All posts by Wendi Dunlap

Editor of the Beacon Hill Blog.
News

NBHC: Better outreach needed for “Greener Skies”

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Yesterday, the North Beacon Hill Council sent a letter to the FAA and to the elected officials representing Southeast Seattle in the United States Senate and House. The letter was also released to neighborhood mailing lists and other neighborhood news sources.

The deadline for public comment to the FAA is today.

Here’s the notice sent out by the NBHC yesterday:

Thank you to everyone organizing efforts to extend the FAA comment period regarding the “Greener Skies Over Seattle” proposal. We’re sending this letter by mail, addresses to follow. We encourage you to use this as a template for communicating with our elected officials. The current deadline for public comment is 9/14.

Greener Skies EA
Augustin Moses, AJV-W2
Federal Aviation Administration
1601 Lind Avenue SW
Renton, WA 98057
comments@greenerskiesea.com

Senator Patty Murray
2988 Jackson Federal Building
915 2nd Avenue
Seattle, WA 98174

Senator Maria Cantwell
915 Second Avenue
Suite 3206
Seattle, WA 98174

Congressman Adam Smith
2402 Rayburn Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515

Congressman Jim McDermott
1809 7th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101

Over 60 concerned neighbors attended the North Beacon Hill Community Council meeting on September 11th. Our neighborhood consensus is that the recent ‘Greener Skies’ public outreach meetings didn’t meet the needs of our community. (September 5, 2012, Federal Way Library and September 6, 2012 Ballard Branch Library)

The NBHC Board is concerned that the large populations of low-income, elderly, minority and other residents living within the 98144, 98118, and 98108 zip code areas did not have an opportunity to participate in the public process. Furthermore the meeting format made it nearly impossible to have questions answered in any kind of understandable or meaningful way.

We are requesting that you help hold the FAA accountable to:

  • Hold meetings in Southeast Seattle within the 98144, 98118 and 98108 zip codes
  • Offer translated outreach materials and simultaneous translation to at least four languages during the meeting
  • Host meetings in a wheelchair accessible facility
  • Conduct outreach by postal mail and other non-electronic methods of notification to all citizens impacted by this proposal

Southeast Seattle is affected by THREE airports; Boeing Field, Renton Airport, and Sea-Tac Airport. We are the MOST negatively affected community in the region. We need to have a better public process, with more outreach, and at a time and place which will ensure more community awareness and engagement in these important air traffic changes.

Thank you,

North Beacon Hill Council Board
Melissa Jonas, Chair
2821 Beacon Ave. S.
Seattle, WA 98144

Getting Around, Local Business, Neighborhood Pride

New bicycle parking at Red Apple

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Jumping for joy at the Red Apple’s new bike corral. Photo provided by Dylan Ahearn.
Dylan Ahearn of Beacon BIKES sent us a celebratory announcement and photo:

“It is the small things that count.

“After months of persistent effort, hours of off-the-cuff design work, and even construction management, out own Ryan Harrison has, with the gracious support of our friends at the Beacon Merchants Association and Red Apple, succeeded in shepherding the construction of a sweet new bike corral at Red Apple. As you can see from the attached photo we are jumping for joy up on Beacon Hill.

“Way to go Ryan for all the hard work, the Beacon Merchants Association for supplying a $500 grant, and Red Apple for footing the rest of the bill.

“Ryan has all the details if you want more.

“Show the Apple some love and roll in soon for your next shopping trip.”

City Services, Local Business, Meetings

Broadband improvement meeting at El Centro 9/20

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Annoyed at slow Internet speeds here on Beacon Hill? Mark Thursday, September 20 at 6 p.m. on your calendar—CenturyLink is hosting a community meeting to discuss what needs to be done to have faster speed in the area.

According to representatives from UPTUN (Upping Technology for Underserved Neighbors) and from CenturyLink who spoke at last night’s North Beacon Hill Council meeting, there have been problems with Seattle’s permitting process for installing new broadband infrastructure, causing hold-ups or cancellation of several broadband upgrade projects that had been planned for 2012. (The Beacon Hill Blog posted about some of these potential projects in July.)

Those interested in finding out more are invited to the meeting on September 20 at El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Ave. S., Room 307 (top floor, north end of the building). The meeting will run from 6-8 p.m., and there will be cookies and coffee provided.

Meetings

Tonight: Flight noise, more on agenda at North Beacon Hill Council meeting

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Sound familiar? Photo by Helen Cook via Creative Commons/Flickr.
The North Beacon Hill Council meets tonight (September 11) at 7 p.m. at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Ave. S. While there are several topics on the agenda including updates on public safety and Internet connectivity, one topic expected to draw a crowd is that of airplane noise and the Greener Skies project to adjust flight patterns into SeaTac, and what sort of impact the project may have on the residents of Southeast Seattle.

There has been a fair amount of worry on Beacon Hill about the potential changes. The materials produced by the FAA to explain the project are somewhat opaque to non-pilots, and conflicting information on whether it will negatively affect the Hill at all has come in from various sources. Community meetings to discuss the plans have been located in Ballard and Federal Way, but none of them near Southeast Seattle.

Some neighbors were able to attend the meeting in Ballard, and will report back at tonight’s NBHC meeting. West Seattle Blog recorded video of the meeting. The Ballard News-Tribune was also there. According to neighbor Tina Ray, part of tonight’s plan is to set a date and agenda to meet with the Port of Seattle and the FAA about the Greener Skies plan.

Here’s the complete agenda for the evening:

  • 7:00-7:05 Introductions
  • 7:05-7:20 Public Safety Update: Reports about an increase in street burglaries and updates on recent shootings in the Beacon Hill area
  • 7:20-7:35 Airplane noise/Greener Skies: updates from FAA meetings 7:35-7:50 New Project Updates: Proposed developments in the neighborhood including El Centro, Holgate property, and McClellan project
  • 7:50-8:05 Opportunity Fund “speed dating”: brief presentations from Friends of Lewis Park, Beacon BIKES, El Centro, Cheasty Greenspace, etc.
  • 8:05-8:15 Neighborhood calendar and group updates, DON news
  • 8:15-8:30 Update on Internet connectivity in Beacon Hill: Representatives from UPTUN (Upping Technology for Underserved Neighbors) will be presenting with invited representatives from Comcast, Wave (formerly Broadstripe) and CenturyLink

As always, all interested neighbors are welcome to attend.

BH in the News, Crime, News, Volunteering and Giving

Fire leads to landslide risk at Rizal Park

By Elizabeth Dinh, KOMO Communities
(Beacon Hill Blog news partners)

A fire at Dr. Jose Rizal Park on North Beacon Hill Saturday night did more than ruin a viewpoint—it has put some motorists in danger.

The area at Rizal Park is prone to landslides—and now that the plants have been destroyed in a fireworks-sparked blaze, the risk of a slide has re-emerged.

Volunteers have spent years beautifying this park, and Saturday night’s fire ruined some of their work. And if heavy rains sweep in before this charred land is reinforced, it could pose a threat to the many people who walk and jog there.

Nine years have passed since Craig Thompson first started putting a lot of time and effort into the park that’s a few minutes away from his home.

“And we’ve done quite a bit of good work,” he says.

Volunteers have planted an apple orchard and put in more vegetation—including thousands of trees.

“We’ve managed to put ivy control measures around about 1,000 trees. We’ve planted upward of 7,000 trees,” says Thompson. He has even worked with Seattle police on how to take back the park from drug lords.

Then, at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday, fireworks touched off flames that raced across the dry land.

“I live about block and a half away from here, and we heard the bottle rockets go off,” Thompson says.

Below the beautiful Seattle skyline is now a charred patch of land that—with rain—could pose a danger to people who visit the popular park.

“This is a historically landslide-prone area,” says Thompson.

The devastation bothers David Choy, a visitor from Texas who’s been coming here for more than two decades.

“That’s a terrible shame,” he says. “I always come through here because this is such beautiful scenery. I brought my uncle and my aunt over here to look at the scenery.”

But Thompson isn’t mad about having to clean up and bring in more plants. He’s only looking forward.

“I look at it, and rather than becoming depressed or angry, I see what needs to be done,” he says.

He sees yet another opportunity to make this a better place. Volunteers already had plans to come out here on September 21 and 22 to clean up the park. Thompson says that with the added work needed to fix up the area where the fire was, it would be nice to have even more helpers come out.

Arts, Local Events

A poetic evening at The Station Wednesday: Beacon Bards

Poetry comes to North Beacon on Wednesday, September 12 from 7-9 p.m. with the first Beacon Bards, a monthly poetry reading event sponsored by ROCKiT Community Arts. The Bards will be at The Station coffeehouse, 2533 16th Ave. S. There is no cover charge.

Reading this month will be Laura Shoemaker and Megan Snyder-Camp.

Mark your calendar for future Beacon Bards nights on October 10, November 14, and December 12.

Arts, Local Events

Barn Dance tonight with The Tallboys, Charmaine Slaven

Tonight ROCKiT kicks off their fall season of events at the Garden House with a Barn Dance. Charmaine Slaven will call the dances, and The Tallboys will provide the music.

Doors at the Garden House (336 15th Ave. S.) open at 6 p.m. for Beacon Bento and other food choices. The dance starts about 7 p.m.

People of all ages are welcome. Tickets are $7 at the door, free for kids under 12.

Photo courtesy of the Tallboys.
Crime

17-year-old shot in thigh on 29th Ave. S.

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Seattle Police report that a 17-year-old youth was shot in the thigh yesterday afternoon in the 5200 block of 29th Avenue South, a couple of blocks north of Dearborn Park. The victim refused to cooperate with investigating officers. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening wounds.

The shooter is at large. Police say that there was a vehicle seen leaving the area of the shooting, but it is unknown whether the car was involved in the incident.

The Gang Unit will be handling the investigation.


View Shooting on 29th Ave. S., 9/5/12 in a larger map

Food and Drink, Local Business

Tippe and Drague applies for off-premises license

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Photo by Maya83 via Creative Commons/Flickr.
The Tippe and Drague Alehouse at 3315 Beacon Ave. S., which opened last weekend to a throng of thirsty Beaconians, recently filed a new liquor license application, adding an new endorsement that wasn’t on their earlier license application. The previous license applied for was “direct shipment receiver — in Washington only” (which allows them to buy beer and/or wine from federally certified wineries or breweries), “restaurant – beer and wine” (which allows them to sell beer and wine for on-premises consumption in conjunction with food sales). They are now applying to add an off-premises endorsement (which will allow them to sell beer and/or wine for off-premises consumption in original containers, as well as allowing them to sell tap beer to purchasers who provide their own containers, subject to certain restrictions.

The applicants are Tippe and Drague LLC, Melissa Cabal and Robert McConaughy, and the license number is 407765. As with all liquor license applications, if you wish to comment on the application to the Liquor Control Board, you can e-mail customerservice@liq.wa.gov.

Arts, Local Events

NEPO 5k Don’t Run returns on Saturday

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Hop, waddle, crawl, roll, or walk, just don’t run — the NEPO 5K Don’t Run returns to the Hill again on Saturday, September 8 at 2:30 p.m. The Don’t Run is a free 3-mile art walk through the city, with site-specific performances, art installations, and more to be seen as you go along. The 70 artists and their projects are listed here.

This year’s event is in the reverse direction from last year’s; instead of ending up on Beacon Hill, the Don’t Run will begin here on Beacon Hill at NEPO House (1723 S. Lander St.), and finish by Kobe Terrace Park in the International District, where, if you like, you can hop the Link train or the 36 bus to return back to where you started. The route will go along 18th Avenue South to the I-90 Trail, over the Jose Rizal Bridge, then to South King Street, and on to Maynard Avenue South. See the map and event schedule here. The finish line will feature performances from 5-10 p.m. including the Bavarian Village Band, Daipan Butoh and Roz Band, Airport, and DJ Never Leaves. All ages are welcome to participate, and though the event is free, a $5 donation is suggested.

The NEPO 5k Don’t Run website is here. And here’s a video about last year’s event:

NEPO 5k DON’T RUN 2011 from klara Glosova on Vimeo.