(Sketch from West Seattleites’ 2008 presentation to the City Council about a “boulevard” vision for Fauntleroy Way)
All week long, the City Council has been listening to presentations about possible changes to the Mayor’s budget plan. Just because a change is presented, doesn’t mean it’ll make it into the final plan, but with that in mind: One of the proposals that will be heard this afternoon would allot a quarter-million dollars to start working toward what’s dubbed the “Fauntleroy Way Green Boulevard.” This is a concept that has been under discussion for more than three years, including as a component of the West Seattle Triangle vision. Just last night, in fact, members of the Southwest District Council brought it up briefly while reviewing what’s transpired with the Triangle. It’ll be one of many budget-change options presented during this afternoon’s City Council session. Here’s part of the description, from the “Green Sheet” for the proposal (which you can see in its entirety here):
This project will transform Fauntleroy Way SW into a green boulevard. Preliminary engineering will address project elements identified during conceptual design, including: a planted median with signature lighting fixtures, a pedestrian zone with sidewalks and planting areas including street trees, pedestrian lighting, potential green stormwater infrastructure and art, and safety improvements for crossing movements for all modes, including bicycle improvements and pedestrian crossings, signals, and reconfigured intersections and bulbs. Funding will be used to complete preliminary engineering in 2012, including public outreach, preliminary design, and construction cost estimates. Alternative project designs will be developed (with and without the relocation of a 28? drainage and wastewater main) that seek to balance green boulevard design elements with Major Truck Street treatments.
The proposal is officially from Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who chairs the Transportation Committee and has long been involved in discussions about improving the Fauntleroy Way “gateway” to West Seattle. His office says the goal of this item is to get the project on the city’s Capital Improvement List and start studying what it would take to make it happen. This presentation is part of the council’s afternoon agenda (full list here), scheduled to start at 2 pm; you can watch live on Channel 21 or seattlechannel.org (or of course by going to City Hall downtown). Budget-change decisions are scheduled to start next week, with a plan finalized before Thanksgiving.
Still a little too warm for snow, but not too warm to be ready for ski season as soon as it arrives – considering that November is just a week and a half away. The first day of Mountain to Sound Outfitters‘ second annual Ski Swap is under way at the VFW Hall across the street (36th/Alaska in The Triangle). Boards, boots, and other gear, too:
And if you need your gear tuned up – that’s what Cody and Erin Wolford from Lokey Sports were up to while we were there:
The swap continues till 6 tonight. If you don’t see this before then – no worries – it’s happening 10 am-3 pm tomorrow, too.
Fall 2008 was when the Triangle’s potential burst into the spotlight, with three meetings in West Seattle. Of particular note – as a reminder of how things can change – is a September 2008 West Seattle Chamber of Commerce-convened meeting to review eight key Triangle and Junction developments that were in the pipeline then (see the story here, for a trip back in the time machine). Three mixed-use projects have since been completed – Harbor Properties‘ Link and Mural (WSB sponsors) and Leon Capelouto‘s Capco Plaza; the plan for two sites have changed (what was going to be BlueStar’s Gateway Center is now becoming Trader Joe’s, and Harbor is developing Nova on a smaller 36th/Alaska parcel); while three other sites’ futures are still in play (“The Hole,” sold last Friday at auction; the property Conner Homes is selling at California/Alaska/42nd; and “Spring Hill” at 5020 California).
West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen has been involved along much of the way, and last night he was one of the four councilmembers listening to public testimony (along with Sally Clark, who chairs Built Environment, vice chair Tim Burgess, and Sally Bagshaw) at the Senior Center of West Seattle. What is in the works now involves an “urban design” vision that the city may codify – and some zoning changes, including “neighborhood commercial” for much of The Triangle itself, and an area mostly on its west side that may be upzoned to 85-foot buildings (which, the way the rules really work, could be even taller).
What’s next with the Triangle proposals? Councilmember Clark said it was too soon to say whether a final vote might come by year’s end; it’s expected to come up again at a November 16th meeting downtown. Last night’s presentation graphics/documents, by the way, are linked from the meeting’s online agenda.
A rainbow appeared over The Triangle just as a walking tour preceding tonight’s zoning-change public hearing began.
Also as the tour began, Harbor Properties‘ Denny Onslow revealed that groundbreaking will happen soon for their new development, all-residential Nova, at 36th/Snoqualmie (if our rainbow photo atop this story were wider, Nova’s site would be on the left, north of The Grove). According to Onslow, if all goes as planned, construction will start around Halloween. Here’s the design shown at its second and final Design Review meeting last summer:
Nova is planned as 62 apartments, no retail. Right now, City Councilmembers Sally Clark and Sally Bagshaw are at another Harbor building, the 5-month-old mixed-use building Link (WSB sponsor), in a casual conversation with community/business reps preceding the hearing.
More notes to come – with full coverage of that hearing later. If you have something to say about the Triangle’s future – should some areas be upzoned to 85-foot buildings? for example – be at the Senior Center of West Seattle, 6 pm.
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand) By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
If all goes as planned, the empty shelves in the photo above will be filled with tires by this time next Tuesday – the day Les Schwab Tires hopes to open its new West Seattle store in The Triangle.
The shelves are in the basement of the one-time Huling Brothers (and briefly Gee) building on the southwest corner of 38th/Alaska, and will hold most of the 2,200-plus tires to be offloaded early opening-day morning by dozens of Les Schwab managers from around the region, after two tractor-trailer trucks roll up from the company’s distribution center in the central Oregon town of Prineville, right onto the new concrete:
The initial-stocking operation is “an amazing thing to witness,” smiles Rich Baalman, area manager for 43 stores including this one, from Federal Way to Port Angeles to the Canadian border. (He himself is based in Monroe, where he also manages that store.)
Though Rich calls the West Seattle location – the plan for which was first reported here, back in January – a “paint-and-go” shop, much more than paint has gone into it over the past four months of construction. It’s spruced up what was a neighborhood eyestore with major remodeling – which even extends out onto the sidewalk and beyond. See for yourself:
It’s the first official day of business for the new Corner Store and Deli in The Triangle at 36th/Fauntleroy next to Jones Barbeque, in the space that was long known as Tervo’s. The store is remodeled inside and out, most notably, adding a Boar’s Head deli setup for fresh sandwiches:
That’s Daniel Gebrechristos, Corner Store co-owner with brother Negash (who we interviewed in August, when we got first word of the ownership change/reopening plan). Daniel designed the renovations too, and says that as the business gets established, they’ll probably make some changes to its entryway, too. For now, if you go in today, you’ll notice some empty space – they’re still ramping up the stock, and they’ll be putting in chairs/tables by the new Fauntleroy-fronting windows. Daniel invites the neighborhood to come in, say hi, and try food samples this Saturday and Sunday, 10 am-4 pm both days. (Their regular hours, he says, are 6:30 am-10 pm daily.)
This weekend’s grand-opening-of-expanded-space celebration continues at Mountain to Sound Outfitters (WSB sponsor) this afternoon, and if you get there (3602 SW Alaska) before 2 pm, you can meet Molly Baker, a big-mountain freeskiing star on the rise – more on the M2SO site. Also at the shop greeting customers – proprietor Greg Whittaker and son Keller:
Ready for ski season yet? M2SO not only sells skis, they rent them too:
And if you’re hungry – they’re barbecuing for a second straight afternoon (hey, the weather’s nice!):
Traffic is slow going on SW Alaska between 35th and 36th SW in The Triangle right now, in front of The Grove/West Seattle Inn, because of a crash involving at least two cars. No major injuries reported – a private ambulance is there to transport one person – but it’s blocking the westbound lanes.
We’ve been reporting for months on the city planning process that could result in zoning changes for The Triangle and the east side of The Junction, including a larger area where buildings up to 85 feet would be allowed, and changes in commercial zoning. Now, the date is set for an official hearing before a City Council committee, and if you have anything to say before these proposals become law, that’s your chance. Here’s the short description of the proposal:
The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) is proposing to amend Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 23.32, the Official Land Use Map, and Section 23.47A.013, and enact a new Section 23.47A.009, to rezone areas within the West Seattle Junction Hub Urban Village (West Seattle Triangle planning area).
The DPD proposal would: (1) rezone areas from Commercial 1 (C1) to Neighborhood Commercial 3 (NC3), (2) establish a pedestrian (P) designation along SW Alaska Street between 36th Avenue SW and 41st Avenue SW, (3) increase allowable heights to 85 feet in certain commercially-zoned areas west of 38th Avenue SW, (4) introduce new development standards in the proposed NC3 85 zone to control the bulk of new structures and increase pedestrian circulation, (5) apply incentive zoning provisions within the 85 foot zone, and (6) resolve “split-zoned” lots by rezoning a portion of three lots to NC3 65.
The hearing will be at 6 pm October 11th at the Senior Center of West Seattle (if you want to speak, signups will start at 5:30), California/Oregon in The Junction. If you absolutely can’t be there – you can e-mail your thoughts in advance (deadline 5 pm 10/11) to Councilmember Sally Clark, whose Committee on the Built Environment is holding the hearing, at sally.clark@seattle.gov.
2:07 PM UPDATE: The Land Use Information Bulletin is out now with a city link to the notice. You can also read the proposed zoning-change (etc.) ordinance on the city’s Triangle-planning website – go here.
The formerly-76, once-to-be-converted-to-Arco gas station on the east side of Fauntleroy/Alaska is finally tidier tonight. We’d been looking into the site’s status for three weeks, as WSB’ers continued sending notes asking what we knew about it, as trash and junk continued to accumulate following its sudden closure months ago. We took this photo (and others showing trash/junk around the site) three weeks ago:
That was shortly after a complaint had been filed with the city. The city’s log shows that in the meantime, the site was inspected, found to be in violation, and a warning was issued – clean up by August 14th. Looks so far like they have met that deadline. But what about the station itself?
We had reported back in February that it was being converted to an Arco station. Then the work stalled – the station stopped pumping gas – and the store closed. When we inquired with Arco, a spokesperson told us that “for reasons we don’t know” the conversion never moved forward, and Arco doesn’t “anticipate it ever being converted.” However, the spokesperson made it clear that the site is not owned by Arco, but instead by an area entrepreneur, and even gave us his name and number. Took us a while to reach owner Brandon Kim, but WSB contributor Katie Meyer talked with him by phone yesterday. Asked if the station would reopen, he replied, “Not really,” and told her that he believed a bank would be taking it over. That’s all the comment he had; online records do not indicate any sort of a sale or foreclosure at this point, but we’ll keep an eye out.
SIDE NOTE: The gas station on the west side of the intersection is no longer on the market – we had reported the listing in February, and while the listing was active less than two weeks ago (here’s a cached version). So far, we can’t tell if it was sold, or just de-listed.
(Photo by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
Dr. Terrill Harrington was first in line as Damiana Merryweather‘s new Blue Truck Special made its West Seattle debut today in The Triangle – maybe no surprise, since the truck is in his parking lot at 3623 SW Alaska. She’s scheduled to be there till 2, serving “elevated comfort food” – as explained in our preview story by Christopher Boffoli, who says he tried the crispy mortadella “fried bologna” sandwich with orange marmalade, arugula, and dijon, pronouncing it “particularly good.”
Story and photos by Christopher Boffoli
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
On a rainy afternoon last spring, I got my first glimpse at what was soon to become one of Seattle’s newest mobile food trucks, making its debut this Sunday in West Seattle.
Parked on a quiet side street in North Delridge, it didn’t look like much at the time. The boxy, aluminum truck – which at that point had only recently been plucked off of Craigslist – still bore signs of its previous use by a plumbing company. However, like most entrepreneurs, Damiana Merryweather had vision, not to mention a contagious enthusiasm for what the truck could be. Perhaps more significantly, she also had an abundance of patience, which she would discover, is second only to money when it comes to starting a street food business in Seattle. But above all, Merryweather’s focus was on the food.
“We become deeply human when we sit down to a plate of food,” she would tell me later, in drier, more comfortable conditions: ensconced in plush chairs at a local café, with mugs of hot coffee in our hands. She added, “Food is such a catalyst for community, family holidays, friends….it brings us together. There’s a comforting human connection.”
Merryweather is an Oregon native who began on quite a different career path. Though she worked in and out of food-related jobs when she was younger, for more than a decade she had enjoyed a successful career in political campaigns and lobbying. But at a certain point she decided to come back to food. She moved to Seattle in 2006 and a few years later, was hired on as a consultant to aid the launch of the Swinery. “Working there reminded me of how much I love customer service,” she said, “And I don’t mean that in a cheesy salesman kind of way, but truly helping people. Engaging their imaginations about meals. Making connections.”
If you missed it “live” Wednesday morning, either at City Hall or via Seattle Channel, this video of the City Council Committee on the Built Environment meeting includes a 19-minute discussion that was the first step in what will be a months-long march toward a council vote on proposals to shape the West Seattle Triangle‘s future, including extensive rezoning. The discussion was last on the agenda for the meeting chaired by Councilmember Sally Clark; it starts 102 minutes in (as with most online video players, you can grab and drag the lower slider to fast-forward). The Department of Planning and Development senior planner who’s led much of the process so far, Susan McLain, gave the councilmembers an “initial overview” briefing on The Triangle itself (presentations are linked in the agenda), on the fact the planning involves an area to the west as well, and on key intents/concerns. It was repeatedly reiterated that the intention is not to chase away longtime businesses in what McLain called “a surprisingly diverse little area”; that was also brought up by the lone member of the public there to voice a comment, Karl de Jong from Admiral, who expressed concern about future building height resulting in “canyonization” and concern about existing businesses with “family-wage jobs” being pushed out.
No action was taken; next steps include a more extensive briefing on the proposed rezoning when the committee meets again on August 10th and, according to both McLain and Councilmember Clark, a public hearing in West Seattle sometime in September. Meanwhile, the public-comment period on the environmental Determination of Non-Significance regarding the proposals continues until August 4th – go here to find out how to have a say.
Will The Triangle’s transition from present to future include rezoning – buildings on its west side up to 85 feet, business areas in its central area rezoned to “neighborhood commercial”? The city’s proposals are about to get their first formal City Council review. The Committee on the Built Environment, chaired by Councilmember Sally Clark, meets at 9:30 am Wednesday; the agenda includes links to the documents they’ll review. (The second one is a briefing, featuring a page with some of what The Triangle’s known for – including, as the document labels it next to a photo, the “Infamous ‘Hole’.”) The meeting begins with a public-comment period, if you have anything to tell the committee about The Triangle (or other issues it’s considering).
P.S. Speaking of public comments – DPD is still taking your comments on the proposed Triangle plans/changes till August 4th. And documentation is now available on whether they would have environmental effects – the links (look for SEPA) are on the right side of the city’s Triangle-planning page.
A proposal for “rechannelization” of SW Alaska between The Triangle and The Junction first came up back in February (we featured it in this story) – taking away some street parking, and cutting down on car-travel lanes, while adding a bike lane from Fauntleroy to west of 41st SW. It has only been discussed once in public since then – at a recent Southwest District Council meeting – but now SDOT is officially asking for public comment:
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has developed plans to re-channelize SW Alaska Street between California Avenue and 35th Avenue to support the planned RapidRide C Line which is scheduled to begin service in fall 2012. SDOT is proposing to make the following changes to SW Alaska Street:
· Install a westbound left turn pocket at California Avenue and SW Alaska Street
· Install an eastbound left turn pocket at 42nd Avenue SW and SW Alaska Street
· Install an eastbound business access and transit Lane (BAT) between 42nd Avenue SW and 40th Avenue SW
· Install a westbound BAT between Fauntleroy Avenue and 42nd Avenue SW
· Install a westbound bicycle lane between Fauntleroy Way and approximately 30 feet west of 41st Avenue SW
· Remove parking on the north side of SW Alaska Street between California Avenue SW and 41st Avenue SW
SDOT INVITES PUBLIC COMMENT UP TO JULY 31, 2011
Jonathan Dong
Email: jonathan.dong@seattle.gov
Phone: (206) 233-8564
If you had somehow missed our previous reports that Les Schwab Tires was moving into the former Huling/Gee used-cars site at 38th/Alaska in The Triangle, it’ll be hard to miss now – the big sign’s going up today. We first reported in January that Les Schwab was remodeling the site; last month, the company told us they’re expecting to open in September.
As of halfway through the city open house for the West Seattle Triangledraft proposals – which would rezone much of the area, including sites to the west, and put “streetscape” concepts on the record – about 40 people had stopped by. The lead planners on the project, Susan McLain and Robert Scully, are here, as are other city reps including Brian Hawksford from Councilmember Tom Rasmussen‘s office. It’s informal, with refreshments, and easels put up on two sides of the room for you to review, and to comment on if you choose – which some are doing with Post-It notes:
The open house continues until 8 pm. Your comments here count – as do comments sent by e-mail, postal mail, and phone; this Friday is the first deadline for comments on the proposals, and then, we’re told, there will be a second round. In the months ahead, the proposed Triangle plans will go to the City Council for review and votes, so if there’s something for which you want to express support or opposition, now’s the time. You can look at the plan online; major points include zoning changes that would allow higher buildings (85 feet) along the western side of the “planning area” and that would rezone what’s now “commercial” in much of the Triangle itself to “neighborhood commercial,” which means a future – if current businesses closed – that would look very different as it does now.
Till 7 pm, you can drop by the open house for The Grove/West Seattle Inn (36th/Alaska) and see the results – so far – of their makeover, firsthand. We’ve been chronicling it since it was announced in January by the new owners of what was Seattle West Inn and Suites, and before that, TraveLodge. They’re expecting their first guests this week, and showing off rooms for the first time, though they’re not all done yet.
The Grove will have 46 rooms, and ownership spokesperson Lynn Sweeney had told us during this sneak-peek tour last week that about half would be done for their reopening this week. Also on hand for tonight’s open house, manager Joey Disque:
The redo is all the way down to the rooms’ shell – new carpeting, window coverings, beds and other furniture, bathroom fixtures, kitchen fixtures (in the half dozen or so with kitchenettes), art, paint, even metal railings replacing what was plastic. More info’s on their website at grovewestseattle.com.
By the 4th of July weekend, The Grove/West Seattle Inn – our peninsula’s only motel – plans to reopen, two months after closing for the first phase of extensive renovations. We’ve been chronicling the renovation plans since the motel’s new owners, longtime West Seattleites, announced them back in December. They’re having a community open house next Monday, and they have reservations for their first guests, starting with the pre-4th of July weekend. But to put it bluntly, some wonder how they will keep out the seedy clientele that kept many legitimate visitors away in recent years. That’s one of the questions we asked Lynn Sweeney, spokesperson for the owners, who granted our request for a tour this week – read on:Read More
After two series of meetings with a citizens’ advisory group, the city planners working on the future of the West Seattle Triangle have gone public with two draft plans, opened a public-comment period, and announced a public open house.
THE PLANS: The draft “urban design framework” can be seen here; the draft “land use code and zoning amendments” can be seen here. The proposed zoning changes include a recommendation to increase maximum height to 85 feet in the bluish-purple area you see in the graphic above**; that suggestion had drawn concern in previous community-group reviews. The changes also would rezone what is now “commercial” land throughout The Triangle to “neighborhood commercial.”
COMMENT PERIOD AND OPEN HOUSE: The open house is scheduled for 6-8 pm June 29th at the Senior Center of West Seattle; public comment is being accepted on the two draft plans through July 1st – susan.mclain@seattle.gov – note that these plans are supposed to be voted on by the City Council later this summer, so if you want a say in what might eventually turn up in this area, this is your chance. Read on for an excerpt from the zoning/land-use document summarizing the proposed zoning changes, and more:Read More
About a block from where one former Huling Brothers Auto site is being transformed into West Seattle Trader Joe’s at 4545 Fauntleroy Way, another, as we’ve been reporting since January, is being remodeled to house Les Schwab Tires, at 38th/Alaska. We’ve long had a request out to the company for some information that city files didn’t reveal – such as, when are they expecting to open? Les Schwab had declined comment till all the permits were in, but today we have a few official details, directly from the company for the first time:
1. The new store will open in September. The final date is not yet determined.
2. The store will employ 10-12 people and additional employees will be hired based on the volume of business.
3. The store manager will be selected from an existing pool of Les Schwab employees, based on the company’s promote-from-within policy.
4. The retail space is 12,000 square feet with six service bays and there
will be an additional 4000 square foot basement that will be used for warehousing product inventories for customer tires, wheels, brakes, shocks and alignments.
As is the case with the TJ’s project, this one is neither demolishing nor constructing a building – an existing structure on the site is being remodeled.
(Cindy and new general manager Dan, photographed tonight @ Merrill Gardens-West Seattle)
Some may recall hearing about the USO and its troops-supporting work primarily in the context of past wars. But the USO is very much alive and well and still at work today to help Americans serving in the nation’s military. Right now, Merrill Gardens retirement centers have a companywide series of USO fundraisers under way, and one was held tonight at Merrill Gardens-West Seattle (4611 35th SW in The Triangle) – not just collecting donations, but also including dinner and a performance by the West Seattle Big Band. There’s also a USO fundraiser coming up at Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights (which like the 35th SW location is a WSB sponsor) on Saturday, at noon, with lunch and a presentation on the life and times of Eleanor Roosevelt – RSVP to 206.938.3964.
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