Category Archives: Clean and Green

Clean and Green, Volunteering and Giving

Friends of Lewis Park need you to pledge your time

Plants grow happily in a cleaned-up Lewis Park. Photo courtesy of Friends of Lewis Park.
The Friends of Lewis Park need your help. They have sent out the following letter to explain:

Hello Neighbors,

Friends of Lewis Park are entering the 6th year of forest restoration of the Lewis Park Natural Area. In the Fall of 2011, the Opportunity Funds award paid for professional work crews to clear the steep slopes of Lewis Park. Once the forest of laurel and holly, ivy and clematis was removed, a beautiful topography was revealed. As a result of the hard work by many volunteers during the last five years of restoration, the illicit and criminal activity that once plagued Lewis Park has disappeared. Now that the area is open and accessible, we need to encourage positive activity in the park. In addition, the Lewis Park Restoration is in transition from a forest steward-led restoration project to long-term community-based stewardship.

An Interpretive Trail will be a great way to both foster that transition and provide a way to create positive activity within this beautiful Natural Area. We want to create a trail that will reflect the many cultures on Beacon Hill in a way that introduces and educates our community of the values and benefits of having an urban forest in our neighborhood. Our goal is to hire a landscape architect with the funds to design the bones of the trail and, then engage our community to provide the content of the natural area interpretive focus.

The Lewis Park Steering committee is applying for a Department of Neighborhoods Small and Simple grant to hire a landscape architect who will design the trail and facilitate community-based interpretive content for the trail. To receive the grant, we need to document match pledges. To that end, if you would like to support the Lewis Park Natural Area Interpretive Trail project, please do the following:

Send an email to: lewisparkseattle@gmail.com with the following info:

YOUR PLEDGE MUST BE RECEIVED BY FRIDAY, MARCH 9 IN ORDER TO INCLUDE IT IN OUR GRANT PROPOSAL.

Name

Address

Phone

Hours pledged (anything from 4-40)

Activity (this can be attending design meetings, outreach, flyers, food donation, grant/project development)

Questions can be directed to:

Dee Dunbar, dd1377@gmail.com, 206-778-1377

Susan Sanders, susan@soldbysusan.com, 206-914-4155

Clean and Green

Biking on Beacon: All about trees

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Trees previously planted along a Beacon Hill greenway. Photo courtesy of Dylan Ahearn.
Would I please shut up with the bike stuff!?  Why, yes I will.  Let’s talk about street trees!

As noted in this previous post, Beacon BIKES has been working with SDOT to plant trees along our planned Neighborhood Greenway routes.  We had a very successful effort last fall planting 70 trees along 18th Avenue South.  Now we are working with SDOT to plant 300 more trees this March.  The City plants the trees, waters them for three years, and prunes for the life of the trees.  Home owners get to pick among three tree types or choose no tree at all.  It is called the SDOT Community Tree program, and you can find out more about it here.

If you have questions about the program email me or come to the next North Beacon Hill Council meeting (March 6th, 6:30-8:00 pm, Beacon Hill Library) where we will be presenting a little more info.  The planting is scheduled for mid- to late March and we will be planning a community tree planting day to plant a few by hand in the same time frame. SDOT has already marked some of the proposed planting locations; you can check out the flags along 14th Ave S to get a feel for how this program can really improve a street for all users.

If you live north of Lucile and would like a tree or two planted in your planting strip let me know and I will forward it to the City.  If you would like a tree for your yard instead of your planting strip, there is another great City program called Trees for Neighborhoods which has been posted about previously here, with more up-to-date info here.

Clean and Green, Volunteering and Giving

Beacon Food Forest moving forward in 2012

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This is the site that will become the Beacon Food Forest. Construction will start later this year. Photo courtesy of Friends of the Beacon Food Forest.
(This has been edited since original publication to correct the contact address. –Ed.)

Glenn Herlihy from the Beacon Food Forest sent us the group’s latest newsletter. Read on for information about the beginning of Food Forest construction, project grants, how to get involved, next Monday’s Steering Committee meeting, and a movie night on March 2 (Vanishing of the Bees).

We begin building the food forest this year!

2012 will be a big year for the Beacon Food Forest (BFF). In Dec. 2011 we received word from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods/ P-Patch Program the BFF will be receiving $100,000 to further develop the design and begin building. This is levy money administered by The Seattle P-Patch Program to fund and upstart new public gardens for communities without access to community gardens. Thank you very much P-Patch/Department of Neighborhoods and Voters for this grand opportunity to transform our sustainable community vision into reality!

For more info about P-Patches and the BFF, http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/ppatch/locations/BeaconFoodForest.htm

The Levy money will jump start phase one of our garden. Having completed the schematic design, we will use some of the levy money to complete more detailed construction designs. These will enable us to assess the amount of grading and earth works needed at the site. We will also be hooking into city water and running water lines for irrigation throughout the 1.75 acres. We have a deadline to use these funds by Dec 31, 2012.
There is a bit of work to be done first, but it will be this summer and fall that our community will lay out beds/paths and begin planting a food forest! We know from our mail there are a lot of you out there wanting to dig in and grow, your time has come. Please stay tuned for more updates and events or contact us anytime at http://beaconfoodforest.weebly.com/contact-join.html.

Continue reading Beacon Food Forest moving forward in 2012 →

Clean and Green, Health and Safety, Weather

Burn ban in effect

The burn ban is intended to prevent Seattle skies from looking like this. Photo by Flickr user by and by via Creative Commons.
Brrrr, it’s cold—but there should be no fires burning in Beacon Hill fireplaces for a while. As of 4 p.m. yesterday, King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties are under a Stage 1 burn ban, in which the use of fireplaces and uncertified wood stoves is prohibited until further notice. Violators are subject to a $1,000 fine.

The current high pressure over the area makes our skies clear and cold, but this is also causing our air to be more stagnant. Wood smoke adds to the problem, turning our clear winter air to a dull smog.

Information about the burn ban, according to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency:

No burning is allowed in fireplaces or uncertified wood stoves. Residents should rely instead on their home’s other, cleaner source of heat (such as their furnace or electric baseboard heaters) for a few days until air quality improves, the public health risk diminishes and the ban is cancelled. The only exception is if a wood stove is a home’s only adequate source of heat.

No outdoor fires are allowed. This includes recreational fires such as bonfires, campfires and the use of fire pits and chimineas.

Burn ban violations are subject to a $1,000 penalty.

It is OK to use natural gas, propane, pellet and EPA certified wood stoves or inserts during a Stage 1 burn ban.

The Washington State Department of Health recommends that people who are sensitive to air pollution limit time spent outdoors, especially when exercising. Air pollution can trigger asthma attacks, cause difficulty breathing, and make lung and heart problems worse. Air pollution is especially harmful to people with lung and heart problems, people with diabetes, children, and older adults (over age 65).

For more information, see the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency website.

Clean and Green, Getting Around

Take a guided bicycle tour of Beacon Hill Greenway Tuesday

Photo by kashgroves in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
Those planning to attend Tuesday’s Neighborhood Greenways meeting at the Beacon Hill Library via bicycle might be interested in a guided tour of Beacon Hill’s 18th Avenue South Greenway before the meeting starts. Kashina Groves from Beacon BIKES will be the tour guide.

The tour leaves from the junction of the Jose Rizal bridge and the Mountains-To-Sound trail at 5:30 p.m. and will arrive at the library just before the 6 p.m. meeting.

Clean and Green, Getting Around

Neighborhood greenway organizers meeting on Beacon Hill next Tuesday

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This sign was placed on the 17th Avenue South greenway on North Beacon Hill. Photo by Wendi.

A Seattle city-wide neighborhood greenway organizers event will be held on Beacon Hill at the Beacon Hill Library next Tuesday, January 10, from 6-7:45 p.m. Beacon Hill currently has a new greenway in progress along 17th/18th Avenues South, between Jefferson Park and the Mountains-to-Sound Trail. For more information on what neighborhood greenways are all about, see this video about Portland’s greenways project.

Here’s the announcement for next Tuesday’s meeting:

Seattle’s Neighborhood Greenways movement is attracting many newcomers to bike advocacy who are eager to transform Seattle into a city where everyone can bike and walk safely. Come join us to learn about the history of bike advocacy in Seattle, and how our growing Neighborhood Greenways movement can complement the hard work that’s already been done to make Seattle one of the nation’s most respected cities for bicycling and walking.

We are privileged to welcome Blake Trask as our featured speaker for this meetup. Blake is the chair of the Seattle Bike Advisory Board (SBAB) and is the Statewide Policy Director of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington (BAW). He’ll be providing us with the context for Seattle’s current (2007) Bicycle Master Plan: who was involved in it? What was the vision? What were the biggest challenges? And how can Neighborhood Greenways be incorporated into the 2012 update to the Bicycle Master Plan?

Blake brings a wealth of knowledge and many years of experience in improving bike safety “from the inside”. By learning from Blake where we’ve already been as an advocacy movement, we will be even better equipped as Neighborhood Greenways organizers to “work within the system” to make bicycling and walking safe and attractive for all Seattle.

We will also be discussing the upcoming neighborhood project fund grants (deadline Feb 1). This is a great and easy way to get some Greenways built in your neighborhood NEXT YEAR!

Please attend this meeting if you can.

Clean and Green, Meetings

Your feedback wanted tonight about street trees

Street trees make Beacon Hill streets colorful. Photo by Wendi.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is hosting a meeting tonight at Van Asselt Community Center to get your feedback about street trees and a revision of the street tree ordinance, which was last revised in 1961. The new revision is intended to improve protection and preservation of street trees. Street trees are defined as any trees growing in any city right-of-way.

The draft ordinance may be read here, and addresses tree protection and preservation, restrictions on tree removal, requirements for replacement trees, requirements for private tree companies, and penalties for violations of the ordinance.

Tonight’s meeting is at Van Asselt Community Center on South Beacon Hill, 2820 S. Myrtle Street, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Van Asselt meeting is one of five community meetings. The first was held Monday night at Highpoint Community Center and three further meetings are also scheduled for Miller Community Center, Meadowbrook Community Center, and Ballard Community Center.

You can find out more about the ordinance and upcoming meetings, and submit comments online at the SDOT website.

Clean and Green

Free evergreen trees still available

Shore Pine. Photo by Art Poskanzer via Creative Commons.
The Trees for Neighborhoods program has extended the application deadline for Seattle residents to receive free trees to plant in their yards. Apply online here. The remaining available species, all conifers, include deodar cedar, Western red cedar, weeping Alaska cedar, and shore pine.

Trees can be picked up this Saturday, November 12, at Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands, 5513 S. Cloverdale Street .

If conifers aren’t the trees of your dreams, or if you want to plant street trees, you’ll need to wait until next fall when applications will re-open for other tree species and for street tree permits.

Clean and Green

Learn about rain gardens at Sustainable Rain workshop

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Sustainable Seattle is hosting rain garden workshops to celebrate their installation of new rain gardens in several areas as part of their Sustainable Rain program.

A workshop will be held on Beacon Hill on November 12 at El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Ave. S., from 10 a.m. until noon. The workshops will present information about the Sustainable Rain project and how neighbors can install their own rain gardens. They will also announce “scholarships” to fund more neighborhood rain gardens.

Two of the projects demonstration gardens are located in Beacon Hill: one at El Centro de la Raza, and the other at the Helen B. Ratcliff women’s transitional facility on the north end of the Hill.

Clean and Green, Getting Around, News, Recreation, Urban Planning

Greenway signs sprout on 17th and 18th Avenues

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New wayfinding sign on the 17th/18th Avenue South Greenway, on 17th Avenue just south of South Forest Street. Photo by Wendi.
New signs appeared along 17th and 18th Avenues South recently, the first visible step toward the new Beacon Hill Greenway, part of a planned network of neighborhood greenways on Beacon Hill. The signs direct cyclists to neighborhood locations such as Jefferson Park and Beacon Hill Station via the greenway route.

Greenways are residential streets that are designed to be safe neighborhood connections for bicyclists and pedestrians, while still allowing automobile access using traffic calming measures. (City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw has posted a FAQ with more information about neighborhood greenways on her website.)

Seattle’s greenways have recently seen a lot of press, including articles in The Seattle Times, Publicola, Seattle Bike Blog, and The Atlantic Cities.

For more information on bicycle and pedestrian strategies on Beacon Hill, see the Beacon Hill Family Bicycle and Pedestrian Circulation Plan, a ten-year plan put together by Beacon B.I.K.E.S. and ALTA Planning + Design. (See also the appendix.)