All posts by Wendi Dunlap

Editor of the Beacon Hill Blog.
Meetings, Urban Planning

Design review and light rail zoning meetings coming soon

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The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) has posted notices of two public meetings of interest to Beaconians.

The Design Review Board is holding a meeting to discuss the proposed development at 2421 14th Avenue South. The Findlay Street Christian Church plans to build a three-story building, including 12 residential low income units, and 4,902 square feet of church space. (We discussed this proposal last year: here, and here.)

At the meeting, Findlay Street will present their current design, and the public may comment. The meeting is on Tuesday, February 8, 6:30 p.m., in the community room at Wellspring Family Services, 1900 Rainier Avenue South.


View Findlay Street Church development site in a larger map

There is also a hearing scheduled regarding whether the land use code should be changed to allow parking lots to operate as an interim use in some Link Light Rail station areas (Mount Baker, Columbia City, Othello, and Rainier Beach).

The Beacon Hill station area would not allow parking lots, however, under this proposal, commuter and business support parking would be allowed on lots outside of the immediate station area that have existing parking and are also accessory to institutions in walking distance of the Link station. (For example, churches or schools with parking lots could allow commuter and business parking on their lots.)

Further information, including instructions for submitting written comments, may be found here. The hearing is on Wednesday, February 23, at 9:30 a.m. in the City Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue.

Food and Drink, Local Events

Beer and wine opening night celebration at The Station

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The Station at their grand opening last summer. Photo by Wendi.
The Beacon Pub may be gone, but there is a new source for adult beverages on the Hill. The Station coffeehouse has recently moved beyond typical coffeehouse fare, and tonight from 7 to 11 p.m. is the opening night celebration of their new wine and beer bar. Owner Luis reports that they’ll be serving wine, beer, mimosas, sangria, desserts, and light fare. The Station is located at 2533 16th Ave. S., across from El Centro de la Raza and just north of Beacon Hill Station.

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Catch-up edition

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Apologies to everyone. We are way behind on posts this week. Here’s a catch-up edition of Beacon Bits to fill you in on the latest.

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Notice the newspaper up in the windows of the old Beacon Pub? According to the Bar del Corso blog, they have started work on the building, where their pizzeria will be opening later this year.

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Just south of the former pub, another change is about to take place: ROCKiT space is moving. Betty Jean Williamson reports that ROCKiT will continue regular hours of operation at the current location, 3315 Beacon Avenue South, through January 31. After that, Open Mic moves to Kusina Filipina (3201 Beacon Avenue South) on Saturday, February 5. The event starts at 8:00 pm and costs $5. Tots Jam is moving to El Centro de la Raza room 310 (2524 16th Avenue South) on February 2 at 9:00 am. Classes are $7.

In the meantime, the ROCKiTeers have a lot of work ahead before vacating the building at 3315 Beacon and moving their activities into other locations. It sounds like they will need some volunteer help, including cleaning, repair, and moving. Contact Betty Jean at 206-658-0187 or bjwlmp@msn.com if you can help.

There will be a ROCKiT space moving sale on January 29 from 9:00 am – 6:00 pm. If you have loaned ROCKiT anything, please pick it up soon or let them know if you want to donate to the sale.

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Travis Mayfield at KOMO points out that Edwin Lee, the new mayor of San Francisco and the first Asian-American mayor of that city, was born on Beacon Hill!

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On the less-happy side of things, you may have heard that some very bad people were out and about last week, posing as Water Department workers to convince neighbors on Beacon Hill and in Columbia City to let them in their homes for a “water quality check,” but stealing their stuff instead. Here’s a Seattle Times (BHB news partners) report. The Seattle Police South Precinct Email Community Newsletter went out yesterday with their own take on the subject:

“For those of you who are ‘seasoned’ enough to remember the song ‘Let ’Em In’ by Paul McCartney & Wings from 1976 (I know, so last century), it should not be a surprise that we disagree with Sir Paul. Just because someone knocks or rings at the door does not mean that you let them in.”

The SPD reminds you that City employees will have laminated picture ID that includes a name, department, and serial number. If you see a suspicious person come to your house, and that person can’t produce a City of Seattle picture ID, call 911 to report the situation immediately.

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The Nova High School Book Night is coming on January 26. We are told it’s a “book fair/book exchange with books of all kinds, free for all!” Beacon Hill neighbor Levecke Mas is collecting books for the the book exchange; contact Levecke at leveckeinseattle@gmail.com. You can also drop off your book donations at the Nova office, in the Meany school building on East Capitol Hill (300 20th Avenue East).

The event is from 6:30-8:30 pm on Wednesday, January 26, and it is open to all.

Learn more about Nova and the Book Night at http://novaproject.my-pta.org.

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Rainier Valley Cooperative Preschool invites the community to learn about the school at an open house on Saturday, February 5, from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, and Thursday, February 10, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The parent-run preschool is located in Beacon Hill Lutheran Church at 1720 South Forest Street. More info at their website.

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Cass Turnbull of Plant Amnesty doesn’t approve of Beacon Hill-style yard topiaries. Joel Lee begs to differ:

“I can certainly appreciate wanting to protect plants from senseless mutilation but Plant Amnesty seems to have nominated themselves the arbiters of taste with comments like ‘When the inherent beauty of a plant is compromised, it’s painful for those of us who know what it should look like.’ Who gave Plant Amnesty the authority to decide what plants should look like?”

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While it’s not Beacon Hill-specific, I can’t resist posting this link to a photo of former City Councilmember Peter Steinbrueck with a man in a heron costume. Thank you, Seattle Municipal Archives.

Health and Safety

Sewage spill latest problem for 12th Avenue building

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Some North Beacon Hill folks had a smelly problem recently when a backed up drain caused raw sewage to back up in the parking lot of the apartment building at 1308 12th Avenue South. Neighbors on the BAN list reported seeing cars driving through the sewage and people walking through it, and that the smell was very bad.

A KOMO report showed a rather disturbing sea of brownish sewage with floating waste, and people wading in the spill, scooping the mess up with buckets and dumping it onto a walkway where it ran directly into a storm drain. The building’s owner, Walford Eng, told KOMO reporter Michelle Esteban that the cause of the problem was that a “stranger came in our apartment and peed.” The city is investigating, and the Department of Planning and Development website shows that a notice of violation was issued to the property owner on January 13, with compliance due today.

The apartment building has had quite a few reported code violations in the last few years, including reports of roaches, weeds and vegetation violations, junk storage, and other violations. Last July, we wrote about neighbors’ concerns regarding criminal activity, garbage, and broken windows at the building.


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History of the Hill

Past and present: Beacon Avenue streetlights

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Beacon Avenue South, looking northward from roughly Beacon and Stevens, February 24, 1955. The photo was intended to show the street lights. Photo courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives.
Nearly the same shot, taken on January 11, 2011 in the falling snow. Photo by Wendi.

It was difficult to match this image exactly because, though you can’t see from the photo, the snow was falling heavily and the photographer’s fingers were freezing. However, they are a fairly close match.

The Mobil Station on the left is now an auto repair shop that looks quite different, but if you walk by and look behind the building, you can see an old Mobil “Red Pegasus” sign. The house beyond the Mobil station is now the Beacon Hill Library. The sign on the corner that advertised the Mobil is in the same location today, and may be the same structure.

The trees that now grace the planting strip on the east side of Beacon, as large as they are now, weren’t there at all in 1955.

The trolley wires are still intact for the use of Beacon Hill’s trolleybuses.

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.

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.