Beacon Hill Blog

North Beacon Hill Council meeting this Thursday

The North Beacon Hill Council monthly meeting is this Thursday, at 7:00 pm at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South.

Here’s the agenda, as sent by Judith Edwards to the Beacon Hill Mailing List:

The North Beacon Hill Council Meeting will be a short one this month, as we must be out of the Library by 8:00. Though short, it’s very important.

Planning Director Ray Gastil of the Seattle Department of Planning and Development will be with us. Ray chairs the inter-departmental team that is updating our Neighborhood Plans.

On Saturday many of us met with Ray and others to provide input to the Station Area planning and ultimately, our Neighborhood Plans. Ray is meeting with us to answer these questions:

1. How can the community stay involved in the process, particularly concerning how the information gained at Saturday’s workshop is incorporated into our existing neighborhood plan and matrix?

2. What are realistic time lines for different phases of the planning process? How do zoning updates, review by other city departments, Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan, etc. affect this timeline?

3. How can we build a collaborative and trusting relationship with your department and others in the city? What can we expect from you? What do you expect from us?

Please plan to attend this important meeting. The agenda is as follows:

7:00 Hellos, Introductions, Announcements
7:15 Ray Gastil, Director, office of Planning and Development, City of Seattle
7:25 Q&A with Ray
7:40 Community Concerns – due to our limited time frame there will be no police visit this month.
7:55 Close

Tags: nbhc

Blue wall removal begins; schedule and details announced

In December, Sound Transit told us the big blue noise wall around the light rail station site would be coming down in “February or March,” and suggested that it would more likely be earlier than later. In February we saw the first section of the wall come down. Now, just barely still in March, the removal of the rest of the wall is finally happening. Sound Transit says:

“As early as Tuesday, March 31, Sound Transit’s contractor, Obayashi Corporation will begin removal of the blue noise wall that surrounds the site of the Beacon Hill light rail station.

“The first phase will include the removal of the blue noise wall starting with the northernmost sections along Beacon Ave S., 17th Ave S and S. Lander Street… The second phase will include removing the remainder of the blue noise wall on the south end of the property. The second phase is currently scheduled for the middle of May to early June. Once the blue noise wall is down, the site will be secured by a chain link fence. As a result, residents may experience increased noise from construction activities.

“Pedestrians should use caution while using the sidewalk on the eastside of Beacon Ave (that borders the blue noise wall) as pedestrian access will be moved safely around the work site.

“The noisier activities (such as jack-hammering) will take place during the day, and will be restricted to the hours of 7:00 am to 5:00pm.

“Construction activities expected between the hours of 5:00 pm and 10:00 pm include the installation of brick veneer, site and roadway (S. Lander St.) restoration, plaza paving and landscaping.

“No surface-level construction activity is expected between 10:00 pm and 7:00 am.

“Sound Transit will continue to monitor construction noise levels and any activity whose noise is outside of acceptable limits will be restricted to the hours between 7:00 am and 5:00 pm.

“If you have any construction-related concerns, please call Sound Transit’s construction hotline at 1-(888) 298-2395.”

A map of the affected area is located in Sound Transit’s PDF.

Some portions of the wall already seem to be coming down, as seen in Jason’s photo above.

Tags: beacon avenue s, construction, light rail station, north beacon

Neighborhood plan update comments

If you attended this morning’s meeting about updating the neighborhood plan at El Centro, I’d like to invite you to comment on what you saw there, and how you feel about the direction things are headed. Was there something that was missed? Something that needs particular attention? How’d you like the food? What worked well about this meeting? What should be done differently for the next one coming up in May? What did you hear that you liked? Disliked? Want more information about? Pretty much anything.

A few of my thoughts: The room was too small and too loud with all the groups working at once. The food (from Kusina Filipina and… er… Dahlak? Please, someone confirm or correct — I seem to have misplaced their card) was great. The ideas discussed were good, most of them were much in-line with what had been in the plan previously. P-I boxes to flower boxes is an entertaining idea. I’d like hear more about ‘micro villages’ outside the formal Urban Village area.

This isn’t an official feedback route to the city, but we’d love to hear what you think!

Update: Freddie Merrell has a pretty relevant comment she just added to an older article here.

Tags: comment, el centro, feedback

Beacon Bits: Lunch planning

• Hungry Girl visits Lunch Counter
• ColorsNW on the Presidential vegetable garden and the Beacon Ave P-Patch
• House values down 12 percent in Beacon Hill notes the Ballard News Tribune
• Eat The State is looking for south-end distributors
• And don’t forget about the Transit-Oriented Development meeting Saturday starting at 9

Tags: garden, housing, lunch counter, p-patch, planning

NBHC looking for directors and volunteers

North Beacon Hill Council Chair Judith Edwards writes to the mailing list:

Several North Beacon Hill Council Directors positions will be open in 2009. Nominations for these positions will be brought forward at the May Council meeting. Residents of the community and business owners in the service area are invited and encouraged to fill these positions.

The North Beacon Council (NBHC) is a voice for our neighborhood, building relationships with City Council members, and City departments, applying for or acting as a fiscal agent for grants that result in improvements to North Beacon Hill such as stairway cleanup/enhancement, pedestrian crossings, public spaces, etc. These are some of the skills the Council is looking for:

1. Someone with the ability to update and add new members to an existing webpage – and we’d be open to someone re-designing the page, making it really pop!
2. A willingness to take minutes at meetings and provide them to the web-site monitor for posting to the website.
3. Someone to act as a fundraising chair – getting people excited about an occasional fund raiser for the Council – a great position for an idea person!
4. Someone to act as a liaison to media outlets, seeing that meetings and events are published, media attention is brought to the community in a positive way. This is a great opportunity for someone who wants to establish media contacts!
5. Someone to monitor and report to the council zoning requests/changes which will have or do have an impact on the BH area.
6. And many other skills!

Directors are elected to two year terms, and are expected to attend one (1) meeting per month, on the first Thursday of each month. These volunteer positions offer a great opportunity for leadership in the community and a chance to be part of the exciting changes which Beacon Hill will see in the coming years. Sorry, no recompense – only glory! Interested? Contact Judith Edwards, NBHC Chair, by emailing judedw@comcast.net.

Thanks, Judith!

Tags: directors, nbhc, volunteers

BeHi Bonsai on safari

Neighborhood hedge sculpture enthusiast blog BeHi Bonsai took an eighteen mile hike around the hill, capturing over 400 images of… well, mostly bushes, but also much, much more! As a teaser for the upcoming topiary treasures to be revealed, you’re invited to check out a movie compressing the hours of walking into under a minute and a half. (It’s got a nice soundtrack, too.)

See if you can spot your block, and put BeHi Bonsai in your bookmarks or feed reader to stay abreast of the best in Beacon Hill greenery.

Tags: bonsai, bushes, movie, walk

Early spring on Beacon Hill

Photos posted recently to the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr are showing a hint of spring. Thanks, neighbors, for taking such wonderful photos!

Celebration of pedestrian improvements near Cleveland HS, March 27

The area just south of Cleveland High School on Swift Avenue South is notoriously pedestrian-unfriendly to students and others walking there. Fortunately, there are improvements coming to the area.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is completing a sidewalk improvement at the Metro bus stop on Swift Avenue South at 19th Avenue South. This will widen the 3-foot wide sidewalk to 9-feet wide at the bus stop. This sidewalk widening is part of a larger project that also includes a new lighted bus shelter, a new southbound bike lane, guardrail improvements, new school zone signs, and approximately 270 street trees in the neighborhood around Cleveland.

To celebrate these improvements, SDOT is hosting an event
next Friday, March 27 at 1:00 pm at the corner of South Orcas Street and 16th Avenue South. Grace Crunican, the Director of SDOT, will join approximately 30 school children from nearby Maple Elementary School to plant approximately 30 trees on South Orcas Street. The Mayor may possibly attend as well.

Thanks to Steve Louie for the information!

View Larger Map

Tags: cleveland hs, pedestrians, sdot, swift avenue

Williams appointed as Aki Kurose principal

Mia Williams has been appointed by Seattle Public Schools as principal of Aki Kurose Middle School for the 2009-2010 school year. Williams is the current interim principal at Aki Kurose, and served as assistant principal at Denny Middle School for four years and assistant principal at Salmon Bay K-8 School for three years. She received the Distinguished Assistant Principal of the Year Award for 2002-2003.
Aki Kurose is located near Beacon Hill in the Rainier Valley, at 3928 South Graham.

Tags: aki kurose, schools

North Beacon Hill neighborhood planning workshop next Saturday

The North Beacon Hill neighborhood planning workshop we’ve mentioned before is next Saturday. Judith Edwards sends this timely reminder:

“What do you want Beacon Hill to look like in five years? Ten?
What about the plans that were made at the Pancake Breakfast last November? What’s happening with Jefferson Park? What kind of development is going to occur on the Hill? These and many more topics will be explored in the City of Seattle Neighborhood Plan Updates meeting on Saturday, March 28th. Your ideas are important! Please join your neighbors to talk about the changes that are coming to Beacon Hill, and the changes you would like to see.

‘Child care will be provided, as well as Interpretation services in Amharic, Cantonese, Khmer, Mandarin, Oromifa, Spanish, Somali,Tagalog, Tigrinya and Vietnamese. If you are in need of special accommodations or interpretation services, please contact Kerry Wade at 206-733-9088, or email her at kerry.wade@seattle.gov.”

This meeting is to begin the process of possible revision to the North Beacon Hill neighborhood plan, in light of possible changes from the arrival of light rail.

Need to get an idea what’s at stake? The existing neighborhood plan is online, here. The survey answers from last year’s Pancake Breakfast are here. (Thanks to David Gackenbach for sending us the latter file.)

Tags: neighborhood plans, north beacon

Culinary Communion shutting down

Apparently due to a combination of business slowdown, construction, and permitting issues, Culinary Communion is closing. Future classes are canceled, and refunds will be issued… eventually. (And some flexibility is being asked for.) The Lunch Counter will not close, and will reopen March 23rd. The Swinery, pending further permit approval, will also continue, and may take over the lease of the building. Equipment will be sold-off (cash only) Saturday, March 21, from 2-6 pm.

The long farewell letter from Gabriel and Heidi with all the details is on the front page of the Culinary Communion website.

Thanks to Chris Bailey for the tip.

Tags: culinary communion, lunch, swinery

Real estate agents buzz about Beacon Hill

Is the rumored increase in demand for property on Beacon Hill (particularly around the North Beacon light rail station) starting to kick in? Two local real estate blogs have recently touted Beacon Hill as the place to be.

In Seattle Homes and Life:

“When people ask me where I think it would be wise to invest, I point their sights south to Beacon Hill. Otherwise known as NoBeHi or SoBeHi, North/South Beacon Hill has incredible values and views with unbelievable proximity to downtown’s core. With the Light Rail on its way, it is one more reason this much overlooked neighborhood needs a second chance.”

In DealsInSeattle.com:

“One ingredient that makes a deal a deal is knowing about something that is going to be popular before it becomes popular. Right now there are not a lot of people, even in Seattle, that know much about North Beacon Hill. It is one of the few undiscovered neighborhoods left in Seattle. It is my opinion that very soon that is all going to change. The main reasons for this upcoming change is its location to Downtown Seattle (5 minutes away – and no need to use the freeway), I-5, and I-90 (easy access to the Eastside), and the soon to open North Beacon Hill light rail station.”

Will Beacon Hill be “discovered”? People have been predicting it for years, but now that the light rail is opening there may actually be some new momentum. Time will tell.

Tags: light rail station, north beacon, property values, real estate

Beacon Hill past and present: Hothouse no more

At first glance this is one of the less-recognizable past/present photos we have. In 1923, there was a considerable amount of farming in this lower Beacon Hill/upper Rainier Valley area, an Italian neighborhood, but now this spot just off Rainier Avenue, in the 1800 block of 21st Avenue South, is just a big ugly warehouse.

Still, something has survived. See the apartment building behind Mr. Ditore’s hot house? If you move just a bit further north on 21st, you can see it:

It’s the blue apartment building shown here. The house directly south of the apartment building made it to the 21st century, but, sadly, was just recently demolished. (You can still see it — a charming little bungalow – in Google’s Street View, though. The house seen in our photo just south of the apartment building is not the same house — it’s one lot further south.)

The Polk Directory for Seattle in 1923 lists Antonio Ditore, a gardener, and his wife Grace residing at this address. Though the 1923 photo is captioned “E. Ditore,” this seems likely to be Antonio. You can read more about Antonio Ditore, one of the farmers who sold at the Pike Place Market on its opening day in 1907, and see a picture of him years later with his garlic crop. (Scroll down to the post by John Ditore.)

Tags: farming, italians on beacon hill, past and present

Commentary: Is It neighborhood planning?

(The existing neighborhood plans for the Beacon Hill, Othello, and Mount Baker light rail station areas are in the process of being revised. Frederica Merrell attended the recent Othello neighborhood plan update and has some things to say about the process, and the upcoming North Beacon Hill meeting.)

By Frederica Merrell

The City held its first “neighborhood planning” update meeting for the Othello neighborhood on Saturday, March 14. I went to observe part of their process. I was interested in whether the meetings were representative of the community; how scope, planning areas, and discussions were organized; whether people were provided with information on the previous plan recommendations; and whether comments were accurately recorded. For people interested in how our update process on Beacon Hill might look initially, here is what I observed (I didn’t stay for the wrap-up).

I arrived at about 10:00 am; about one hour after the meeting had started. I spoke with a consultant at the door who told me that the first hour was dedicated to an introduction and a summary of the previous plan effort. I asked if the participants were provided with the neighborhood plan. There was one summary of the plan at each of six tables. None of the plan summaries were translated. There were no copies of the matrix of recommendations provided to participants.
More »

Tags: light rail station, neighborhood plans, north beacon

Early morning shotgun blast

The Seattle Police Department’s blotter reports:

On March 13th at 4:41 a.m., South Precinct patrol officers responded to the 1300 block of 15th Avenue S to a report of a mentally ill man starting a fire in his yard. The complainant reported that the man also had a shotgun.

Upon arriving in the area, officers reported hearing a gun shot. Officers contacted the suspect and took him into custody without incident. The suspect told officers that he accidentally dropped a shotgun shell into the fire causing it to it explode. Further investigation revealed that the spent shell was located in the chamber of the shotgun. Officers did not detect any injuries or property destruction caused by the gun shot.

The suspect was transported to Harborview Medical Center for a mental health evaluation. The shotgun was seized and placed into evidence.

Tags: fire, gunfire, morning, shotgun

Four vehicle crash injures pedestrians, driver at Beacon and Columbian

The Seattle P-I reports that a vehicle-pedestrian collision was reported just before 2:30 pm today at Beacon Avenue South and South Columbian Way. Police are investigating the incident.

Edited to add further info:

KOMO 4 has a photo and further information. A 60 year old woman driving near the above intersection collided with another car, then veered into a grocery store parking lot and hit two women there. One pedestrian has broken bones, and the driver and the other pedestrian have minor injuries.

Edited yet again, 10:19pm::

The accident was worse than KOMO’s information stated. According to Seattle Police, four vehicles were involved in the collision, and there were life-threatening injuries to at least two people. An 81-year-old woman driving a Lexus sedan lost control of her car while attempting to back out of a parking space in the parking lot on the northwest corner of Beacon and Columbian. Then she hit a woman who had been a passenger in her car, then continued backward, striking another car and pinning its driver, then hit yet another vehicle. The driver of the Lexus and one of the pedestrians were transported to Harborview with life-threatening injuries; the other pedestrian was transported to Harborview with non-life-threatening injuries. Police are still investigating the accident.

Beacon and Columbian was not the best intersection to pass through this afternoon. Half an hour after the earlier accident, a 30-year-old man on a moped was struck by an SUV. The moped driver was also taken to Harborview with non-fatal injuries.

View Larger Map

Tags: accidents

Beacon Ave street work this weekend

SDOT’s Marybeth Turner wrote to let us all know:

SDOT crews will repair roadway pavement in the 5300 block of Beacon Avenue South on Saturday, March 14, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Southbound vehicles and bikes on Beacon Avenue South will be detoured at South Bennett Street to Columbia Drive South, returning to Beacon Avenue at S Brandon Street. Northbound traffic will not be affected.

View Larger Map
Thanks Marybeth!

Tags: closure, construction, repair, sdot, streets, weekend

Fire causes temporary closure of Beacon Avenue

At 12:22 this morning there was a reported fire in a single-family residence on the 3300 block of Beacon Avenue South. Many units responded, and Beacon Avenue South was closed between Hanford and Spokane streets. Metro has rerouted Beacon Avenue buses onto 15th Avenue South between McClellan and Spokane street until Beacon reopens. The fire does not appear to be major.

Update: Beacon Avenue South has been reopened in both directions.

Tags: beacon avenue s

“Bonsai” blogging on Beacon

A Beacon Hill resident with the nom de blog “bloggersucks” has started a blog, BeHi Bonsai, on a rather unusual topic — the sleekly — and sometimes oddly — sculpted hedges and trees found in the yards of some local homes.

“The Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle has some funky bushes. I’m not sure exactly where the aesthetic comes from, there is an obvious Asian aesthetic but I think that it goes much further than that and seems to have a funky Seattle twist. This blog is dedicated to exploring the excessive and amazing topiary designs of this area.”

Tags: blogs, gardening, hedges, topiaries, yards

Lost a cockatiel?

Jeffrey Cornish writes:

“At approximately 1500 hrs on Saturday, I (Jeffrey D. Cornish) while on patrol around the Amazon.com building observed a yellow cockatiel on the sidewalk beside one of the concrete columns on 12th Ave in front of Quarters #10 at the intersection of 12th Ave and Judkins. I called Animal Control and Officer Matthew Belue responded and picked up the bird.

“If you need the incident # or the report you can call Wright Runstad & Company Security and we can furnish this information. The bird was transported to the animal shelter at approximately 1525.”

You can reach Wright Runstad & Company Security at 206-255-3974.

Tags: amazon, animals, birds