The West Seattle Herald is reporting that the FAA has scheduled a public forum on South Beacon Hill to discuss the Greener Skies program and other air traffic issues (see previous posts here, here, and here). The meeting will be October 23 from 6-8 p.m. at the NewHolly Gathering Hall, 7054 32nd Ave. S. Please stay tuned for further information as it becomes available.
All posts by Wendi Dunlap
Library needs Homework Helpers
Local kids and the Seattle Public Library need your help with homework. Volunteers are currently being sought for the Library’s Homework Help program at two Beacon Hill branch libraries, the Beacon Hill branch and the NewHolly branch.
Volunteers will help students (mostly ESL) in grades one through 12 with homework assignments in school subjects including English, history, math, science, and more. Volunteers must have completed at least one year of college, and have experience as a tutor, parent, or teacher.
To volunteer as a homework helper, download a volunteer application here. For more information, contact Anne Vedella, volunteer services coordinator, at anne.vedella@spl.org or 206-386-4664.
Food Forest friends to celebrate “Ground Making” 9/29
Three years into the Beacon Food Forest planning, the site is still just plain lawn. That will change on Saturday, September 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. when the forest’s first trees are planted at the Beacon Food Forest Ground Making Day celebration. All are invited to this inaugural work party to begin the transformation of the site.
West African drums will be played by Katia Roberts and Friends, and there will be food provided by Tom Douglas, La Panzanella, and more. Volunteers should RSVP to Glenn Herlihy at glennherlihy@speakeasy.net, and bring their own gloves.
The next day, Sunday, September 30, a tree planting workshop is scheduled for the Food Forest site from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., taught by Jana Dilley, Seattle Public Utilities’ reLeaf Program Manager. There are 20 spaces available in this workshop to learn how to plant and care for fruit trees. RSVP to cramerjacqueline99@gmail.com to reserve a space.
Both events will be held at the Beacon Food Forest site, the southwest corner of Jefferson Park, at South Dakota Street and 15th Avenue South.
The Ground Making work party will begin by planting trees in a small area of the site. The rest of the site preparation and planting will come later, after the site is connected to a water source. The Friends of the Beacon Food Forest sent out an announcement explaining the delay:
“Hard working people at Seattle P-Patch (BFF is a Seattle P-Patch) are negotiating with several government agencies to find our point of connection to city water. Since we are starting with absolutely nothing but grass on our site we need to find where we will be placing our water meter and routing our water to the forest garden. Currently we are exploring two options: 1) Seattle Parks and Recreation allows us to tap into their Jefferson Park system or 2) we create our own point of connection by digging up 15th Ave S and running a new line up into the site. Seattle P-Patch, Seattle Parks and Recreation and Seattle public Utilities who are negotiating these terms are being asked to be as economical and ecological as possible in their final decision. When the point of connection is agreed, final drawings for construction will be delivered to the Conservation Corps who will be doing the construction beginning, we hope, later this month.”
Have you seen this dog?
Neighbor Sean sends this notice:
We have a scared lost male black Shepherd mix that has been on the loose in the Central District/Beacon Hill area since Wednesday, the 5th, evening! He was just pulled from a Yakima shelter on that Tuesday, the 4th, and darted out of his foster’s car, at 26th & King, after returning home from getting neutered and some teeth extracted. He was last seen wearing a lime green/brown collar with a red Salty Dog tag on it and he has a green bandage wrap around one of his front legs. He was last seen running up towards the greenbelt on Beacon Hill on Massachusetts about 5 days ago!!! Please call us at 206-898-3067 if you spot him!!! Please DO NOT CHASE HIM, he is scared and will run! We just need sightings so we can track his path to know where to set a humane trap.
As the message says, call 206-898-3067 if you spot the dog.
Red Apple celebrates lottery success with free cake
The Red Apple has a high volume of lottery ticket sales, and has sold a lot of winning tickets. Last year, the store sold 14 winning tickets worth $1,000 or more.
Family Free-For-All and Garden House Blues this week at Garden House
ROCKiT Community Arts has a couple of events this week at the Garden House on North Beacon Hill, including another Family Free-For-All and and the start of the new Garden House Blues music series.
Family Free-For-All is today, September 18, from 4-6:30 p.m. As you might guess, admission is free (for all). Suzanne Sumi will be there to host a family song time. The Free-For-All is a casual, drop-in event for kids and parents alike, with art, music, and toys available to play with and enjoy.
On Friday, September 21, at 8 p.m., the new Garden House Blues series of country blues concerts begins with Alice Stuart and Eric Freeman. Here’s an excerpt from Alice’s website bio:
“Way ahead of her time, Alice Stuart blazed the trail for women in rock and roll as one of the only females in the country to write her own music, front a male band, and play lead guitar on national and international circuits. Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Dick Waterman, once remarked, ‘There would be no Bonnie Raitt without Alice Stuart.'”
Virginian (and now West Seattleite) Eric Freeman plays country blues guitar that wouldn’t sound out of place on a scratchy record from the 1920s or 30s.
Tickets to Friday’s show are $20 cash/check at the door, or by advance sale from Brown Paper Tickets.
The series will continue in October and November with Lloyd Jones and Paul Green on Friday, October 19, and Bonnie McCoy (Memphis Minnie’s niece) with special guest Mary Flower on Friday, November 16.
Master Use Permit application filed for station block site
A Master Use Permit Application was filed recently for a six-story structure on the property at 2721 17th Avenue South, the southeast corner of the “Beacon Hill Station Block.” The deadline for comments is this Wednesday, September 19. However, the comment period may be extended if a written request to do so is received by the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) before the deadline.
The notice of application from the DPD says:
“Land Use Application to allow six-story structure containing 47 residential units and 2,046 sq. ft. of retail space. Parking for 17 vehicles to be provided below grade.”
The site is zoned Neighborhood Commercial 2 (NC2), 65′ tall, with pedestrian incentive, and it is in the light rail station area overlay district. NC2 is defined by the city as “A moderately-sized pedestrian-oriented shopping area that provides a full range of retail sales and services to the surrounding neighborhood.” Because the project is in the light rail station area overlay, no parking is required.
You can comment at this link, or by mail to:
Department of Planning and Development
ATTN: Public Resource Center or Assigned Planner
700 5th Ave Ste 2000
P.O. Box 34019
Seattle, WA 98124-4019
Comments may also be submitted by fax to 205-233-7901, or email to PRC@seattle.gov.
View New development on Beacon Hill Station block in a larger map
Mayor asks FAA for more comment time, south end meeting
Here is the full text of the mayor’s letter:
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Greener Skies Environmental Assessment.
Since the public comment period on the Greener Skies Initiative was announced, I have been hearing from residents throughout Seattle about the possible impacts the proposed flight operation changes could have regarding jet engine noise over their neighborhoods.
In particular, those concerned neighborhoods are primarily from areas where flight operations are already a significant issue. While it appears that these new procedures could reduce noise overall and narrow flight paths, it is unclear whether or not these changes might direct flights disproportionately over a specific community, who could then experience greater noise impacts as a result.
The residents of many areas of Seattle are concerned that they have not had an adequate opportunity either to hear from the FAA about these proposed changes or to comment on them. I respectfully request that the FAA extend the comment period on the Greener Skies EA an additional 30 days and in that interim period schedule a public comment meeting in a south Seattle location, as the prior meeting was on the opposite side of the city. I would also like a meeting with FAA staff to receive a briefing to better understand the desired goals of the initiative and how they will be achieved.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Thanks to WSB for the heads-up!
Beacon Hill Library reader wins a Kindle
The Seattle Public Library has announced the winners of 20 Kindle e-readers through the recently-completed 2012 Adult and Teen Summer Reading Program. Readers in the program entered to win a Kindle for every three books they read and reviewed.
Shirley Xu was the winner from the Beacon Hill Branch library. Congratulations to Shirley!
UPTUN on why Beacon broadband needs improvement
At Tuesday night’s North Beacon Hill Council meeting, Robert Kangas of UPTUN (Upping Technology for Underserved Neighbors) was there was there to discuss the current state of broadband on Beacon Hill. There was no projector, so he was unable to do the originally-planned presentation on the current situation and the reasons it is so hard to upgrade equipment on the Hill.
Since then, Kangas has released the presentation online as a PDF. Even without the narration and discussion, it’s worth reading if you wonder why your house is still stuck with 1.5 Mbps DSL. Here it is.
According to UPTUN, Seattle’s permitting process for installing new broadband cabinets is slower and more restrictive than that of other cities. Additionally, “in order to get a fiber cabinet approved, 60% of the households in a 300 foot radius of the site have to say yes. People who don’t speak up are counted as no votes. Contacting everyone is extremely difficult since lots of people will never respond.”
There is a meeting (see our earlier post) at El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Ave. S., at 6 p.m. on September 20 to discuss this issue.