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.)
These lots have been empty for more than two years. The lot proposed for development is in the back of the photo, to the left. Photo by Wendi.An apartment building may be the future of one of the empty lots around Beacon Hill Station. An early design guidance meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 25 to discuss a preliminary proposal to build a four-story commercial/residential structure at 2721 17th Ave. S., the southeast corner of the station block. Several lots on that block have been vacant and surrounded by chain-link fence since shortly after the opening of Beacon Hill Station in the summer of 2009. The lots were previously used for staging during the light rail station construction project.
Pacific Housing Northwest is proposing to build an apartment building with 30 housing units as well as 800 square feet of ground-floor retail. There would be underground parking. The Department of Planning and Development pages about the site and the associate permits are here and here. The site is currently owned by Alphonso Tucci-Grastello.
The early design guidance meeting will be held at the Wellspring Family Services community room, 1900 Rainier Avenue South, at 6:30 p.m. on October 25.
View Larger Map. This is the location of the proposed apartment building at the Beacon Hill Station block.
Seattle Parks and Recreation is hosting a follow-up public meeting to discuss the design of a skatedot (a skateboard facility) at Benefit Playground. The meeting is a follow-up from input received in the August 11 design meeting, and will take place on September 1 from 6 – 7 p.m. at the park picnic shelter. Benefit Playground is located on South Beacon Hill at 9320 38th Ave S.
According to Parks and Recreation:
A skatedot is a skateboard feature within an existing park that can range in size from 1,500 to 10,000 square feet. It is considered a neighborhood facility that can accommodate up to 13 users at a time. This skatedot is expected to be located within the existing sport court area of the park. For more information on Seattle Skatepark planning, please visit the skatepark website.
The survey is part of an SDOT study of performance-based parking pricing strategies. In performance-based pricing, parking rates are adjusted depending on a set of data-driven characteristics. For example, rates could change by time of day or location, or seasonally. The expected result of the variable rates is to increase parking availability, and decrease the time drivers spend circling the block in search of a parking spot. This not only decreases the pollution caused by this practice, but also eliminates a fair amount of traffic. (This 2007 New York Times op-ed suggests that drivers searching for curb parking are about 30 percent of the traffic in central business districts.)
Utility poles in a row on S. Stevens St. Photo by Wendi.
The power lines and tall poles that have concerned neighbors in the vicinity of 12th and Stevens will be changed starting next week. City Light crews will install new utility poles along S. Stevens St., as well as replacing the 71-foot pole at 12th Ave. S. and S. Stevens with a 55-foot pole. Additionally, one circuit of power cables will be moved underground to reduce view impacts in the area.
The work will begin on June 13 and continue until September.
The changes are the culmination of two years of discussions between Beacon Hill residents and City Light after a new power circuit was added to the Hill to support Link Light Rail and expected future demand. When the large poles and new wires went in, neighbors in the area of 12th and Stevens found the views from their homes were affected. Neighbors also expressed concern about the impact of the poles and power lines on the nearby 12th Avenue S. Viewpoint park. Over 100 neighbors signed a petition asking that the poles be removed.
Previous posts about the poles/power lines are here:
Photo by Peter Blanchard via Creative Commons.If drivers speed recklessly on your residential street and you’d like to do something about it, you or someone from your street should attend the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program meeting on Wednesday, May 25, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Beacon Hill Library.
Neighborhood Traffic Operations (NTO), a workgroup within the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), is hosting the event to meet with neighbors who are concerned about speeding on their residential street. NTO representatives will present a brief overview of traffic calming options (such as chicanes, traffic circles, radar speed signs, etc.), what steps a neighborhood must take to be considered for traffic calming, the criteria staff use to prioritize projects, and possible funding sources. They will also teach the proper use of radar speed guns.
If you wish to enroll your street in the traffic calming program, a representative from your street must attend this meeting or one of the other meetings (the next one is in Queen Anne in July).
You can find more information about the traffic calming program on the SDOT website.
Part of the Beacon Town Center concept plan as seen in the proposed Urban Design Framework.On Monday, April 11 the Seattle City Council approved Council Bill 117114. This bill moves the North Beacon Hill Neighborhood Plan Update “action plan and goals” into the Seattle Comprehensive Plan. (There’s other stuff in there, but this is only a summary of changes relating to Beacon Hill. Read it; it’s interesting. Really.)
Maintain the remainder of parcels and storefronts north and south of the immediate station area along Beacon Ave. S. for new and small businesses.
Rezone key opportunity sites to encourage redevelopment of parcels around the light rail station in a manner that incorporates housing, commercial services (such as a grocery store and small businesses) and amenities.
Evaluate a height increase within the Town Center for some but not all properties that have a current height limit of 40 feet, allowing up to 65 feet with required street and upper level setbacks.
Where land use changes are considered, give particular attention to zone transitions.
Change the land use and zoning to support the envisioned mixed use development on the El Centro site.
Develop neighborhood design guidelines and an urban design framework plan for the North Beacon Hill station area. Framework elements could include building height options, incentive features such as affordable housing, open space, and pedestrian connections.
The El Centro de la Raza parking lot is a step closer to existence. On March 21, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed an ordinance that allows parking lots of up to 100 spaces as interim uses on sites “occupied or owned by established institutions within a quarter mile of a light rail station, including the North Beacon Hill light rail station.” Earlier proposed versions of the ordinance limited all lots to 40 spaces.
“Parking, especially at places like El Centro de la Raza on Beacon Hill, will serve as a handy resource for game day fans.”
El Centro has expressed an intent to put 80 parking spaces on the lot directly south of their building, which is located across South Lander Street from Beacon Hill Station.
The ordinance also allows parking lots of up to 40 spaces on other properties within Southeast Seattle station areas, however, this part of the ordinance excludes the Beacon Hill station area.
The City Council’s press release on the ordinance quotes Councilmember Sally J. Clark: “We want to see these lifeless, empty parking spaces serve a use, at least until the economy rebounds. Allowing longer-term parking, particularly at places like El Centro de la Raza on Beacon Hill, will serve as a handy resource for game-day fans hoping to avoid parking around Safeco Field or Qwest Field.”
The ordinance will not allow permanent parking lots; permits for the lots will expire after three years.
El Centro de la Raza is hosting a community meeting on Saturday, February 19, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to discuss ideas and planning for the development of the El Centro south lot. All are welcome, and food will be provided. Please RSVP to Miguel Maestas at 206-957-4650 or at associate@elcentrodelaraza.org.
The meeting will be held at the Cocina located on the first floor of the north end of the El Centro de la Raza building, 2524 16th Avenue South.
El Centro is also working with a group of business students from the University of Washington to develop recommendations for the future mixed-use, transit-oriented development on the south lot. The students have created an online survey, to gather Beacon Hill residents’ opinions about the small businesses they would like to see in the development. Here’s a link to the survey.
What will this bleak lot become? Photo by Joel Lee in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool.
