Monthly Archives: January 2011

Clean and Green, Volunteering and Giving

Park cleanup and orchard projects coming soon

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Volunteers in a mulch bucket brigade at the Cheasty Greenspace MLK Day work party last year. Photo courtesy of EarthCorps.
It may be winter, but volunteer activities in Beacon Hill’s parks are ongoing.

Neighbor Lenny Larson posted to the Beaconhill mailing list about Lewis Park, at the north end of the Hill:

Even in this off season inclement winter weather, work is going on in little Lewis Park. Crews have been busy removing the invasive laurel and ivy plants and putting in ground cover to prevent erosion in the ravines. Further, a crew has been working with the foundation for the eventual kiosk along 15th Avenue South at the 14th Street “Y.” To be completed by mid-January. More ground cover/compost material will be spread on the upper south area of the park on MLK day, January 17th.

There is still much work to be done in the lower east side of the park, with further removal of invasive plants, but planting of native plant species will begin in early spring, when we will look forward to more people in our neighborhood, and groups will volunteer to help with this worthwhile renewal project that will make Lewis Park the jewel entrance to Beacon Hill from the city.

Nearby at Dr. Jose Rizal Park, and further south at the Cheasty Greenspace and Dearborn Park, EarthCorps is organizing MLK Weekend of Service work parties. Last year, 266 volunteers showed up to help improve the Cheasty Greenspace—see them here.

This year’s event starts at at Dr. Jose Rizal Park on Saturday, January 15, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Volunteers will continue work to reclaim the forest area of the park, including mulching, planting trees and other native species, and doing trail maintenance. You can sign up to participate here.

On Sunday, January 16, volunteers will move to Dearborn Park from 10:00 to 2:00. Sign up here. Then on Monday, January 17, the work party moves to Cheasty Greenspace from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm. Sign up for the Cheasty volunteer party here.

Craig Thompson reports news about orchard projects in area parks:

On January 22, Saturday, 10:30 – 12:30 am, City Fruit will conduct a training class for volunteers working on the orchard projects it has selected as part of a city-wide program. It will be held at the Jefferson Community Center, and is open to all who wish to volunteer on these projects. The orchard at Dr. Jose Rizal Park was selected as a model, sustainable, organic orchard for Seattle.

The fruit tree steward workshop will address basic tree biology (why are roots so important?), orchard management month by month, and basic orchard safety (how not to fall off a ladder). Our instructor is Ingela Wanerstrand, owner of Green Darner Garden Design. She specializes in edibles, has been working with fruit trees for more than 15 years, is an active Friend of Piper’s Orchard in Carkeek Park, and is a wonderful teacher.

Come February 19, City Fruit will hold a pruning workshop for stewards in the orchard at Dr. Jose Rizal Park. Significant work has been done in the orchard area over the last six months, including brush removal, initial pruning, typing, and even a small harvest of winesaps. A gate has been put in at the southeast corner of the off-leash area fence, just off the access trail. With the Mountains to Sound Greenway project going through the park this year, the OLA will be reconfigured, so more forest will be added to the woods, and the orchard will become a separate feature for the park.

Arts

ROCKiT space moving forward

ROCKiT space, the music and arts community organization, has formed a board and they are working with Shunpike to continue growing as a non-profit with 501c3 status. Founder Jessie McKenna is on the board, but stepping down from the Director position for now. Betty Jean Williamson is the interim director.

Williamson tells us, “We will continue our neighborhood audit and culminate it with an open house at the Washington State Federation of Garden Clubs Headquarters house TBA. This will be a chance for all stakeholders for community arts, gardening and improvement group to meet, brainstorm and collaborate. Any group interested in attending should contact me at bjwlmp@msn.com.”

See the ROCKiT space website for other news and events.

Urban Planning

DPD decides on antenna, Buddhist Center applications

The Director of the Department of Planning and Development has announced a Determination of Non-Significance for the construction of a Clearwire antenna site on the roof of a building at 2356 15th Avenue South, the northeast corner of 15th and Bayview.

Further south at 1731 South Horton Street, DPD has granted an Administrative Conditional Use Permit to allow a change of use of two units in the basement of an apartment building to a Zen Buddhist Meditation Center. The site is currently zoned for single-family residential use.


The building at 1731 South Horton Street. See larger map here.

Opinion

Opinion: Service Center should become community information space

The Neighborhood Service Center in the Library is closing -- but could it continue to be a neighborhood resource? Photo by go-team in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
As the saying goes, “When one door closes, another opens.”

As part of budget cuts within the Department of Neighborhoods, North Beacon Hill is losing our Community Service Center in the Beacon Hill Library. Steve Louie is moving to the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center. He will work in coordination with three other District Coordinators to serve the Southeast, Greater Duwamish, Delridge, and Southwest Districts as a team.

The North Beacon Hill Neighborhood Council voted unanimously last Wednesday to request that the recently vacated office become a volunteer-run information sharing space. The location is accessible, highly visible, and already identified as a gathering/information space in the community. A community audit showed strong interest in maintaining a space for information sharing, meetings, assistance with grant applications, and general liaisons between neighbors and city programs.

The space would be shared with staff from City agencies such as the Department of Neighborhoods, Department of Planning and Development, etc. Volunteers from a variety of community organizations (including the NBHC, Beacon Arts, Beacon Merchants Association, and others) would staff the space.

Please contact the Mayor’s office and city council members to support the idea of maintaining a publicly accessible space to share information and stay connected with what’s happening in Beacon Hill and the rest of the city.

You can write, call, email, tweet, or post on facebook. Our elected officials are accessible—access them and let them know that Beacon Hill wants to use this space!

Education

Toddler classes starting soon at Van Asselt CC

Parents of toddlers on South Beacon Hill, this one’s for you. Van Asselt Community Center is hosting new classes for toddlers and their parents.

In the Parent/Toddler Movement class (18 months – 3 years old), parents/caregivers and their toddlers will explore space through creative movement using props and fun music. The class is Tuesdays, March 1 – March 29, from 11:00 – 11:45 am. Cost is $25.

The Creative Movement class (3 – 5 years old) works to establish body awareness, flexibility, coordination, basic motor skills, and a positive self-image, using age-appropriate music and props while exploring dance concepts such as pathways, rhythms, space, and shapes. Students will also be introduced to basic ballet terminology and steps. This class is Tuesdays, March 1 – March 29, from Noon – 1:00 pm. Cost is $30.

Lastly, Toddler Play Time (for ages up to 5 years old) provides a gym full of children’s toys. Parental supervision is required. Play Time is on Wednesdays, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm; Fridays, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm, and on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month, also from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Cost for Toddler Play Time is $2 per child.

Van Asselt Community Center is located at 2820 South Myrtle Street. To register for classes, please call the center directly at 206-386-1921, or register online via the SPARC system.

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Potholes, parents, and all-you-can-eat pancakes

Walking and driving have been treacherous during our recent cold snap, particularly in places like this 14th Avenue location where there seems to be some kind of water leak. Photo by Robert Kangas in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
The Friends of Cheasty Greenspace at Mt. View, together with Cascade Land Conservancy and Washington Conservation Corps, are co-hosting a Martin Luther King Jr. service day on Monday, January 17 from 10:00 am to 12 noon. All are welcome to help, including families with children (it’s a school holiday). To participate, meet at 2809 South Alaska Place, one block west of Columbia City Station. Volunteers will work on forest restoration and invasive species removal. Gloves and tools will be provided.

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Mmmmm, pancakes. MMMMMMMMmmm, all-you-can-eat pancakes for $5! The Cleveland High School softball team is hosting a pancake fundraiser on Saturday, January 9 from 9:00 – 11:00 am. Breakfast is served at the Cleveland cafeteria, the same building where the gym is located. Questions? Email Kyrsten at klpratt@seattleschools.org.

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We previously mentioned that Gage Academy of Art is offering free drop-in art classes for teens aged 13-18 in the Rainier Valley. We have more information about the classes now. January’s classes are “Imaginative Plaster Forms” with Katrina Wolfe, February’s are “Cut It Out” (cut paper in two and three dimensions) with Celeste Cooning, and March features “Explorations in Paint” with Jeanne Dodds.

Classes are on Saturdays at The 2100 Building, 2100 24th Avenue South. Classes will be from 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm. For more information, call 206-323-GAGE. Art materials and pizza will be provided.

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There is a new Yahoo group/listserv for Beacon Hill parents. Go here to join and chat with your fellow parents in the neighborhood.

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BHB contributor Joel Lee’s blog, BeHi Bonsai, was featured in The Seattle Times (BHB news partners) a few days ago:

“‘You can’t drive down a block on Beacon Hill without seeing them,’ says Joel Lee of the plant sculptures he refers to as bonsai on his popular neighborhood blog. Lee moved to the area a couple of years ago, drawn by the promise of light rail and the Jefferson Park expansion. But as soon as he started walking his dog around the neighborhood, he became fascinated by the display of sheared and shaped plants.”

Unfortunately, author Valerie Easton seemed a bit put off by the Hill’s topiary art.

The Times is also hosting a “map the potholes” project. There are a few Beacon Hill potholes already included, such as the “giant holes heading west on Holgate at approx 14th” (we hit that one a couple of weeks ago—ouch!), but if your most annoying tooth-rattler isn’t listed, please add it.

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There’s a yoga and EFT Workshop, “Rejuvenate your Energy in 2011,” this Saturday, January 8 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Jun Hong Kung Fu and Sports Association, 4878 Beacon Avenue South. Find out more and register for class on the event website.

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Neighbor Robert Kangas has noted some extreme water leakage along 14th Avenue South, west of Jefferson Park. The leaks caused some dangerous ice patches. He posted a series of photos here. In discussion on the Beacon Hill mailing list last week, some folks noted a history of artesian wells on the Hill, and suggested that these are the source of some of the leaks around the neighborhood. Others think it’s a leaky water main.

If you notice a potential water leak on public or private property, you can report it by calling 206-386-1800, and Seattle Public Utilities will then check it out.

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The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is hosting three free workshops to educate neighborhood groups and community organizations on the funding process and requirements for the Large Projects Fund, the matching fund that awards up to $100,000 for community projects. Next Tuesday, January 11, there’s a workshop in Southeast Seattle, at the Rainier Community Center, 4600 38th Avenue South. The workshop is from 6:00-8:00 pm. More information about the Large Projects Fund and the three workshops may be found here.

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Sustainable South Seattle is hosting the third of a workshop series dedicated towards creating a climate co-op for South Seattle neighborhoods. The event is Wednesday, January 26 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm at the Southside Commons, 3518 South Edmunds Street. Food, refreshments, and childcare will be provided. Please RSVP by emailing climate.coop@gmail.com.

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A new co-ed a cappella group is forming on Beacon Hill, with auditions this month according to a current post on craigslist.org:

We are looking for:
Men and women who are positive, fun and excited about performing and singing harmony. We will possibly be doing 1 to 2 gigs per month starting in the Spring.

We want to be:
16 in total. (We have 10 right now) Put together performances that are tight musically, visually and are funny and entertaining to most people. You don’t have to dance or want to make a fool of yourself, but it is a bonus. Diverse in anyway possible—age, race, musical background, sexuality…

See the ad for more info.

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A couple of changes to liquor licenses on the Hill occurred last month. The Station coffee house at 2533 16th Avenue South was approved for a license as a “direct shipment receiver – in WA only.” But every new beginning is some other beginning’s end: on the same day, the liquor license for the ill-fated Tasha’s Bistro Café was discontinued.

City Services

Neighborhood Service Center closed, changes coming

Cuts to the city’s budget have led to the closure of the Greater Duwamish Neighborhood Service Center, located in the Beacon Hill Library on North Beacon Hill. District Coordinator Steve Louie will be relocated across the bridge to the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center. He sent out the following letter with information about the closure and the resulting changes to the Neighborhood Service Center program:

Happy New Years. As a result of the 2011-2012 Adopted Budget and Department changes, here is an update on my status. I am currently in the process of closing down the Greater Duwamish Neighborhood Service Center on Beacon Hill and will now be based out of the Delridge Neighborhood Service Center. Now that we are down to 10 from 13 District Coordinators we will be serving the City through a team approach. I will be working with 3 other District Coordinators and the 4 of us will be covering the South Division. The Districts we will be covering are SE, Greater Duwamish, Delridge, and Southwest. Below is more information from our Department.

Neighborhood District Coordinator Program Changes and Neighborhood Service Center Closure: Background and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As a result of the 2011‐2012 Adopted Budget, the Department of Neighborhoods (DON) is restructuring services provided by the Neighborhood District Coordinator Program as well as the number of open Neighborhood Service Centers. Following are frequently asked questions and responses. If additional information is needed, please contact Pamela Banks, Neighborhood District Coordinator Program Manager at 206‐233-5044 or Kimberlee Archie, Deputy Director, at 206‐684‐0463.

DON 2011 Budget Impacts:

  • Neighborhood District Coordinators (NDCs) reduced from 13 to 10, effective 1/4/11. The Neighborhood District Coordinator (NDC) interim service plan divides the city into 3 geographic areas, each served by a team of NDCs.
  • Neighborhood Service Centers (NSCs) reduced from 13 to 7, effective 1/4/11. The remaining NSCs are all payment sites where few changes will be experienced for those who visit for information or payment services; however, co‐locators and those who utilized space at nonpayment sites will experience major changes with the closures of the 6 non‐payment sites.

    • Continue reading Neighborhood Service Center closed, changes coming →

Meetings

Meeting tonight to discuss S. Lander renaming, usage

The North Beacon Hill Council is meeting on the first Wednesday this month instead of the usual first Thursday. That means the meeting is tonight! Here’s the agenda:

Please join us for an interesting and informative evening! All are welcome.

Our meeting will be devoted to Festival Street (South Lander Street between 17th Avenue South and Beacon Avenue South — ed.), a proposed street name change to Roberto Maestas Festival Street, the street’s usage in the coming year, our responsibilities, and the special permit that the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is developing.

Be sure to attend and add your thoughts and opinions.

The meeting will be held in the Beacon Hill Library community room, 2821 Beacon Avenue South, at 7:00 pm.

Getting Around, Opinion

Biking on Beacon: Back to work by bike!

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After a long holiday vacation, which, due to the blizzard in the Northeast, stretched into an even longer holiday vacation, I finally made it back to the Hill to find that indeed I am required to return to work in the new year. 🙁

An upside to this situation is that I get to hop on my bike and get back into my commuting routine.  I have to admit that when I was first considering bike commuting from Beacon Hill to Downtown and back I was hesitant.  Though it is only a three mile ride to Belltown from my house, there are a number of daunting hills and even scarier rivers of traffic.  But after testing out numerous routes, I found one that is not too hilly and avoids a good bit of the traffic. 

If you look on a map the most logical route to get from North Beacon Hill to Downtown is along 15th Avenue South via the Jose Rizal bridge.  The problem with this is that even after last years restriping on 15th (addition of a bike lane going southbound from Jose Rizal to Beacon, and sharrows northbound), the road is still a little scary to bike along.  An alternate route is to take 18th Avenue South to the Mountains to Sound Trail to Jose Rizal; this avoids the traffic and, as 18th is a gradual climb, provides one of the easiest ways to get up the north side of Beacon Hill.  Once over Jose Rizal, King Street (non-arterial) and 3rd Avenue (bus and bike only during commuter hours) provide the best routes for avoiding heavy traffic.  Another great way to avoid heavy traffic is to go into work early and come home early, this makes biking much safer!

I have mapped this route with accompanying video here.

According to SDOT counts, bike commuting in Seattle has doubled over the past 15 years. And with the implementation of the bicycle master plan in full gear, this ridership rate will only increase in the coming years.  Hop on your bike and try this route someday to see if bike commuting is for you.

Beacon Hill to downtown (COMMUTER ROUTE) at EveryTrail