West Seattle, Washington
28 Thursday
That’s one of the new images we’re seeing as the Conner Homes two-building project along Alaska from California to 42nd comes back for its fourth, and potentially final, session before the Southwest Design Review Board; more than 30 people are in a meeting room at West Seattle Christian Church, where Jim Westcott from Weber Thompson architects has shown some of the “architectural detail” that the board and members of the public asked about last time. That detail will include panels and trim on balconies, as well as different colors of brick; another major issue to be settled, will the developer be allowed to have the parking-garage entrance/exit on 42nd, instead of on the alley as per city policy? More details on all this later, and when there is a decision, we will post it here (with a detailed article to follow afterward). 9:25 PM NOTE: Meeting’s still going, after almost 3 hours, in case you were wondering. Betting at this point it won’t be over before 10. 9:47 UPDATE: The board’s decision: The project is going to have one more Design Review meeting, meant to be “focused.” When that was proposed, a lawyer for Conner Homes said, “This project has been through 15 hours of public meetings,” and the two veteran board members who are about to end their terms snapped back that this is such an important project, what’s another meeting? Plus, Foster noted, “You could have done a better job” adding later, “Give us your best work.” They’re proposing April 23rd, which would be a regular DR meeting if there were any projects to decide (and right now, for that night, there aren’t – we’ll confirm the date/time/place as soon as city planners finalize it). The main remaining concern, the issue on which that meeting will focus: The form of the west building — the one at California/Alaska — looking for a little more modulation, a little less of a “monolithic” feel, more interest to the facades along the street. “I know you’re frustrated,” said outgoing board chair David Foster to the project architect, “but you’ve come a long way.” FRIDAY MORNING NOTE: Working on the detailed article now; two other things we wanted to note from the hearing toplines – the board did agree to let the project keep a residential entrance on California SW, instead of having retail entrances there, and they also agreed to grant a “departure” to allow the entry/exit for the underground parking garage to be on 42nd SW, though city policy usually requires such entries to be on alleys.
EASTER: The brunch list is still very much a work in progress, but the Holy Week/Easter Sunday church-service list is ready for its closeup. Please take a look, and if you see something missing or wrong, please let us know so we can add/fix.
GATHERING OF NEIGHBORS: The countdown continues – 2 more days till 70+ local organizations and businesses take over Chief Sealth High School (at Boren) for the first Gathering of Neighbors in more than 2 years – which this year also incorporates the Biz Expo. 11 am-3 pm. Come say hi – we’ll have our own WSB table, to report “live” on what’s happening, plus one more thing …
… WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE DAY SIGNUPS START! The big day is Saturday, May 9. Last year, almost 150 sales registered to be part of WSCGSD (which is explained here); this year, we’re experimenting with a longer sign-up period, since last year, some people were just finding out about it after two weeks of (what felt to us like) incessant reminders. So sign-ups start Saturday 4/4, and we’re beginning with a special one-time, one-place deal: Discounts if you come register your sale with us in person at Gathering of Neighbors.
It’s been a long and winding road for the city to secure all the $ needed for the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project, which will widen (and change the ramp configuration of) the West Seattle Bridge section between 99 and I-5. And now, the mayor’s office is asking for support in fighting a legislative proposal — an amendment to the House transportation budget just unveiled this week, and coming up on the floor tomorrow — that they say would put some of the money at risk again. Here’s how mayoral spokesperson Alex Fryer explains it:
Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson introduced an amendment of HB 1314 (information, status here) with this section:
b) In order to ensure that the city of Seattle complies with its commitment as described in subsection (a) of this subsection, the state shall make $50,000,000 of the transportation partnership account-state appropriation as provided in the 2009-2011 transportation budget, or as much thereof as is appropriated from this account, whichever is smaller, available for contribution to the south Spokane Street Viaduct component of the Alaskan Way viaduct replacement project, contingent on the city of Seattle complying with this subsection.
Full text of the amendment can be seen here.
Basically, this links $50 million of state money for Spokane Street Viaduct project to improvements the city was already going to make in the central waterfront and north end with the deep-bore tunnel. The problem is the widening of the Spokane Street Viaduct is expected to go to construction later this year, and tunnel improvements aren’t expected for several years – when the tunnel is nearing completion in early 2016.
We’re worried that Dickerson’s amendment, which passed (earlier this week) in the transportation committee, is now part of the House transportation budget. We want the state House to strip this provision, which could derail completing the Spokane Street Viaduct project by 2012.
We need folks to take action.
Call the state legislative Hotline at 800-562-6000. Ask for Eileen Cody, Sharon Nelson, Frank Chopp or Judy Clibborn and tell them to stop dickering and start building.
Reps. Cody and Nelson represent our area specifically – their websites are linked from here. Fryer says the Governor and Senate are opposed to this proposal, but it comes up on the House floor tomorrow.
ADDED THURSDAY NIGHT: Rep. Nelson says in comments below that she and Rep. Cody are on the case.
Two weeks ago, we brought you the story of Keri Robinson, a pink-slipped West Seattleite hoping to connect with others who are in the process of figuring out what’s next in their professional lives. Connect, she did, and this morning at C and P Coffee, Keri (center of the top photo) and more than 10 other “Lords and Ladies of Leisure” got together to talk about it in person. They had a special guest, too – KING 5 reporter Tonya Mosley – so watch for TV coverage to follow. Kevin McClintic of Arbor Heights shared the photos and recapped: “It was a diverse group consisting of several folks from the IT industry, a graphic designer, a construction project manager, a mortgage banker, an HR manager, and even an architect to name a few. … Also in attendance was Steve Paul, a former IT director who has started a similar job search networking group that meets in Greenwood each week [with Mosley in photo at right]. All told, it was a very informative hour, and the entire group agreed they would look forward to additional meetings.” We’ve also heard from Shari Fox, who says the group’s dubbing itself Pink Slips Unite, and adds that a smaller group met yesterday to talk about everything from job-searching to volunteering. If you want to meet the folks who got together today, next meeting is 11 am next Thursday, C and P; in the meantime, you can reach Keri through her website.
ADDED THURSDAY NIGHT: Here’s a link to the KING 5 story that included today’s meeting.
The King County Water Taxi is aboard the good ship WSB Sponsorship as of this week, and we’re now just three days away from the start of its 2009 season. A news release just came in with a few more details about this Sunday’s noon-2 pm kickoff celebration, including giveaway and music details – read on!Read More
(Skillet promotional clip from 8/2008 – find other clips on this YouTube channel)
The portable cuisine of Skillet may soon turn up on this side of the bay. Thanks to Clint for the tip – he saw it in the Skillet newsletter, and we found it repeated online:
additionally we are probably going to be moving away from our sunday fremont experiment and looking for a west seattle location… probably shooting for the 19th of the month
Clint adds, “If you’ve experienced Skillet’s cuisine, you’ll agree that having the trailer in our neighborhood would make for a superb take-home Sunday brunch. I’d be curious to see how many other WSB devotees feel the same way. Maybe we can convince Skillet that WS would make a good home.” We’ll see what more we can find out (meantime, you can explore their main info site here).
1 year, 2 buildings, 4 meetings, and it may all come down to tonight – or not. The most closely watched project in The Junction — Conner Homes‘ proposal for 2 buildings along the south side of Alaska from California to 42nd and one big garage beneath them both — returns to the Southwest Design Review Board tonight, almost a full year after its first turn before the board. Though Design Review is not the final stage of the process in which public comment is allowed, it IS the only stage in which you can stand up and offer your comments (relevant to design issues) in person. Here’s our coverage of the previous review March 12th; the one before that, May 2008; and the first one, April 2008. The city’s official project-status page is here. Tonight’s meeting is at West Seattle Christian Church, 6:30 pm.
Got the news via Twitter (thanks @rebekahdenn and @experiencewa) that Spring Hill Restaurant proprietor Mark Fuller is one of Food and Wine‘s 2009 Best New Chefs, one of 10 nationwide.
Just got that photo from John Smersh at Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) in the Admiral District, who noticed on his way home that Dante’s shoe store (near Zatz A Better Bagel on California just north of Admiral) has shut down. The signs direct deliveries and customers to the other Dante’s store in Olympia; the West Seattle phone number is already disconnected and forwarding to the Olympia number (which is on the store’s webpage).
Didn’t want to wait till daylight for a photo, once Matthew e-mailed us to point out the subtle alteration that’s been made on the sign at what’s been dubbed Hole-In-The-Ground Foods. (Added Thursday afternoon: The daylight view)
On the way back to WSB HQ from there, we did a double-take (and a pull-over) once we saw the sign at right: The first “Shop Cat” profile is being plugged on the West Seattle Nursery sign! If you missed the story of Seth, who holds court at WSN (by the way, you can meet him during the nursery’s annual Spring Open House on April 11, see it here. And watch for the next West Seattle “Shop Cat” profile either tomorrow or Friday.
First, out of the WSB inbox, from Robin:
Chief Sealth High School students and members of the Nature Consortium are hosting another work party at the West Duwamish Greenbelt. It will be held this Saturday April 4th from 10am to 2pm. We will meet in the Cooper Elementary School parking lot. We need all the help we can get, so come join us!
Second – this Saturday is also the monthly work party for Friends of Lincoln Park, who will meet at 9 am in the parking lot across from SW Rose. (Every week, we list work parties in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup, published on Friday mornings.)
(WSB photo from 3/4/09)
We photographed that scene just a month ago, as Seattle City Light continued a year-plus program of stepped-up tree trimming aimed at reducing weather-related outages, since many are caused by wind-spurred conflicts between tree limbs and power lines. But today, there’s word SCL will be cutting down on tree-cutting because of spending reductions; according to this news release, it’ll also mean longer times for street-light repairs (which already are running weeks behind, according to what we discovered in February) and longer wait times when you call the utility.
(WSB photo of city-owned grader doing snow-removal work 12/23/08)
As discussed during the post-Snowpocalypse ’08 debriefings, the city has promised to get more snow-removal backup lined up for future use. (Here’s our coverage of the January 6th hearing in which SDOT boss Grace Crunican revealed how little private help they actually summoned last December.) Toward that end, the city is now officially seeking proposals, due April 14, for private, on-call, on-retainer snow-removal help. So what are they looking for? Thinking it might make interesting reading on this snowflake-dotted day, we pulled a few excerpts – read on (or just go here to see the whole document):Read More
Just announced by Galena White, ringleader of the Delridge Produce Cooperative campaign: “This summer, Delridge Produce Cooperative wants to give away hundreds of reusable, compactible nylon tote bags to help get out the message, ‘I want a produce cooperative on Delridge!’ Reusable totes are environmentally sustainable, and are great for carrying home fresh produce. We are holding a contest for the best artistic design to put on the tote which expresses the theme, “I want a produce cooperative on Delridge!” The design should be less than a foot square and contain only the colors black and white. Full-size foldable designs can be dropped off at the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association office at 5411 Delridge Way SW. Put your submission in the envelope marked, “Delridge Produce Co-Op,” along with attached sheet with your full name, address, phone number and email address. Submissions are due by April 28th; 1st prize is $48, 2nd prize is $32, and 3rd prize is $16. Judges will be the board members of Delridge Produce Cooperative. All ages are welcome!”
One week ago today (WSB coverage here), that vacant North Delridge house in the 5400 block of 26th SW (map) was cleaned out by a city crew; it’s now slated to be auctioned off on April 17th foreclosure auction. The ongoing issue of Delridge-area problem properties – from vacant and squatter-besieged, to occupied but debris/deterioration-plagued – is one of the items on the agenda for tonight’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting, 6:30 pm at Delridge Library (map). NDNC co-chair Mike Dady, who has been working a long time to get the city to take notice of the issue, has finally succeeded, and we are now two days away from a tour he plans to lead of some of the problem spots (community members invited, meeting time/place is 2:30 pm Friday at Delridge Uptown Espresso). City Councilmember Sally Clark and Department of Planning and Development director Diane Sugimura have already RSVP’d, and since our original reports on this, the mayor’s public-safety liaison, Julien Loh, also has contacted Mike, who has invited the mayor to join the tour; a city attorney’s office rep is expected to be along too. (12:25 pm addition: We’re also told Councilmember Tim Burgess will be there, as will Department of Neighborhoods director Stella Chao.) One other development: The city’s Customer Service Bureau director has circulated a note reiterating city codes regarding properties like these — read on to see it (we’ve added inline links to the code sections she mentions):Read More
(video from WSB HQ added 9:45 am – mostly just to record the proof, for posterity)
Yes, that’s a bit of snow mixed in with the rain right now. Temperature’s currently a few degrees above freezing so not likely to get TOO serious, but the official forecast even mentions it. Last year, if you’ve forgotten, we saw snow as late as April 19th. 10:12 AM NOTE: According to comments also coming in via Twitter (@westseattleblog) – where even a religious leader is complaining about it – Facebook (WS Blog), and e-mail, this is happening all over the place – Tukwila, Kent, Everett, Bremerton, downtown, and myriad West Seattle neighborhoods.
ADDED 10:30 AM: Seems even the little ones have mixed feelings about our endless winter. This photo shared by Bronwyn in Belvidere seems to capture the ambivalence:
The Wednesday night speaker series at Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor), “Re-creating Community in Our Day,” concludes tonight with Michael Ramos from the Church Council of Greater Seattle discussing “The Promise and Pain of Diversity in Shaping Community.” 7 pm in the church fellowship hall, free, or come early for a simple supper (by donation) at 6 pm. (We had the privilege of being part of this series a few weeks ago; here’s our report from that night.)
First, from Matt Schlede at the West Seattle Family YMCA (WSB sponsor):
The West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA are now registering for youth t-ball/baseball, ages 4-10 year olds. Registration ends April 9th. One practice during the week, and one game one Saturdays at EC Hughes Park. Season starts April 27th. Financial assistance available. Register online at westseattleymca.org or in person at either YMCA; questions to mschlede@seattleymca.org
Second:
This announcement’s from Darin Smith:
The Hiawatha Tae Kwon Do Club is looking for new members for its ongoing classes at the Hiawatha Community Center in West Seattle. Adults (18 and older) can sign up to learn Tae Kwon Do, a Korean martial art known for its fast sparring techniques, dynamic forms, and strong kicks. The classes involve an International Tae Kwon Do (ITF) based style with emphasis on proper technique, physical fitness, and mental discipline. The club is focused on self-improvement in a non-competitive atmosphere that promotes unity, respect, and indomitable spirit. Classes cost $30/month and meet Mondays & Thursdays 7-8:30pm and Saturdays 11:15am-1:15pm. Beginners are definitely welcome and preferred; new students can join at any time! Please call (206) 684-7441 for questions or registration information.
This scene should be cleared soon but for the moment, it’s a little slow-going at 44th/Alaska, either westbound on Alaska or northbound on 44th, because a van went up on the sidewalk on the corner at Wells Fargo (background of photo above). It’s about to be towed away – not sure if the building is damaged till we see what happened when the van’s gone; no word of any injuries. (Thanks to everybody who called about this one – 206-293-6302 if news breaks and you’re away from your computer.) 6:16 PM UPDATE: An SDOT worker’s here now; the damage appears to include a knocked-down street sign and fire hydrant, as well as some lost shrubbery.
Earlier this month, Seattle Public Schools lawyers noted during a School Board meeting that a hearing was set April 1st on a court challenge to the district’s planned $1.8 million sale of the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (and part of its surrounding property) to the Fauntleroy Community Services Agency. Checking with the district this afternoon, we learned there’s no hearing tomorrow after all, because there’s been a preliminary ruling in the case: The district was told it indeed has the authority to sell the property, according to SPS spokesperson David Tucker, but they expect the case to move on to the Court of Appeals, which means it may not be settled till next year. We checked next with FCSA’s Kevin Wooley, who tells WSB that the group is now trying to decide “how to go forth” — if they close on the deal as planned, they could wind up in the middle of potentially costly litigation; if they don’t close on the deal as planned, some of the money they’ve secured from the city, state, and other sources could be in jeopardy. For now, Wooley says, they are going ahead as planned, and he says there’s no particular date right now by which they need to make a decision, but he says the court situation is “kind of disappointing” and ultimately “could mess up the whole sale.” The group that’s been suing to challenge district sales of property like the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse has contended that the district should keep the property for future school use; Wooley’s contention is that “we’ve been leasing the building for more than 20 years and there’s no way it’s ever going to be used again as a public school.”
We’ve received a couple of reports lately of parking rules being enforced in West Seattle neighborhoods where residents swear they’ve never seen a Parking Enforcement Officer before. As of a short time ago, that includes ours; we bolted out the front door upon spotting a PEO checking our license plates. COMPLETELY guilty of parking with our wheels touching the sidewalk, which is not raised on our miniblock, but that’s no excuse; she let us off with a warning, provided we moved the cars to comply. But given the reports we’ve had recently, we are publishing this note as a public service advising you to bone up on the parking rules if you also park on the street; you can read many of them here. If you’ve routinely parked closer to a stop sign than the signs say you’re supposed to, DON’T. Wheels on the sidewalk, like us? DON’T. Car pointed the wrong way? DON’T. Precinct leaders mentioned recently that another parking-enforcement officer was going to be headquartered at their facility soon and we’re checking to see if perhaps this officer has arrived, concurrent with this stepped-up activity. Meantime, besides the link mentioned earlier, here’s the complete Seattle Municipal Code parking section; we see the sidewalk rule we broke is here; the stop-sign rule we’ve undoubtedly broken before is here; the rule about pointing in the correct direction is here.
ADDENDUM: Southwest Precinct Lt. Steve Paulsen‘s reply to our question: The third PEO is NOT here in West Seattle yet; he adds, “We don’t direct our Parking Enforcement into the residential neighborhoods unless there are complaints coming in to 911 or parking enforcement. The priorities are business districts for the turnover of parking. We also provide priority to RPZ enforcement as well.”
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“One in five sixth graders in our state is drinking alcohol now. But only five percent of sixth grade parents think their kid is drinking.”
Sixth graders – drinking? A startling thought — maybe not in the abstract, but it is if you know a kid that age. They’re on the edge of teenhood, and yet they still have frequent moments sparking the thought, “Really, they’re still just kids.”
The quote is from Chris Volkmann, an Olympia mom who will be speaking at Madison Middle School in West Seattle on April 8 with her son Toren Volkmann; the two have written a book together, “Binge to Blackout.” Before you switch off into “oh, just more preachy stuff” mode, listen to Chris’s invitation: “Just come out and talk with us.”
Toren is 26 now but truly lucky to be alive. I hoped to talk with him before writing this story but missed a connection; nonetheless, Chris’s side of the story is no less compelling – and if you have a child of any age, her suggestions for a non-typical way of discussing drinking with your kid(s) are priceless.
First: A reminder that Conner Homes‘ two-building project in The Junction goes back for what could be its final round of Design Review (process explained here) this Thursday night, 6:30 pm, West Seattle Christian Church. After the March 12 review, all involved agreed to schedule this meeting as quickly as possible, including the two board members who technically were supposed to end their terms after the 3/12 meeting, but agreed to stay on till it was finalized, for continuity’s sake.
Speaking of board members, here are the two new ones who will join as of the following meeting (April 9th, Madison Middle School, 2988 SW Avalon and 4532 42nd SW): Norma Tompkins and Robin Murphy (screenshots from their appearance at the Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhoods Committee meeting earlier this month). While Tompkins is appointed as the “local residential representative” on the board and Murphy is appointed as “design professional representative,” both are trained architects, according to the biographical info in this month’s edition of city planners’ dpdInfo newsletter (see it here); Tompkins works as a production designer at Starbucks, Murphy works for the architecture firm Stricker Cato Murphy; both are West Seattleites.
One other note – Followed up on a WSB’er note asking what’s up now that more than two months have gone by since the last Design Review meeting for the redevelopment proposal at The Kenney (previous coverage of the project archived here).
We checked with Kenney CEO Kevin McFeely, who replied:
Basically, what is happening is that we are exploring the recommendations and suggestions that were discussed at the last meeting in January. This involves potentially moving the Seaview building to a different location on the campus and reducing the massing on the perimeter buildings to allow for a smoother transition into the neighborhood. At this time, I don’t have a sense when the next meeting will be, my hope is that it will take place within the next 4-6 weeks.
Once that next meeting is scheduled, you’ll find it on the city’s Design Review/Upcoming page for starters, even before the official notice appears in the Land Use Information Bulletin; our fellow development-watchers may be interested to note, that page’s format and features have just been updated. Upcoming reviews can be sorted by district, among other things, and meeting announcements now include the city’s own maps (like this one showing the location of Madison MS for the 4/9 meeting).
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