intended to assess the impact of the potential zoning changes on environmental factors – not just ecological – including transportation, utilities, etc. In the HALA MHA DEIS, “two new maps” accompany the DEIS, beyond the proposed rezoning map first unveiled last October. One map is “slightly less intensive and aggressive than what was proposed in the past,” and the other is “significantly more aggressive.” One lens through which the alternatives are presented is trying to minimize potential displacement. Another is mitigation, “telling city decisionmakers, we studied this, and these are things you could do to mitigate the impact.” Read More

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Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council toplines, from HALA to the Bog
June 6, 2017 11:40 pm
|    Comments Off on Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council toplines, from HALA to the Bog
 |   Arbor Heights | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news | Westwood

Toplines from tonight’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council meeting:

HALA REZONING: The draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Mandatory Housing Affordability component of the city’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda is expected to be published Thursday. That’s what WWRHAH heard tonight from Morgan Community Association‘s Cindi Barker, who was on the original city-appointed HALA focus group and has been helping educate other community advocates about land-use issues including this one. With the draft EIS coming out this week, the comment period will continue into late June. She was asked if there’s talk of a District 1-wide response to HALA MHA, but so far individual groups are pursuing individual responses related to how it might affect their neighborhoods – MoCA for example is pursuing a comprehensive-plan amendment and is asking the city to engage in a full neighborhood-planning process, given the conflicts between MHA and the MJ neighborhood plan.

ROXHILL BOG: WWRHAH continues trying to get the city to address hydrology issues that have compromised the bog. Rory Denovan wrote to Seattle Parks but said the response so far wasn’t helpful. Meantime, a celebration of Roxhill Bog is planned 11 am-3 pm June 17th, with information and activities.

ROXBURY RECHANNELIZATION: As reported here earlier in the day, SDOT is floating further rechannelization options for SW Roxbury in connection with the 2019-or-so repaving between 16th SW and 35th SW. WWRHAH is concerned about the possibility that most of the center turn lane will be removed. They’re considering asking SDOT for data on the lane’s usage.

CRIME TRENDS: Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith said car prowls in the WWRHAH-covered area are down by about 50 percent from this time last year. Residential burglaries are down too. Shoplifting is up, and that figures heavily into stats for the area, because of Westwood Village.

WHAT’S NEXT: While WWRHAH won’t have its regular first-Tuesday meeting in July, since that’s Independence Day this year, they’ll likely have a special meeting just before or after that to talk about a response to the forthcoming HALA draft EIS.

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TIME TO VOTE! Which of 9 West Seattle/ South Park park/street projects should get funded?
June 3, 2017 3:12 pm
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | Transportation | West Seattle news | West Seattle parks

Above (or in PDF here), you can see and learn about the nine West Seattle/South Park park/street projects that made the ballot for the first-ever Your Voice, Your Choice “participatory budgeting” vote. We first told you about the voting plan back in January, followed by the project-suggestion period in February, and then the final 10 for the West Seattle/South Park area in April (from 211 suggestions). Now the official ballots are out with nine projects in each city-council district; you can vote for three. $285,000 is allotted to each district (ours is #1), and that will cover three projects. Voting starts today and goes through the end of the month. You can start the online voting process by going here – or look for in-person voting at these upcoming West Seattle/South Park events and meetings listed here and below:

South Park Pride Picnic
Sunday, June 04, 2017
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Duwamish River Park, 7900 10th Ave S

Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council
Tuesday, June 06, 2017
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Seattle Public Library – Southwest Branch, 9010 35th Ave SW

North Delridge Neighborhood Council
Wednesday, June 07, 2017
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW

West Seattle Farmers Market
Sunday, June 11, 2017
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Farmers Market, 44th Ave SW & SW Alaska St or park at Alaska & 42nd Ave SW

Stewart Manor Resident Council Meeting
Monday, June 12, 2017
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Stewart Manor, 6339 34th Ave SW

Morgan Junction Festival
Saturday, June 17, 2017
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Morgan Junction Park, 6413 California Ave SW

Delridge Neighborhood District Council
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge Way SW

The city says paper ballots also are available at all city-run community centers and libraries; the votes will be counted after June 30th, and winning projects announced by July 18th. Everyone 11 and up is eligible to vote.

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MORGAN JUNCTION CLEANUP: ‘A big success’; more planned
May 13, 2017 7:49 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

During today’s shopping and selling, other community events included at least three cleanups. We hope they all went well! Tonight, we have a wrapup on last Sunday’s Morgan Junction cleanup, from organizer Jill Boone:

On Sunday morning, we had nine adults and nine kids of varying ages picking up litter all along California Avenue from Othello to Raymond. The area looks so clean now! We picked up five bags of trash.

Jill says they’re going to do it again on June 17th June 24th – RSVP to her at litterleague@gmail.com –
if you can’t make that date but are interested in helping with one or more during the summer, you can also use that address to join her notification list.

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@ Admiral Neighborhood Association: Don Armeni speed bumps, 4th of July Parade, and more
May 10, 2017 1:47 pm
|      11 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

The biggest news at last night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting was word of speed bumps on the way to another waterfront trouble spot. That was revealed during this month’s SPD briefing:

SOUTHWEST PRECINCT BRIEFING: Community Police Team Officer Jon Flores was at ANA to talk with attendees. He brought stats:

In Admiral, residential burglaries are down 7 percent year to year; 16 have been reported so far this year, compared to 23 by this time last year. Car prowls have been a big issue and year to date the numbers are up, 61 in Admiral year to date as of today, 41 to this time last year. The precinct is proactively patrolling West Seattle hotspots, including undercover – “you won’t see us there, but we’ll be there” – such as Lincoln Park.

Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis, Officer Flores said, wants people to know that the precinct is working with the Traffic Enforcement division to have patrols on Alki this summer. And he also the SW Precinct Bicycle Team is now “fully functional” and will be deployed in Admiral and Alki this summer as things get busier. In general, as summer nears, Alki becomes the area where officers also are told to be if they are not on emergency responses somewhere else, “to set the tone.”

Officer Flores added that he is working with some neighborhoods on traffic calming and ongoing problems, such as the section of Beach Drive that worked with SDOT to get the OK for speed bumps.

That’s when he mentioned that speed bumps are coming to Don Armeni Boat Ramp, as a result of coordination with Seattle Parks. Read More

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@ Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council: End of an era; candidate visit
May 3, 2017 2:40 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Arbor Heights | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news | Westwood

The big news from last night’s Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council meeting goes with the notebook pictured above: It’s full of contacts, cards, agendas, and other documents gathered by Amanda Kay Helmick, who has stepped down after four years of leadership with the group. Mat McBride is with her in our next photo – the Delridge Neighborhoods District Council chair who helped shepherd WWRHAH into existence:

(Here’s our report on WWRHAH’s first meeting in February 2013.) Eric Iwamoto has co-chaired WWRHAH with Helmick recently, and Kim Barnes has taken on a major role, especially regarding the Westwood-Highland Park Urban Village’s destiny with HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning, and other land-use issues, but the group hasn’t yet decided its leadership path forward. They’ll talk about it next month – when the major topic is expected to be the HALA MHA draft Environmental Impact Statement, due out soon – and they’re also planning a door-to-door campaign to reach people who might not have heard about WWRHAH.

Along with HALA, another major issue is how – whether – the future Delridge RapidRide H (Route 120 is converting in 2020) will relate to/engage with the area. Helmick said she had been trying to reach Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s office and SDOT to get some key questions answered and so far had nothing but what she called “radio silence.” Here’s what she had sent:

At the WWRHAH meeting on Tuesday, our group made it very clear to SDOT that they needed to clarify their role in upgrading the 120. Specifically, SDOT needs to clarify whether it is planning the route, ie; removing / consolidating stops, or working on the pavement, roadway and pedestrian improvements.

Therese Casper from SDOT acknowledged the need for collaboration between SDOT and Metro on the routing issue. Metro has a known process for surveying their riders to find out where they are going, how far they have to walk, etc. Doug Johnson of Metro, who was at the meeting, acknowledged that is has been several years since a 120 survey was taken. We would like see SDOT start the collaboration by requesting Metro have the survey done before the design phase begins.

We also cannot stress enough the need for SDOT to consider the HALA/MHA upzone proposals in the Westwood Highland Park Urban Village. Currently, the 120 does not run through the heart of the Westwood Highland Park Urban Village. The folks in the Highland Park are cut off from bus service because of this, and the upgrade does nothing to rectify that. Comparably, the C Line, runs along California Ave SW specifically because of the Urban Village instead of taking the faster route along Fauntleroy Way.

Lastly, without significant attention paid to improving the ingress/egress to the peninsula, it doesn’t matter how fast you can get from Roxbury to the bridge. The City must find a way to improve this situation.

WWRHAH has been working on issues surrounding Metro and the impacts of bus service to the community for 4 years. We have seen very little in the way of solutions for our area, but we see the Move Seattle Levy as an opportunity to do something amazing that will improve mobility, connectivity and livability for an area that is under served.

Also at last night’s WWRHAH meeting:

CRIME UPDATE: Southwest Precinct Operations Lt. Ron Smith said Westwood Village is still having shoplifting issues, and the precinct continues to work with management to get some structure in place that will allow police and businesses to work more efficiently in tackling the project.

COUNCIL CANDIDATE: City Council Position 8 candidate Dr. Hisam Goueli came to the WWRHAH meeting, mostly to listen to and learn about the area’s issues.

Transportation was front and center. Among other topics – Dr. Goueli mentioned he’s a doctor, and promptly was informed that West Seattle is without a hospital. He’s one of 10 candidates currently in the running for the citywide position that Councilmember Tim Burgess currently holds but is not seeking to keep.

WWRHAH needs you more than ever – and you’ll find them at 6:15 pm first Tuesdays in the upstairs meeting room at Southwest Library, 35th SW/SW Henderson.

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@ Highland Park Action Committee: Planning for – and skepticism about – West Seattle’s third Find It, Fix It Walk
April 28, 2017 3:44 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   Highland Park | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

First, Delridge in 2015 …

Then, Roxhill/Westwood in 2016 …

image

Next, Highland Park in 2017.

The upcoming Find It, Fix It Walk was the major topic at the Highland Park Action Committee‘s April meeting, this past Wednesday night at HP Improvement Club.

Though it was semi-announced in early February, the date wasn’t set until very recently: Thursday, May 25th. The start time and route are not set yet. Those will be discussed at a series of meetings starting next week, according to two city/AmeriCorps reps who coordinate the Find It, Fix It Walks. Lemmis Stephens and Paige Madden came to HPAC’s meeting to talk about preparations for the event, starting with a public planning meeting next week. And they got an earful of skepticism and concerns, much along the lines of – “so, we find it, AND we then have to fix it?” from people who already spend much of their time volunteering for community-improvement projectsRead More

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HALA REZONING: Morgan Community Association strategizes, 2 weeks before next city meeting
April 22, 2017 10:21 pm
|      27 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Two weeks from today – on Saturday, May 6th – the proposed Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) rezoning for Mandatory Housing Affordability will be spotlighted at another city “open house” in West Seattle.

This time, unlike the one back in December, it’s a big venue – Westside School (WSB sponsor) in Arbor Heights.

More on the open house later. First: Community groups are continuing to discuss HALA, too, particularly as they await the draft Environmental Impact Statement. If you need a refresher – Mandatory Housing Affordability is supposed to add more development capacity in exchange for requiring developers to either include “affordable” units in their projects, or pay a fee into a city fund that will be used to build it somewhere else. (If you haven’t already checked what might change near you, here’s the interactive citywide map showing that.)

At the Morgan Community Association‘s quarterly meeting this past Wednesday night, MoCA president Deb Barker said the EIS is expected to be out in mid-May, which would open a public-comment period through June – which happens to be what the city had listed at previous meetings (including the Morgan “Community Design Workshop” last month) as the expected drop-dead comments-closed period. Read More

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Chelan CSO, ST3, more @ Admiral Neighborhood Association
April 13, 2017 12:20 am
|    Comments Off on Chelan CSO, ST3, more @ Admiral Neighborhood Association
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Water pollution, mass transit, and expanded jurisdiction were the three main agenda items for the Admiral Neighborhood Association on Tuesday night:

CHELAN CSO PROJECT: King County is planning another combined-sewer-overflow-control project, this one to reduce the 17 million gallons that the Chelan CSO outfall spills into the Duwamish River on average each year.

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Fauntleroy Way parking restriction expanding, and what else was discussed @ Fauntleroy Community Association
April 12, 2017 1:01 pm
|      20 COMMENTS
 |   Fauntleroy | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

(UPDATED 3:06 PM with SDOT response on details of parking-change notification and sign installation)

Parking restrictions along a mile of southbound Fauntleroy Way, mostly alongside Lincoln Park, are expanding. We found out about that at last night’s Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting – but NOT because of any official briefing or other involvement; members, in fact, voiced displeasure with the idea.

Instead, the notification arrived as it had for some other area residents – via an SDOT-sent postal-mail postcard. (We asked SDOT this morning for a digital version – [added] see the PDF version here.) The postcard says that what is currently a 3-7 pm weekday prohibition on parking in the ferry-waiting zone, between SW Fontanelle and the terminal, will expand to 2-7 pm, and new signs will be installed soon.

(ADDED 3:06 PM: SDOT spokesperson Sue Romero tells WSB, “These mailers went out last Thursday and Friday (4/6 and 4/7) and were mailed to residents along Fauntleroy Way SW from SW Fontanelle to SW Barton St, and 1-2 blocks west. Sign installation is scheduled to begin tomorrow.”)

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TUESDAY: Light rail, combined-sewer-overflow project on Admiral Neighborhood Association agenda
April 9, 2017 1:09 pm
|    Comments Off on TUESDAY: Light rail, combined-sewer-overflow project on Admiral Neighborhood Association agenda
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Tuesday night (April 11th) brings the next meeting of the Admiral Neighborhood Association, and president Larry Wymer has announced that three topics are at the heart of the agenda:

*Light rail: What’s happened since the Sound Transit 3 vote? Light-rail plans for West Seattle will be discussed with the advocacy group Seattle Subway.

*Chelan combined-sewer-overflow project: A 4-million-gallon storage tank needs to be built to prevent overflows into the Duwamish River near Terminal 5, though the site has not yet been chosen. A project rep from King County will be at the meeting.

*Also: “Residents living to the immediate southeast of the current ANA ‘Sphere of Influence’ area (as included within our by-laws) will present their proposal to the group for consideration of officially expanding our boundaries to include their neighborhood.”

ANA’s meeting will start at 7 pm Tuesday at The Sanctuary at Admiral (42nd/Lander), all welcome.

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More community-cleanup success: 25th & Trenton, with SDCG and WWRHAH volunteers
April 8, 2017 9:47 pm
|      2 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Thanks to Marianne McCord from the South Delridge Community Group for that photo from today’s SDCG/Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council cleanup at 25th/Trenton. She reports 16 volunteers were there, as was SDOT‘s Natalie Graves from the Chief Sealth Walkway Neighborhood Street Fund project that’s planned in the area. She adds: “I want to give a shout out to our dedicated volunteers who attend monthly clean-ups around the South Delridge Neighborhood. They are making a difference!” Watch the SDCG website for word of its next meeting (usually third Sundays, but this month, that’s Easter).

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PHOTOS: Neighborhood volunteers clean Fairmount Ravine for the 25th year
April 8, 2017 6:26 pm
|      7 COMMENTS
 |   Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Along the road and on the slope, another big haul in the annual Fairmount Ravine (north of here) cleanup today.

This was the 25th annual edition of the cleanup, this year coordinated by Matt Algieri, taking over for John Lang. Here are today’s volunteers, with Southwest Precinct Community Police Team Officers Jon Flores and Todd Wiebke:

They had piled up more than 80 bags – similar to last year – by the time a Department of Corrections community-work crew arrived for pickup and haulaway:

Here are links to our coverage from past years – 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008.

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YOU CAN HELP! Fairmount Ravine, Westwood neighborhood TLC tomorrow
April 7, 2017 9:00 am
|      3 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

Before we get to previews for today, two reminders for tomorrow that a great way to start your weekend is to give a little of your time to help a local neighborhood shine. We have cleanups north and south, and every single extra person makes a big difference:

(Photo from 2013 Fairmount Ravine event)

25TH ANNUAL FAIRMOUNT RAVINE CLEANUP: As previewed here, this is not just a cleanup, but also some TLC for trees – ivy removal. 8:30-10:30 am Saturday; meet at Fairmount and Forest, at the top (south end) of the ravine [map]. We are told the Southwest Precinct Community Police Team will be helping this year too.

25TH AND TRENTON: The South Delridge Community Group and Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council are teaming up at this site [map] and will be happy to see you join them here for one quick hour of work, 10 am-11 am Saturday.

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FAUNTLEROY BOULEVARD PROJECT: Community group’s 2nd meeting planned
April 6, 2017 5:00 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   Neighborhoods | Transportation | Triangle | West Seattle news

2016_nov_fauntleroy60_planview

One month ago today, we published our report on the launch meeting of the Fauntleroy Way Neighborhood and Business Association, formed out of concerns related to the years-in-the-works, in-final-design-phase Fauntleroy Boulevard project. The group has just announced its second meeting, 7:30 pm Wednesday, April 19th, with a list of current/continuing questions and concerns:

The Fauntleroy Way Neighborhood and Business Association will host this meeting to discuss the current status of the Fauntleroy Way Boulevard project. Our aim is to leave this meeting with a clearer understanding of the project with respect to the following Association interests:

PROJECT DESIGN

– Traffic studies. Per SDOT, a new traffic study was ordered. Our requests for an update have gone unanswered, to date.

– Current design completion. We were informed the design is now at 90%, but have not received updates from the SDOT mailing list, from SDOT directly, or how any traffic study may have impacted design updates.

– Treed medians vs. left turn lanes. SDOT indicated that they were re-examining additional access along Fauntleroy Way in place of planned treed medians, but we have received no update, to date.

– Addition of crosswalks. Much of the justification for this project relates to pedestrian safety, but no additional crosswalks are planned. At our last meeting with SDOT, we were told this was being examined, but we have received no update, to date.

– Loading zones and temporary parking. Will there be any spaces along the street that allow for short-term parking, e.g. 3-minute loading and unloading.

DURING CONSTRUCTION

– Construction worker parking. Given the squeeze on existing parking in the area, will workers be made to park outside the area of affected business to allow greater access by our patrons?

– Communication of the project to the neighborhood. What is SDOT’s plan for communicating traffic plans to the West Seattle community? Businesses would like some say in the way this is communicated to help keep our doors open.

– Signage for businesses during construction. We’ve been advised by OED that this is normally not planned for. Given the extended duration of this project, we would like to reach a compromise.

– Pedestrian access. Will pedestrians have access to the length of Fauntleroy Way throughout construction?

– Mitigation. We have been advised by OED that the only mitigating assistance the City will provide to impacted businesses will be in the form of access to construction updates and influence on project phasing and planning. We seek more clarity around this so that we can plan ahead to work together.

– Traffic re-routing plan. We would like any update available on the planned traffic re-routing during construction. Per the note on mitigation, our strong preference would be to keep traffic moving in both directions along Fauntleroy Way for the length of the project.

– 23rd Project. What has SDOT/the City learned from the 23rd Ave project that will positively impact the Fauntleroy Way project?

Please contact us with any questions or concerns:
Fauntleroy Way Neighborhood and Business Association fauntleroywayassoc@gmail.com

The April 19th meeting will be in the Rotary Room at the West Seattle YMCA (36th/Snoqualmie; WSB sponsor).

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Help make history! Be part of the 25th annual Fairmount Ravine Spring Cleanup and Reforestation
April 2, 2017 2:17 pm
|      6 COMMENTS
 |   How to help | Neighborhoods | West Seattle news

fairmounttrash
(Part of the 2016 cleanup haul; photo courtesy John Lang)

The annual Fairmount Ravine community cleanup and forest-restoration event is the longest-running event of its kind that we’ve heard of, at least in our decade of publishing WSB. This year’s edition is coming up next Saturday, and it’s the first one organized by Matt Algieri, after John Lang‘s many years of coordination. If you run, ride, walk, or drive through the ravine – consider starting next Saturday by helping out, even if you can only spare an hour:

Fairmount Ravine Preservation Group will sponsor the 25th Annual Spring Cleanup and Reforestation of Fairmount Ravine, Saturday, April 8th at 8:30 am. Meet at top of the ravine (Forest St. and Fairmount Ave.). Wear long, rugged clothing, boots and gloves. Bring a pruning saw or large loppers if interested in removing ivy from trees. Delicious beverages and food from our local merchants will be provided.

We extend a special invitation to those who use the ravine to access the waterfront; please donate an hour or two of your time to keep this greenbelt healthy and pristine. Plus, we will have a lot of fun and meet our neighbors. More info – call Matt at 206 747-4167.

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