Hi All – Thanks to all the organizers, sellers and buyers that participated at our First Annual Block Sale on 20th Ave. We all had a fun day meeting new neighbors and shoppers and look forward to an even larger turn out next year. We are planning a second sale for this Saturday at the corner of 21st and Pine from 9am – 4pm. Some new folks and some from this past Saturday. We will be selling new and old stuff, tools, food items, clothes, collectables……… Hope you can swing by and thanks again for your support!
95 Apartments Planned for Jefferson and Broadway: Update
CD News reported earlier that the Department of Planning and Development is holding an Early Design Guidance meeting for a proposed new building at the Southeast corner of Broadway and Jefferson. The developer’s proposal for the EDG meeting is now available on the DPD Web site: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/AppDocs/GroupMeetings/DRProposal3010211AgendaID2759.pdf
The requested rezone is to request greater height than allowed by the current zoning on part of the site. The zoning is now split between a Neighborhood Commerical zone which allows 65 foot height, and the Midrise zone which allows 60 foot height. The contract rezone request is for up to 74 foot height for the proposed building.
The most important reason for the rezone request stated by the developer, Lorig Associates, is to allow the greater floor height appropriate for retail use on the Broadway and Jefferson street levels. The design scheme proposed by the developer notably includes street level retail spaces not only on Broadway but also for the the length of 65 feet on Jefferson (about 65% of the Jefferson Street total). Rather than devoting the Jefferson street level to the parking garage entrance, parking would be accessed from the alley that runs along the west side of the building. (The impressive excavation will accommodate a parking garage, but was necessary in order to remove contaminated soil.)
At the rear (west side), the building would provide a greater setback at the ground level, but the developer is asking for permission to have less setback at upper levels than the Land Use Code would require. This could impact the current and future buildings west of the alley.
The Early Design Guidance meeting, (July 15 at 6:30 P.M. at the Capitol Hill Library) is an important opportunity to learn more about the building and rezone proposal and to let the developer and DPD know what neighborhood folks think is important for this site.
Stolen bike recovered thanks to CDN!
I posted yesterday after I discovered my old commuter bike had been stolen off of my deck.
Another CDN reader, D. left me a phone message about some suspicious bike activity she had seen. D. and her son were out walking when they saw some (two?) people riding one bike and carrying another. She thought it looked suspicious so she took note of where they ended up, a house near an intersection not quite a half mile from my house.
I made sure my dog walk today went by this intersection and – sure enough – my bike was there in the yard. It had already had one wheel taken off and was spray-painted over the identifying decals.
I bee-lined back home and called the non-emergency line. Within a half hour, Officers Schmidt and Ball (Bell?) came by my house, took a description of the bike, and went to the address. They were back 10 minutes later with my bike, including the back wheel. Officer Schmidt obviously knows more about bikes than I do. He’d reattached the back wheel and from the odd front gear (a biopace), he correctly guessed that it dated from the early 1990s.
The officers said they just went and got the bike without any interaction with the residents. Apparently one of the home’s recent residents is known to them as a juvenile burglar, but they said there is no way to know who was responsible for my bike. They also observed some lawnmowers, weed wackers, and other “porch items” in the yard and planned to follow up with the burglary detail about whether any of those items were stolen.
I apologized to the officers for not having reported the bike yesterday (and felt like a bit of a jerk about it, since I did take the time to write a blog post). They reminded me that all crimes should be reported, since reported criminal activity helps us get more patrol officers in our area.
My bike is now home and locked up. The back tire needs to be fixed and I plan to head to 20/20 Cycles to keep the positive bike energy in the CD. Thanks to CDN, observant reader D., and the SPD for helping reunite me with my bike!
CD News Police Scanner – 7/14
From Seattle’s East Precinct, Tuesday, July 14. 2009
CD Rewind: The View From 1914
Vintage Seattle has another great find today, with an old photo of the Central District in 1914 taken from a spot near where Harborview Hospital stands today. It shows a very new Providence Hospital, a swath of vacant land between 14th & 12th, and a lot of houses that are probably still standing in the background.
Can you pick out yours? Click through to Vintage Seattle to zoom in on the full-size image.
Providence Hospital in the distance. Photo by Frank H. Nowell. Circa 1914. Image courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.
LCC Book & Rummage Sale this Saturday!!
The Leschi Community Council Annual Book & Rummage Sale and a special Diva Connection Sale will be held this Saturday, July 18th from 9-3 at the Central Area Senior Center at 500 30th Ave So. Books, clothing, household items and much, much more. Enjoy the view and the snacks. All proceeds benefit Leschi Elementary and Washington Middle schools and the Central Area Senior Center. Shop early! Shop often! Be generous!
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Donations for the sale are currently being accepted by Diane and Jim Snell (206) 726-0923. Donations can also be dropped off at the Senior Center between 8-10 a.m. on Saturday.
Urban Agriculture: Making good use of public space
Seattle is full of area markets and huge amounts of fresh, local produce. But for some, the satisfaction of eating great, sustainable food is not enough. For the third installment of urban agriculture in the Central District, CDNews visited the home of Dana Belkhom and Jude Ovalles. Over the last 9 years, Dana and Jude have created a monster garden that nearly engulfs their Jefferson Street home. Dana has even pulled out less than average plants to make room for more quality flowers. But their latest investment was the most intriguing part about Dana and Jude’s garden. This year, they purchased and set up three 12 ft. planters outside of their fences, in the parking strip just past the sidewalk.
“It’s been a great spring for it,” says Dana. Despite an in increase water usage, he has had great success with the huge variety of plants that are in the planter. Tomatoes, green beans, beets, Bok Choy, eggplant, basil, sage, zucchini, pumpkins; even watermelons. Dana and Jude generally use their crops for personal use, but the public space of the parking strip may lead to some “borrowers”. They weren’t too concerned with people walking by and taking a cherry tomato, but “we just don’t want people using it as their grocery store,” said Jude.
Originally, Dana shied away from parking strip planters. “They just recently eased restrictions on planting. No more inspections. The new rules make sense,” says Dana. The department of transportation encourages planting anything besides certain trees in the parking strip, but using raised planters similar to Dana’s and Jude’s requires a free street use permit. Most restrictions on this sort of planting deal with how much space the plants take up, as a safety precaution. Depending on the wood used in the planters and the type of crops you plant, start-up cost can be anywhere from $50 to $300. Maintenance, as with any other type of garden, is usually limited to watering once a day and weeding once a week.
The full text of the planting strip law can be found here.
Squire Park Community Council puts on a great weekend BBQ, meeting
Central District neighbors brought together food, fun and community progress last Saturday at the annual Squire Park community barbecue at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center. With a bouncy castle, halal and veggie burgers, and lots of shade, the get-together attracted all kinds, including mayoral candidate Jan Drago, King County Executive candidate Larry Phillips, as well as other candidates for local offices.
The event included a meeting of the Squire Park Community Council focused on the development of the youth detention center at 12th and Alder and the overall progress of the vitalization of 12th Ave. Paul Sherfey, the Chief Administrative Officer for King County Superior Court, and Jim Burt, a Project Manager for King County Facilities Management, were at the meeting to bring the community up-to-date on the progress of the court complex. “We want to make sure that we develop a project that is consistent with the community,” said Burt. He explained the nearly fifty-year-old complex is too small, and simply outdated for the needs of the growing community. Sherfey added that on top of creating more courtrooms, offices and parking, the plan includes space to address the complex family matters that come up during youth litigation. To make room, Burt explained that the county plans to take down the Alder wing and Alder tower facilities that currently reside there, but the semi-new detention center is still adequate, and will remain.
Community concerns from the citizens in attendance included a combination of aesthetics, cost and time. Burt assured the attendees that there would not be a building that towers over the rest of the community, but neighbors at the meeting still had concerns over a possible multiple story parking structure. Burt said that an alternative underground parking garage would cost a great deal more on top of the $85 to $185 million-dollar price tag forecasted for the project. But time remained a prominent issue, as Burt explained the wheels of the planning process are projected to still be rolling through 2010. John O. Perry, an advocate for 12th Ave. development since 1992 and a member of the 12th Ave. Development Stewardship Committee was convinced he would not see it completed in his lifetime. “It’s going very, very slowly,” said Perry.
SPCC Secretary Bill Zosel has high hopes for the entire 12th Ave. district, looking forward to more mixed use development, small scale residencies and retail, and the streetcar(maybe some links to our stories on the streetcar). The development of the court facility adds yet another stakeholder into the battle for the route of the car. Michael Kerns, the Associate Vice President of Facilities Administration for Seattle University said he supports research into a 12th Ave. route, commenting on the power of a streetcar over neighbors, workers, and students alike. “It could accomplish community involvement goals as well as transportation goals,” he said.
The meeting then adjourned to the barbecue. With three grills fired up, the volunteer cooks had no trouble providing for the huge line of people craving hot dogs, hamburgers, pasta and potato salad. After everyone had food, candidates including Drago, Phillips, Rob Holland for Seattle Port Commission, David Miller for Seattle City Council, and Joanna Cullen for Seattle Schools Director began mingling with the crowd. While none of the candidates could comment on the record about the possible 12th Ave streetcar alignment, Central District resident Michael Hintze was attending the event and just happened to be an Urban Planner. From his experience, Hintze said that streetcar routes spur development, and revitalize neighborhoods.
A number of Central District News readers were in attendance with a few people having heard about the event on the CDNews event calendar.
another stolen bike – old black specialized w/ rainbow decal
Sorry to post with bad news, but I’m hoping the CDNews eyes-on-the-street might help me recover my commuting bike. It was stolen off my (fenced and gated) back deck last night, in the 26th and Yesler area. It’s almost 20 years old, heavy, creaky, and worth maybe $30, but it was recently tuned up, the first bike I bought with my own money, and how I got to work and back these days.
It’s a black specialized cross/hybrid with dark pink lettering. There was a small rainbow pride flag decal and some really ancient toe straps patched in places with electrical tape. If you see it, I’d appreciate a heads-up to 206-372-7034.
Thanks!
-JRo
Police activity Saturday night at the Shell on Rainier & Charles?
There was an extensive “manhunt” Saturday evening that appeared to be centered at Rainier & Charles, but police were searching in the I-90 Lid Park & Judkins as well. Any idea what was up, who they were searching for?