Here’s the announcement:

Dear Jefferson Park neighbor,

Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting their fourth Parks Legacy Plan meeting tonight at Jefferson Community Center. Attached is a brochure that explains importance of the plan and tees up some questions that will help direct future funding.

At Parks we’re nearing the end of two consecutive levies, primarily for capital projects, that have expanded our park system. We’re at a crossroads. We’ve created the first draft of a Parks Legacy Plan that will take us into the future. This is the time when the public can have the greatest impact in shaping the future of Seattle Parks and Recreation.

The draft includes information on our city’s changing demographics, our current budget and basic services, what people think about our current parks system based on a series of recent surveys, national and regional trends in recreation, and information on costs, attendance and community benefit. It poses policy questions we’re asking the public to answer at the six meetings and/or by email.

The Plan can be found here along with important timeline information.

Here is additional information posted on the Mayor’s Blog Post.

Lion dancer photo courtesy of Elizabeth Lowry.

Imagination. Swagger. Creativity. Culture. Intensity. Irony. Empathy. Everything comes together in the visual art and performances that Franklin High School students will present this week during the school’s yearly arts festival and talent show.

“The Mt. Baker Quakermaker Shaker” is the theme of this year’s festival, which begins with an art opening at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, May 16, at Mioposto, 3601 S. McClellan St. The FHS talent show is the main attraction Friday, May 17, starting at 7 p.m. in the school’s auditorium, 3013 S. Mount Baker Blvd. The arts festival will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 18, on the plaza in front of FHS.

The events, which are open to the public, bring together students, their families, teachers and staff and Mount Baker neighbors. The festival raises money to benefit Franklin’s art, drama and music programs and student clubs, while the talent show raises money for the senior class of 2015. Tickets to the talent show are $3 for FHS students and $5 for others. The art opening and the arts festival are free.

The festival will feature student performances, including the steel drum band, fashion club, jazz band, Quaker band and lion dancers, along with displays of visual art, ceramics and wood arts. Student clubs will sell heirloom tomato and vegetable plants, treats and handmade crafts. Also for sale are woodcrafts, such as cutting boards, created by students and notecards featuring student art. Vietnamese sandwiches, chips and soft drinks also will be for sale. 

The arts festival is sponsored by the Franklin High School PTSA and the Franklin High student body.



For details and updates, find us on Facebook, check franklinhs.seattleschools.org, or email elizabethlowry@comcast.net.

Photo by Jenny Mears

Hello ladies! Come spend your sunny summer Wednesday nights in beautiful Jefferson Park with a fabulous group of women learning how to lawn bowl! What’s lawn bowling, you say? It’s an amazingly fun outdoor sport in which you and your team compete to see who can roll their bowls closest to the white ball at the end of the green, all while drinking gin and tonics (or a beverage of your choice). In other words, it’s a completely civilized way to spend a summer weeknight!

Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club has a great assortment of member events, tournaments, and leagues, including Bowl Busters, a league for women. We get together on Wednesday nights throughout the summer, sharing food and drink, and rolling bowls in the summer sun. All skill and experience levels are welcome; lawn bowling is one of those “moment to learn, lifetime to master” things! New Bowl Busters can try out the league with a special introductory rate of $40 for the Bowl Busters season. The first night of Bowl Busters is June 5th and the league runs Wednesday nights through the end of July. For more information or to sign up, see the Bowl Busters page on Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club’s website.

New bowlers do need to get a lesson on the basics before league begins. You’ll learn things like how to hold and roll a bowl, the objective of the game, and small tips to make you a good teammate your first game. Lessons are offered May 22 and May 29 at 7 pm. Sign up for a lesson by contacting BB@seattlebowls.org. Learn all about Jefferson Park Lawn Bowling Club at seattlebowls.org.

See you on the greens!

A proposed design for the plaza and stage at the Plaza Roberto Maestas project.

To the community from El Centro de la Raza:

In late February El Centro de la Raza presented to the community its latest designs for Plaza Roberto Maestas (PRM). We have been delayed in getting this post out to the wider community by the significant fight for State housing resources for this project in Olympia right now. PRM is the mixed-use community-inspired transit oriented development project that will be built on El Centro’s currently vacant south parking lot, next to the Beacon Hill Light Rail Station. It will be 113 units of affordable housing over 30,000 square feet of daycare, multi-cultural community center, retail/restaurant and office space. The latest design renderings incorporate feedback gathered from over ten community meetings and focus groups that took place in 2012. ECDLR just scheduled its first City of Seattle Early Design Guidance meeting for June 25th at 6:30pm at Wellspring Family Services on Rainier Avenue. This meeting will kick off our permitting process and is open to the public.

A rendering of a design for the 17th Avenue South side of the project.

For those that have not been able to attend community meetings to date, we have compiled this post and the following Frequently Asked Questions to maximize information sharing and community awareness of the project. In the near future, El Centro de la Raza hopes to co-host a meeting with the North Beacon Hill Council, Beacon BIKES and SDOT to talk about parking, traffic and pedestrian safety in the Beacon Hill neighborhood around this project. We will announce a date for this meeting soon.

Please feel free to contact Kate Gill de la Garza, Project Manager, with any questions about PRM. She can be reached at 206-860-2491 ext. 202 or at kated@beacondevgroup.com.

Read on for the FAQs about the Plaza Roberto Maestas project:

What is the program at Plaza Roberto Maestas (PRM)?

PRM will be a new mixed‐use project in two buildings around a central 11,000 square foot “Latino inspired” public plaza. There will be 113 apartments, affordable to individuals and families making between 30% and 60% of Area Median Income. There will be 22 three‐bedrooms, 51 two‐bedrooms and 40 one‐bedroom apartments geared towards low to moderate income working individuals and families. The “West Building” will be more family‐oriented and the “East Building” will contain more one‐ bedrooms more suitable for singles and seniors. On the ground floor of each building will be commercial space including an expansion of El Centro de la Raza’s Jose Marti Child Development Center, a Multi‐Cultural Community Center and retail/restaurant space geared towards the local business owner. On the second floor above the Multi‐Cultural Community Center will be office space intended for Beacon Development Group (BDG), ECDLR’s development consultant. BDG is owned by Paul Purcell, longtime Beacon Hill resident.

Will PRM be an affordable project that specifically serves the homeless and/or mentally ill?

No it will not. PRM will serve low‐ to moderate‐income working individuals and families.

Will the plaza be open to the public?

A design for the entrance to the plaza.

How many kids will the new daycare expansion serve?

The new expansion will create four classrooms, or approximately 60 new daycare spaces.

What kind of businesses will El Centro rent to?

ECDLR will rent commercial space to locally owned small businesses. We have been working very hard with the Beacon Hill Merchants Association to understand the needs of both the business district and local business owners. We anticipate doing a formal request for interest in the approximately 7,000 square feet (which can be sub‐divided into as many smaller spaces as necessary) of retail/restaurant space sometime soon.

What will happen in the Multi‐Cultural Community Center?

Flexibility was the overriding common theme in community discussions about this space. As a result, ECDLR has purposefully designed this 9,000 square foot space to be as flexible as possible. Currently it has two main rooms that can hold medium to large performances, gatherings, and events but that can also be sub‐divided into more intimate classroom, performance or meeting space. There is also a commercial kitchen planned, for catered events or for use by the community or small business person.
ECDLR will use this space for their own large internal events (Dia de los Muertos, Cinco de Mayo, Annual Dinner that seats 500 people) but will also rent it out to community members and private groups for various cultural and civic meetings and events.

How many parking stalls are planned?

PRM currently has one floor of underground parking, or about 135 stalls. As a transit oriented development project (TOD), we are currently planning for residential units to have about half of these stalls, with the remaining uses utilizing the other half. ECDLR will encourage shared parking whenever possible and will also advocate for a car‐sharing service on site. There will be ample bike storage on site as well (50+ bike stalls). During evening events at the Multi‐Cultural Community Center, valet parking (in the parking garage) will increase the number of cars that can park in the garage.

How will this project impact traffic in the surrounding neighborhood?

By City of Seattle transit overlay code, projects are not required to build any parking next to Light Rail stations. Despite this code, El Centro de la Raza has planned a floor of structured parking under the project in order to accommodate families with cars at the project, and to minimize impact on the surrounding neighborhood. While it is our goal to encourage as many people to ride the Light Rail as possible, we also know that some people must drive to work. We currently have two options for the parking garage entrance – one option with the entrance on 16th and one on 17th. We plan to commission a traffic study soon on these options to understand their impacts on the surrounding neighborhood. We also hope to partner with the North Beacon Hill Council and BeaconBIKES soon on RPZ enforcement around the Light Rail Station and a potential traffic calming strategy for 17th Avenue.

The corner of the Plaza Roberto Maestas project from the corner of Beacon Avenue S. and Maestas Festival Street.

When it comes time to pre‐lease the apartments, El Centro de la Raza and the third‐party property manager that will run the building (not hired yet) will advertise the units far and wide, online and in traditional print media, in multiple languages throughout the City. ECDLR will also make sure that leasing agents are assisted by translators from multiple language groups during lease‐up. Once the project is fully funded, we will also do specific outreach to various neighborhood and cultural groups to make them aware of our timeline to completion and lease‐up.

What is the funding for this project?

PRM will be funded by a mix of public and private resources. We will utilize public funds from the City of Seattle, State of Washington and King County. These funds will leverage federal Low‐Income Housing Tax Credits (purchased by an investor), permanent debt and private fundraising through an El Centro de la Raza Capital Campaign. All together the project will cost approximately $40 million to build.

Next weekend (May 18 to 20) the southbound lane of 12th Avenue South will be closed at South Jackson Street in the Little Saigon neighborhood for First Hill Streetcar track construction.

SDOT’s contractor will close the street from 7 a.m. on Saturday, May 18 until Monday morning. Southbound vehicles will be able to turn east or west onto South Jackson Street. For vehicles traveling to Beacon Hill, the detour will be eastbound on S Jackson Street to southbound Rainier Avenue South, and then westbound on South College Street.

The detour will be signed to assist drivers traveling through this intersection. Local access, pedestrian access, and access to businesses will be maintained.

Uniformed police officers will be on-site to keep traffic moving at the South Jackson Street and 12th Avenue South intersection.

For further information, visit the project Website at www.seattlestreetcar.org.

Community Work Party and Communal Soft Sculpture Art project

When: Saturday May 18th, 10am- 2pm

Where: BFF Site, 15th Ave S and S. Dakota St

What: Family farm and art event all people welcomed and appreciated. We’ll be doing a variety of farm building projects suitable for all ages. Some of the tasks we’ll do are: organize the plant nursery and repot larger plants, fill in the hose bib and irrigation trenches, build more forest floor by sheet mulching, plant beneficial plants around our trees, broadcast some seeds, build retaining walls for the P-Patches, build community and share a meal.

Dress appropriately for the weather, wear sturdy shoes and bring your work gloves. We need tools and wheel barrows. Please bring an item of clothing to donate to our community sculpture project, see description below.

Food: There will be a Biochar stove demonstration that will cook some pizza for lunch and create nutritious soil amendment at the same time. Never heard of a Biochar stove? come by on the 18th and check it out. We’ll also have pasta and sauces, bread etc and hopefully some desserts if anyone offers to make some. If you contribute a food item lunch is on us, for all others we ask 2$ suggested donation. Please contact Judi at foodforestvolunteer@gmail.com if you have questions.

BFF Fence Line Clothing Project and You
Community Fabric Sculpture Project

We would like to turn our construction fencing into a soft sculpture symbol of community power. Please bring one or more items of clothing to donate to the May 18th Work Party to decorate the fence.

Strung up on a long fence, long sleeve shirts will look like they are holding hands, pants will be their legs, and hats may be their heads. Farmer’s overalls and uniforms are one complete package. Long sleeved children’s clothing will look like they are holding and swinging from the arms of their family. We would love to see over 100 linear feet of community cloth decoratively surrounding the BFF.

And we share, if you are walking by and need a little more warmth (or style baby) you can gather it, you can practice your Beacon Food Forest ethical harvesting skills!
Please bring at least one, ARTicle of clothing to decorate/donate to your fence as a massive symbol of community support. If you have sturdy safety pins bring those too we’ll also have some. This is a temporary installment but hopes to be effective while up. All clothes will be donated to Goodwill when they come down. Questions about this project contact glennherlihy@speakeasy.net.

BFF Quick Updates:

• Juniper Timber ADA bed retaining walls are complete. Thank you Timber Team.
• Lower bench food forest area water system is up and running. Thank You Irrigation Team
• Two Bee Hives have been installed by our bee keeper Bob Redmond. Bee Keeping workshops coming soon. Thanks Bob
• UW Design build program is building our gather plaza structures off site to be installed late May early June. Thank You UW
• Sign Project is progressing beautifully, soon we will have a world class self guided tour of the scientific and social benefits of food forestry on site.
  Thanks Molly and Mathew of mdml.co
• Steering Committee (SteerCo) is working hard on governance and guiding principles. Go Steerco!
• Site Development Committee meets every Tuesday at the BH Library 6:30pm. Absolutely persistent power!
• We are continuing to experience country wide media attention and massive Face Book participation.
• BFF is positive change, by acting local and effecting the global. Remember that bumper sticker? you are achieving it.
• Next work party June 15th.

According to the organizers, the parade is all-ages fun, with this message:

Honor moms and highlight the need for:

• Comprehensive state-funded childcare for working and poor families
• End domestic violence – Free Marissa Alexander
• Stop deportations – Keep immigrant families together
• Increase funding for jobs, public schools, Social Security and human services
• Tax the rich – End U.S. militarism

All who want to participate are welcome, and should gather at Stevens Place Park at Beacon Avenue South and South Stevens at 1:30 p.m. Bring strollers, tricycles, banners, signs and festive attire. The event will also feature an information fair, speakers, face-painting, balloons and music.

The parade is sponsored by Sisters Organize for Survival and the Pacific Northwest Alliance to Free Marissa Alexander. For more information, contact Helen Gilbert at (206)722-6057, or at Sis4Survival@gmail.com.

Not very appetizing! Photo courtesy of Greg Martinez.

The water did clear up after some hours, but Andy Ryan at Seattle Public Utilities tells us:

Discolored water has been reported in recent days in some areas of Seattle, including Beacon Hill. A likely cause is testing of fire hydrants by the Seattle Fire Departments. The water is safe to drink, but it may be unappealing, so we recommend that you wait until it clears before drinking it.

The water should clear on its own. Try running the cold water for a few minutes to see if it is clearing or still discolored. If the water does not clear, let the water sit for an hour. Then run the water for a few minutes and flush the toilet a couple of times.

If your water remains discolored, please contact Seattle Public Utilities Customer Service at (206) 684-3000.

• 7:00-7:10 Introductions, Greater Duwamish Council and Department of Neighborhood updates, raffle sales
• 7:10-7:25 Plaza Roberto Maestas update (Kate de la Garza)
• 7:25-7:50 Red Cross Emergency Preparedness
• 7:50-8:00 NBHC revised bylaws
• 8:00-8:15 Nominate and elect new NBHC Board of Directors
• 8:15-8:20 Raffle drawing
• 8:20-8:30 Happening on the Hill/Community Calendar
  • Happening on the Hill: Mother’s Day Parade between Stevens Park and Festival Street May 11, Pacific Medical Center Tower rental, Food Forest, Jefferson Park playground, Beacon Hill Festival June 1, ROCKiT events (Beacon: Hill of Beans), Beacon Hill Merchants Events
• 8:30-8:55 NBHC Board meets in Beacon Hill Resource Center (open to the public)

Missing kitty Buddy looks like this famous Lolcat.

“Buddy is gone! Buddy is a very large feral/stray/neighborhood gray male cat that has been fixed and had his ear clipped by the feral cat folks. He also has a non-fixed/clipped evil twin I have seen around. I haven’t seen Buddy for over a week now and I’m a bit worried. Last seen at the end of 17th Ave S (right before Swift/Albro bridge). Please email if you have seen him. His feral female sidekick is in my tub with her new babies and she misses him. (They all have homes when they are bigger! Woohoo!) She will be fixed and clipped when the babies are weaned. He looks like the lolcat (pictured right), but a bit scruffier.”

Families enjoyed the Beacon Mountain playground when it was open last summer.

Andy Sheffer at Seattle Parks and Recreation says:

I have the fencing scheduled to be removed next Tuesday, May 14th. At that point the entire park will be open and the spray park will be in operation starting Memorial Day, 5/27/13 (Date when all spray parks open). The following work has been performed:

1. Slope fortification
2. Installation of curbs along pathways to prevent mulch from entering spray park system.
3. Replacement of portions of concrete surfacing to enhance amt. of water re-circulated in the spray park.
4. Mechanical enhancements to ensure smooth operation of spray park.
5. Replacement of long open slide with a tubular slide.
6. Installation of additional site furnishings.
7. Installation of additional stepping stones in areas where desire paths appeared.

The following work is getting wrapped up this week.

1. Installation of replacement safety surfacing associated with the installation of the new slide.
2. Planting.
3. General clean-up.

Please feel free to call me anytime at 206.423.1917 with any additional questions or concerns.

Please support our community council and enter to win fabulous prizes including gift cards at Victrola, El Centro parking pass, Tippe & Drague and many more local businesses. The grand prize will be one free permit (and insurance) to use Roberto Maestas Festival Street. Proceeds support NBHC overhead for the Beacon Hill Resource Center and Roberto Maestas Festival Street.

Tickets: $2 each/3 for $5 (Buy tickets from any board member in the neighborhood or at the NBHC meeting).

Raffle drawings will be held at our May NBHC meeting and June Beacon ROCKS for the grand prize.

North Beacon Hill Council Meeting (NBHC)
Tuesday, May 7th at 7:00 p.m.
Beacon Hill Library

• Red Cross will be presenting preparedness training
• NBHC Bylaws & board elections
• El Centro Plaza Roberto Maestas update
• Pilot project to allow CenturyLink to build boxes in our neighborhood
• Other neighborhood updates

Please refer to our website at www.northbeaconhillcouncil.org for further updates.

“Small dachshund mix spotted at Jefferson Park on 5/5/13 at about 9:00am. Dog was mostly black with a white neck and no collar. Was very skittish and took off toward the food forest when I tried to call it. Email asiancajunandy@gmail.com if you have any questions.”

“Hi, we live on the corner of 15th and Hinds and recently (last night?) had two toolbags stolen, and some cordless drills. They are Veto Pro Pac XL toolbags. One is filled with wood and metal-working tools, the other is mostly electrical tools. There is a Makita 18v lithium ion cordless drill as well. If anyone tries to sell you tools with purple and silver paint on them or with a ‘Q’ written on them, please call Nick at 206-718-7358. Thanks!”

“Dragon’s Tongue” is one of the heirloom bean varieties available for sale through Beacon: A Hill of Beans. Photo by Andrea Parrish-Geyer via Flickr/Creative Commons.

If you wander over to El Centro Saturday afternoon to enjoy Cinco de Mayo, be sure to stop by the Beacon: A Hill of Beans booth under the big tent. We’ll have free seeds (purple pod pole beans and green bush beans) along with some advice to get you started.

Chat about plans to plant the 24 planters around the parking lot with heritage beans and create Beacon’s first public U-Pick! We are looking for planting help later in the month. And let us tell you about the plans to bedeck the Beacon business district with pots of scarlet runner beans (beware of low flying hummingbirds in these locations)

Finally, shop local with our selection of heirloom seeds (see www.beaconahillofbeans.org for varieties). Mother’s Day is May 12, and Father’s Day is June 16 and everyone loves an unexpected token of friendship, beautifully packaged in envelopes designed by Maura Shapley of local Day Moon Press.

Join us in making Beacon: A Hill of Beans in 2013!

Raspberries photo by Chris Gladis via Flickr/Creative Commons.

“Can food be free, fresh and easily accessible? That’s the bold question that the city of Seattle is hoping to answer with a new experimental farm not far from the city’s downtown that will have fruits and vegetables for anyone to harvest this fall.”

Read more at NationalGeographic.com.

This year’s live entertainment features performances by Ce Atl Tonalli Danza Azteca, Chief Sealth MEChLA Dance Group, the Seattle Fandango Project and a desfile cultural by the José Martí Child Development Center showcasing cultural attire.

See the event page on Facebook here.

Have you seen Raul?

I am posting this for my neighbor Steve, who has lost his male cat Raul. He last saw him on April 21st at 13th and Stevens.

Cat Features:
Raul is a tabby cat, male, white paws and face. About 8 years old.

If you have seen him or have him, please call Steve at 206.999.9662! There are also some fliers up around Beacon Hill.

Thanks!

Can you help Raul get home?

Items accepted for recycling include appliances, electronics, lawn equipment, bikes (to be donated to BikeWorks), metals, batteries, and more. See the official flyer for details and a list of restricted items. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Windermere Foundation and the Rainier Community Center’s youth scholarship program. Donation receipts will be available.