Live in The Junction? There’s a “block party” for you tomorrow night during Night Out. René Commons from the local community council, the Junction Neighborhood Organization, shares the announcement:

JuNO – The junction Neighborhood Organization is staging the First Annual JuNO Neighborhood Night Out Block party at Junction Plaza Park. The event is open to all and we are looking for talented musicians from the neighborhood to perform in the park. JuNO will be roasting hot dogs – kosher and vegan – and staging contests. This is a potluck and we are asking people to bring a side dish or dessert. We will have tents set up and will feature information on crime prevention and emergency preparedness.

Neighborhood Night Out at the Park welcomes all to show their neighborhood STYLE:

Best Hat
Best Dressed Dog
Best Kids costume
Best Decorated Bike (Yay! We have a bike corral in the Junction!)
Best Yodel

Adult Balloon Toss
Kids Balloon Toss

Open call to all neighborhood musicians, dancers and magicians to perform; please contact event coordinators!!!
Looking for volunteers to help set up and stage games

Event Contact: Lilah Gael – lilahgael@gmail.com – & René Commons – wsjuno@yahoo.com

The park is on the northwest corner of 42nd and Alaska. Any other neighborhoods having a party open to those beyond the immediate block, let us know – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!

Transportation issues dominated this quarter’s Morgan Community Association meeting – with information of interest beyond Morgan’s borders.

SPEED CAMS: In addition to the two new ones that will be activated on Roxbury (by Roxhill Elementary and Holy Family School) this fall, dozens of other locations remain under evaluation around the city, according to SDOT‘s Brian Dougherty. Since the first one to be activated in West Seattle is on Fauntleroy Way near Gatewood Elementary, and since a flashing (cameraless) beacon recently went in on California SW near Gatewood, Dougherty was asked if the latter location would likely get a speed camera. He said he thought that 35th SW by Our Lady of Guadalupe – frequently staked out by the flexible-location “speed van” – would be a more-likely priority for another West Seattle speed cam. Once there’s a new list of proposals, they would require City Council approval, and you’ll recall that the money generated by the cams is all slated to go to school-safety projects. One such project is in the works for the aforementioned Fauntleroy crossing by Gatewood, at Myrtle – bulbs to shorten the crossing.

FLASHING BEACONS ON FAUNTLEROY: Dougherty also mentioned that new flashing school-zone beacons will go up on Fauntleroy Way before newly expanded Fairmount Park Elementary reopens this fall, so look for that work soon.

The meeting included even more transportation info – regarding the Fauntleroy/California intersection – click ahead: Read More

(You don’t HAVE to have a bouncy toy, but Hillcrest does – 2010 WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Be part of the year’s biggest night of block parties, the 30th annual Night Out, on Tuesday, August 5th. Sounds like a long way away, but our area’s SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator Mark Solomon sends word that registration is open NOW. If you sign up, you can close your street to traffic that night (provided you’re not on an arterial and a few other caveats) – go here as soon as you’re ready. Early party-planning also offers the chance to apply for a Department of Neighborhoods matching-fund grant – the deadline is June 23rd; find out about it here. More than 1,400 neighborhoods around Seattle had block parties last year – this year, join ’em!

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The Morgan Community Association is now officially on the record as supporting the West Seattle Church of the Nazarene‘s proposed six-townhouse plan for land it owns south of the church and its parsonage at 42nd and Juneau.

The vote came at the end of last night’s meeting, after a return appearance by developer and area resident Joe Paar (above), who said he and the church – planning to sell the townhouses but retain ownership of “park” open space on the rest of the site – wanted MoCA’s blessing since they are about to take the first part of the rezoning proposal to the city. The room was full of church members/supporters, about triple MoCA’s usual turnout in the lower-level meeting area of The Kenney (WSB sponsor).

They had a multipage glossy color handout with renderings and Q/A on the project. (Previously, they set up a website.) A sign and painted-on-the-ground outlines are now set up, said Paar. He said they’re still working out where to put the park on the open space that will be left between the townhouses and 42nd SW. He said they’ve been designed to look like “Craftsman-style townhouses,” not the “modern” design that is prevalent in new construction today. The community will be asked to vote on color schemes.

He noted that he and church leadership already have made three appearances at MoCA and will be back often as the proposal proceeds – “you’re going to get sick of us.” A community garden and movie screen are proposed as part of the park section of the site. The project will require a zoning change, as noted previously. The townhouses will have a private porch transitioning into a semi-private yard, then a public path, and the community park area. Their garages won’t be connected to the homes – residents will have to walk to their homes, “which is intentional,” Paar said.

They propose 12 spaces of parking for the townhomes, in addition to 11 parking spaces for the church. The biggest townhomes will have 2 bedrooms and 2 baths in addition to basement space that could be used for a bedroom or office. It was reiterated that these will be sold, not rented, townhomes on fee-simple land. “Would somebody be allowed to buy them for an investment and rent them out?” an attendee asked. “That’s not what we’re looking to sell these for,” said Parr. The church retains ownership of the “park” portion of the land, as well as the parsonage house between the “park” site and the church building.

One attendee said “I commend you on how these buildings look; the buildings they’re building now, they look terrible.” Parr reiterated that he lives nearby and he was afraid a “bad-guy developer would get a hold of the site and build something (we didn’t want to see).”

He outlined a timeline:

*May 2014 – rezoning proposal going to City Council
*May 2015 – response expected from council
*Construction not expected until 2016 or even 2017

It’s a two-step rezoning process, he said, and it requires community support. So far, he says, they have 33 letters from neighbors voicing support, but they all but pleaded for MoCA’s support. The brochure they circulated even included a public accounting of what the church would do with the expected $760,000 revenue, including $200,000 work on the church’s exterior.

MoCA president Deb Barker stressed that the comprehensive-plan amendment being proposed here to facilitate a contract-rezone proposal would only affect the lots on the site. And Parr noted that what they were presenting involves the public benefit they would be required to provide. MoCA’s Eldon Olson said the “park” portion of the site – which would be open to the public but remain church-owned – was attractive, as urban areas are supposed to have more of those.

In the end, MoCA went on the record as voting unanimously to support the comprehensive-plan amendment proposed to change the zoning from single-family to Lowrise 1 on the site. Since MoCA allows anyone present to vote, those who came to show support were part of the vote too.

Earlier in the meeting:

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(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)

FIRST REPORT, 9:14 AM: We’re just arriving at Seattle Center to check out the Neighborhood Summit (agenda here) that’s a fulfillment of one of Mayor Ed Murray‘s campaign promises – under way at the Exhibition Hall (3rd/Mercer) until 1 pm.

(Video feed no longer active but keeping box as a placeholder for archived video Monday)
We’ll be adding some photos and updates, but for starters, clicking the “play” button above should take you to live coverage from Seattle Channel, including remarks from the mayor before 9:30 or so. If you’re there and posting to social-media channels, #SNS2014 is the hashtag. More to come.

10:03 AM UPDATE: We’ve been here for about 45 minutes. The mayor has spoken, stressing that this isn’t a self-contained event, but meant to be “the beginning of the conversation.” Here’s a 15-second Instagram video clip we took, panning the space here at the Exhibition Hall, as he spoke:

We’ve seen West Seattleites from Admiral, Arbor Heights, Fairmount, Genesee, Morgan, North Delridge, Pigeon Point, Westwood; we’ve seen South Park’ers. We’ll have a photo gallery later; we’ve put up cameraphone pix on our Twitter feed at twitter.com/westseattleblog (you should be able to see it even if you don’t use Twitter – that’s the web address). There IS password-free wi-fi here, and it seems to work pretty well.

10:32 AM UPDATE: Former City Councilmember Jim Street (above, at podium on the stage, with the mayor at left) is speaking and taking Q/A; most of those who’ve spoken seem to have issues more for current councilmembers – including land use – microhousing and rowhouses have come up. Now, a question about crime/public safety, which Street again can’t answer as he’s not a current councilmember. (Maybe the council should have been here. If they are, we haven’t seen them yet.)

11:34 AM UPDATE: We had to leave midway through, but coverage continues in the video window above (currently, it’s a discussion about the search for a new SDOT director) and on Twitter. Re: council presence, the mayor subsequently mentioned Councilmember Sally Bagshaw was there – not surprising since she chairs the Seattle Public Utilities and Neighborhoods Committee – and there was a Twitter mention of Councilmember Tom Rasmussen.

The first declared candidate for the West Seattle-specific City Council seat in next year’s elections (District 1), Chas Redmond, was there too (above right, with North Delridge’s Dorsol Plants at left).

12:23 PM UPDATE: Mayor is giving closing remarks (it’s open another half-hour, but speeches/discussions are ending onstage) and says more than 600 people participated in person, in addition to others online or watching the stream. He also gives a shoutout to Kathy Nyland, who put it together.

5:26 PM: Finally getting a chance to add our photos – interspersed above and below.

Above, Amanda Leonard and Holli Margell from North Delridge. Next, Sharonn Meeks from Fairmount and Cindi Barker from Morgan:

Cindi was also there for official “peer networking” regarding preparedness. Next, SPD’s crime-prevention coordinator for the Southwest (and South) Precinct, Mark Solomon:

Next, Jim Cavin from Admiral and Mary Fleck from the West Seattle Green Space Coalition:

Below, from left, Amanda Kay Helmick and Joe Szilagyi from WWRHAH and the West Seattle Transportation Coalition, with Deb Barker from Morgan:

Pete Spalding from Pigeon Point:

She’s not from West Seattle but much WS-related information has been shared over the years on the Seattle Schools Community Forum website by Melissa Westbrook:

(A few more to add – stand by)

Meantime, here are a few links potentially of interest:

–“Live blog” coverage by city staff, with notes, curated tweets (including a couple of ours) and photos

-Coalition for an Affordable Living Seattle was handing out flyers outside, headed “Developer impact fees now! Growth controls now!” with a URL that isn’t working, but we found them online here

This Saturday at Seattle Center‘s Exhibition Hall (Mercer/3rd), Mayor Ed Murray hosts the “Neighborhood Summit” he promised to have within 100 days of taking office. If you’re thinking of going, the agenda is now available so you can make up your mind – or, if you know you’re going, you can preplan how to spend the four hours. See it here. Child care and light refreshments are promised; we see at least one West Seattle name on the list of “peer networking” participants – Cindi Barker, community-preparedness guru, who has provided lots of info here on WSB to help you get prepared. The summit’s scheduled 9 am-1 pm on Saturday, though the agenda looks conducive to dropping in for just part of it if you can’t commit to that entire time frame.

Almost every local community council got a visit in recent months from Aly Pennucci of the city Department of Planning and Development regarding potential changes in “pedestrian zoning” for business districts As part of the city’s comment-gathering, an online survey was made available. Community leaders just got word that the survey has been extended for another month – so if you haven’t taken it yet, go here. It’ll ask you first about a specific “region” – West Seattle is in the south region, so start there; next screen will ask you about specific zones. Our first coverage of this issue during a local community-council meeting was at the Morgan Community Association‘s meeting in January.

News from the Admiral Neighborhood Association:

ADOPT-A-STREET CLEANUP TOMORROW: Join ANA on Saturday morning by the main entrance of Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor), 9 am, to help clean up nearby streets. As noted by ANA president David Whiting in the announcement, “As always beverages, refreshments and sack lunches are provided, as well as gloves and tools.” So all you have to bring is yourself! (Youth helpers welcome, too.)

MEETINGS MOVE TO THE SANCTUARY: After years of meeting in the basement at Admiral Congregational Church, ANA is moving its regular meeting site starting this month. Meetings will now be at The Sanctuary at Admiral (northeast corner of 42nd/Lander), starting next Tuesday (March 11th), 7 pm. Speaking of which:

TUESDAY’S AGENDA: Pedestrian retail zoning – a topic at several other local community-group meetings this winter – will be discussed, along with the WSHS “Steps at Stevens” pedestrian-connection project.

One year into its existence, West Seattle’s newest community council – Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights, aka WWRHAH – has taken a look back at that momentous first year (here’s our report on their 2013 launch meeting). Chair Amanda Kay Helmick delivered a “state of the council” report at the monthly meeting earlier this week. It’s part of the meeting report that secretary Joe Szilagyi published to the WWRHAH website. He also noted toward the start of the report that the meeting (and therefore the wrapup) also touched on these questions:

How is the public feedback on the Roxbury safety study?

Are we going to re-channelize (road diet) Roxbury?

Should we have bike lanes on Roxbury?

Should we move some bus layovers to Roxbury from Westwood?

How are the safety changes going for the Westwood Rapid Ride stop?

Are buses causing shaking detectable as earthquakes on Barton, 26th, and Roxbury?

When will SDOT start working on 35th Ave SW safety?

Will re-hydrating the bog in Roxhill Park help reduce flooding across West Seattle?

Interested in any of the above? See the report here – and note that WWRHAH (all volunteers, like all local community councils) could use your help as its advocacy and other community work continues.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

“That was amazing,” exclaimed one attendee at the end of what was probably the busiest community-council meeting this month. In the basement at The Kenney (WSB sponsor), one room away from bingo, spanning 2 hours and 20 minutes on Wednesday night, it was the quarterly meeting of the Morgan Community Association, with sixteen items on the original agenda – not counting what president Deb Barker had said she was “adding and subtracting” in the minutes before the meeting.

Hottest of the 13 topics we’re recapping is one of interest even if you DON’T live or work in Morgan – yet another city zoning initiative, one that arrived with preliminary recommendations even before the “public engagement” phase had begun:

(Click image to see full-size citywide map)
PEDESTRIAN ZONE MAPPING PROJECT: The briefing was provided by city Department of Planning and Development rep Aly Pennucci. She says this zoning overlay, if ultimately approved and implemented, would “add some requirements for new development” – including that the ground level of buildings in designated “pedestrian zones” would include commercial activity. She says the project has “started and stopped a few times over the years.” In 2012, the City Council decided about 60 areas around the city could potentially be part of this zoning – they’re shown in the map excerpted above (see the full citywide map here), and here’s the list of proposed West Seattle zones – each name links to a city doc that, if you scroll down, shows a specific map of that area (the titles are exactly as designated by the city):

Delridge Way SW between SW Brandon St. and SW Juneau St.
Westwood Park (Delridge Way SW at SW Roxbury St.)
Morgan Junction
35th Ave. SW at SW Morgan St.
35th Ave. SW at SW Holden St.
35th Ave. SW at SW Barton St.
35th Ave. SW and SW Roxbury St.
Harbor Ave. SW – N of Fairmount Ave. SW
Admiral

In some areas, this zoning could potentially further reduce parking requirements, Pennucci noted – doubling the amount of commercial space exempt from the requirement (from 2,500 square feet to 5,000 square feet). She said this process also would formalize some of the emergency rules passed last fall after low-density commercial projects were proposed in high-density zones (specifically the potential CVS pharmacies here in West Seattle and a few other neighborhoods). She said it’s now time for community input – since what she called the “very preliminary recommendation” is out there. If an area disagrees with a recommendation to be included, the city wants to hear why, she said. Home page for the project is here; you can answer an online survey here.

The city’s assessment of Morgan Junction had holes poked into it from the start – no, it is NOT low auto/pedestrian-conflict zone, no, it is NOT a sidewalks-in-good-shape zone, pointed out Barker and MoCA vice president Chas Redmond. There are physical limitations to the space, Redmond pointed out, calling the zoning proposal “an attempt by DPD to put something into place that is not needed.”

“This is good feedback,” Pennucci responded, even as she continued to hear strong words of concern and criticism. One person finally observed that overall, “we have a lot of anger at DPD” – which Pennucci did not dispute, semi-laughing, “I feel it!” – so, she was told, some time should be taken to look more calmly at this before the city plows forward with it.

Then there was the point that this happened to be the first city presentation to a West Seattle neighborhood group, while nine proposed zones are on the “preliminary recommendation” map. This was noted by meeting attendee Dave Montoure, asking when the city would be presenting to the West Seattle Junction Association and West Seattle Chamber of Commerce (both groups he has chaired). Bennucci replied she can be there by request, saying Morgan just put in an early request.

Before she wrapped up, Redmond speaks up again and says Morgan is already pedestrian-friendly, but some parts of this recommendation would go unnecessarily far: Until we “get rid of internal-combustion vehicles, we’re not going to get rid of the Shell station” (on California a block south of Fauntleroy), for example. And with increasing fury, he took issue with the fact that DPD had come forward with a “preliminary recommendation” before any community conversation.

Climbing out of the hot seat, Pennucci said final recommendations are supposed to be presented to Mayor Murray by late summer/early fall.

Now, highlights rom the rest of the MoCA agenda – shorter recaps ahead, starting with more development-related info:

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Plans are in the works for Seattle’s Neighbor Appreciation Day on February 8th – and fire-station open houses are among the most popular features every year. The schedule is out, and it looks like this year, you’ll be able to stop by Fire Station 11 at 16th/Holden in Highland Park, Fire Station 32 at 38th/Alaska in The Triangle, and/or Fire Station 37 at 35th/Holden in Sunrise Heights. Tour times on February 8th (a Saturday) will be 11 am-1 pm. What else can you do on Neighbor Appreciation Day? See the suggestions here (including e-card templates).

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Less than a year into its existence, the Westwood-Roxhill-Arbor Heights Community Council has taken on some of the area’s thorniest issues – safety in Roxhill Park, Westwood Village, and environs.

Chair Amanda Kay Helmick called it “the meat of the meeting” for WWRHAH last night; she was one of the volunteers who helped build Roxhill’s new Castle Park playground and says she’s there with her family at least three times a week. She wants to apply for a grant for the park – but wants public input “what should we do with the money?”

That opened a discussion about the park’s components – which go far beyond the newly renovated playground and the newly installed skatepark. Safety topped the list because of incidents in recent months from armed robberies to an incident just last weekend in which someone was threatened with a knife at the playground.

The discussion led to revelations including a Seattle Police announcement that the park now has regular foot patrols.

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At its quarterly meeting, the Morgan Community Association voted to support the new West Seattle Transportation Coalition, got an update on the about-to-be-built sewer-overflow-control project at Lowman Beach, heard about efforts to improve cleanliness and safety at Morgan Junction Park, discussed a new development – and that was just the start:

(WSB photo, taken the day after the MoCA meeting)
FRIENDS OF MORGAN JUNCTION PARKS: In addition to the volunteer work this group is doing, talk turned to those who loiter in Morgan Junction Park. Park volunteers say they have engaged the people who hang out, but so far the loiterers are not complying with trash rules. And they say not enough people are calling 911 when they see rulebreaking; more should be making those calls, for wider community representation. The behavior is getting worse, it appears – one week earlier, there was a big drinking party, and a big bonfire was started in the park; Seattle Fire came but police were never able to respond because that happened concurrently with the Westwood Village-area stabbings. To address this, MoCA is working with police to find an official sign to put up regarding, “Drinking is against the rules, here’s who to call.” Also call in matters of public safety – somebody passed out, someone injured … “Don’t be shy,” said Friends of MJP’s Tod Rodman. “It’s your park – if people are there, the bad stuff will (recede),” added FoMJP’s Barry White.

Back to the group’s main work: One more planting and mulching event will be happening in early November, an afternoon event after the Seahawks game, White said. “It’s been a great ride, and we’re getting more and more people involved.” The triangle park just north of West Seattle Thriftway (WSB sponsor) had a great planting party recently with 20 volunteers from Peace Lutheran Church in Gatewood. The current planting project in the streetside strips by Thriftway is the store’s doing, it was revealed in subsequent discussion. Next, the Friends of MJP is going to look at the Fauntleroy/Juneau triangle property to find out how it can help.

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Some community councils take August off – but not all, so here are three quick notes today on neighborhood groups that would love to see you this month if you live and/or work in their areas (or, really, even if you don’t):

(May 2013 aerial of Dragonfly Garden/Pavilion, by Long Bach Nguyen)
NORTH DELRIDGE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: Though they are crazy-busy working on next Saturday’s Delridge Day festival (to which we’ll be counting down over the days ahead), NDNC also is having its regular second-Monday meeting tomorrow night (August 12), 6:30 pm, outdoors at Dragonfly (Garden) Pavilion. Here’s the agenda preview:

We’ll be planning for (Delridge Day) and hearing an update from Fair Elections Seattle. We have two support letters to discuss and approve, including (1) a letter of support for Delridge Grocery (for use in their grant applications) and (2) a letter supporting keeping STEM at Boren (with our belief that a stable, permanent school at that location is a benefit to the neighborhood). We will also discuss a voluntary alcohol deferment program that has been implemented in other areas of Seattle and whether that makes sense for North Delridge.

The full NDNC agenda is here; Dragonfly Pavilion is on 28th SW just south of SW Yancy.

WESTWOOD-ROXHILL-ARBOR HEIGHTS COMMUNITY COUNCIL: Tuesday night (August 13th), West Seattle’s newest neighborhood council meets, 6:15 pm at Southwest Branch Library (35th/Henderson). Watch wwrhah.org for the agenda.

JUNCTION NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION: JuNO, the community council for the West Seattle Junction/Triangle area and vicinity, relaunched last month (here’s our coverage) and with so much going on – not the least of which is major development – would like to see you get involved. The next meeting is at 6:30 pm Tuesday, August 20th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon). If there’s a topic you’d like to see addressed, be there.