Category Archives: Urban Planning

Local Events, Urban Planning

El Centro proposes parking lot

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The El Centro building on opening day of Festival Street in December 2009. The lot behind the chain-link fence is proposed to become a temporary parking lot until it can be developed. Photo by Jason.
(Updated at 12:48 p.m. to add a link to Estela Ortega’s letter. The link was mistakenly left out of the story when posted earlier this morning. — Ed.)

El Centro de la Raza is seeking permission from the city to open a parking lot south of the El Centro building until the land on that site can be developed, and is asking neighbors to support this proposal.

A January 31 letter from El Centro’s Estela Ortega (read the full letter here) to the Beacon Hill community requests support for a temporary parking lot in El Centro’s south lot, adjacent to Beacon Hill Station. The proposal is for 80 public parking spaces, to “help generate much needed revenue to support (El Centro’s) programs and mission during these difficult economic times.” The letter goes on to describe potential benefits to the neighborhood including security improvements, access to Link Light Rail and neighborhood businesses, hosting of mobile food vendors, and parking for Festival Street events.

Currently new parking lots are not allowed in light rail station areas. A current proposed land use amendment would allow interim parking use on lots that already have legally established parking near Mount Baker, Columbia City, Othello and Rainier Beach Stations, but the proposal says “Light rail parking would not be allowed within the North Beacon Hill station area.” However, though El Centro is adjacent to the station, it is not within the officially-defined “station area.” The land use amendment currently being considered would allow commuter and business parking on certain lots such as El Centro’s that are just outside the station area and already have existing parking.

You can give your opinion on the proposed parking lot at a hearing of the City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment on Wednesday, February 23 at 9:30 am in the City Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue.

Ortega’s letter lists other El Centro items of note:

  • Santos Rodriguez Park has new playground equipment and is open to all neighbors. $350,000 in funding from the Seattle Parks Opportunity Fund will be used to improve the park further, with input from a community advisory committee.
  • South Lander Street between 16th and 17th Avenues South will be renamed Roberto Maestas Festival Street in honor of El Centro’s late principal founder and leader. Lewis Park, at the north end of Beacon Hill near the Dr. Jose Rizal Bridge will be renamed the Roberto Maestas Nature Park.
  • El Centro has received funding to begin a community process to plan the development of their south lot. A community meeting is planned for Saturday, February 19 to discuss the project. The meeting time will be announced later.

Also at El Centro:

  • United Way is operating a free tax preparation site. In addition to filing tax returns, customers will be able to purchase savings bonds, open credit union accounts, sign up for prepaid debit cards, and apply for public benefits such as the Washington Basic Food Program. Hours are Tuesdays from 5-9 p.m. (English, Spanish, and Arabic), Thursdays from 5-9 p.m. (English, Spanish, and Chinese), and Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. (English and Spanish).
  • Spanish classes at El Centro will run from April 12 until June 9, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-7:30 p.m. Tuition is $300. Please contact 206-957-4605 or execasst@elcentrodelaraza.org for more info, or visit the El Centro website to enroll.
  • The Just Garden Project is kicking off their Spring into Bed fundraising campaign with an event at El Centro on March 5 from 7-9 p.m. Proceeds from the event go to building free and subsidized gardens for low-income families in King County. See the invitation for more info.
  • Estela Ortega has been confirmed as one of 14 community members to serve on the city’s Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee III. This is the third committee of its kind that has selected to advise the city on questions that affect transportation in Seattle. Other members represent organizations including (among others) Cascade Bicycle Club, Downtown Seattle Association, Carpenters’ Union Local 131, Transportation Choices Coalition, and Seattle Children’s Hospital.
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.

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.

Opinion, Urban Planning

Beacon and Lander pedestrian crossing update

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On July 7, Mark Holland and I (representing Beacon BIKES) met with Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Sound Transit to discuss options for improving the pedestrian crossing in front of the light rail station.  As it currently stands the crossing is not very safe.  The crossing distance is very long, people do not use the crosswalks, traffic moves too fast, and the bus stops complicate the foot and vehicular traffic patterns.  Add to this the surge of people coming from the light rail station and we have an accident waiting to happen.  You can see a previous post about the dangers of the crossing here.

Sound Transit was planning to repave the section of Beacon between McClellan and Lander without improving the pedestrian crossing.  Beacon BIKES got wind of this and arranged a meeting to discuss options for pedestrian improvements as part of the repave.  SDOT was instrumental in setting up the meeting and convincing Sound Transit that this crossing needed to be improved (Thanks Sam Woods!!).  Based on our meeting SDOT came up with the following design.

The SDOT draft plan for Beacon Avenue. Click the image to load a larger, more-readable PDF of the plan.

The major features of the new design are a planted median, widened crosswalks at either end of the block, and narrowed travel lanes.  The narrowed lanes would mean that buses stop in lane.  In lane bus stops are being implemented all over the city as a means of speeding up the bus system.  The median would have a tasteful barrier down the middle so people could not stream across the street at mid block.  Instead, they would be directed to the wide crosswalks at the corners to cross.  With the widened sidewalks the crossing distance would be shortened making for a safer pedestrian experience.

The design that Beacon BIKES put forward did not have in lane bus stops but did include a raised crosswalk at mid-block.  Our logic here was that everyone wants to cross at mid-block to get to the bus, so why not give them an avenue to do that instead of forcing them around (also the raised crosswalk would act as a speed table and slow traffic down).  SDOT did not like the mid-block crossing idea because of the relatively short distance between McClellan and Lander, but we are still hoping they will reconsider.  🙂

As is apparent from the rough nature of the design sheet, the plan is not finalized, so this is your chance to come up with an inspired idea that will make this pedestrian crossing safe and inviting while still accommodating bus, bike, and vehicle traffic.

In the meantime check out Beacon BIKES on Facebook, and come to our next meeting to join the fun. The meeting is on Monday, November 15, at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South.

Meetings, Urban Planning

Town Center Action Team meeting this weekend

The North Beacon Town Center Action Team meeting has been shifted to an earlier time than our original announcement stated. It’s now scheduled from 9:00 am to noon this Saturday, October 16, at Beacon Lutheran Church, 1720 South Forest Street.

The meeting’s objective is to confirm the process for the action team’s work, and review and refine draft concepts for the North Beacon Urban Design Framework.

Here’s the draft agenda sent to us by Lyle Bicknell from the Department of Planning and Development:

  • 9:00 Introductions
  • 9:10 Outline of the Day (Lyle Bicknell)
    • Review schedule and approach to the action team’s work
    • Overview of Urban Design Framework
      • What it is and isn’t
      • Basic elements to address in N Beacon
  • 9:40 N Beacon Opportunities and Perspectives (10 minutes each)
    • Sara Robertson, Transportation issues/opportunities.
    • Sound Transit (tent)
  • 10:00 Town Center Walking Tour
  • 11:00 Breakout Groups
    • List of questions designed to take the community members to make recommendations taking the earlier panels/sessions into context. (Small group facilitation)
  • 11:45 Report Back
  • 12:00 Next Step/Next Meetings
Meetings, Urban Planning

Neighborhood plan update moving forward tomorrow

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The Seattle Public Utilities and Neighborhoods Committee (SPUNC) is meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, September 28, at 2:00 pm. One of the items on the agenda (item #5) is “recognition of the North Beacon Hill, Othello, and North Rainier Neighborhood Plan Updates,” including briefing, discussion, and a possible vote.

Key items in the proposed update include changing the zoning around Beacon Hill Station to 65 feet, and encouraging more residential development in our Urban Village.

The committee will consider and discuss Resolution 31245:

A Resolution recognizing the extensive efforts of the North Beacon Hill neighborhood to update their vision and plan for the future; approving an action plan for the neighborhood and City to undertake actions to advance neighborhood priorities and authorizing the submittal of proposed amendments to the North Beacon Hill Neighborhood Plan for consideration as part of the Comprehension Plan amendment process.

You can read the  entire resolution online.

City Councilmember Mike O’Brien chairs SPUNC, the committee responsible for neighborhood planning (among other things).  To share your thoughts on whether the North Beacon Hill Neighborhood Plan is ready to move forward, please attend the meeting tomorrow or contact Councilmember O’Brien via email at mike.obrien@seattle.gov or by phone at 206-684-8800. SPUNC meetings are held in Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue.

The proposed Neighborhood Plan Update was drafted during one of the worst budget crises the city has ever seen. North Beacon Hill residents will benefit from projects and goals in the plan, and will also be able to pursue funding for other projects in the future.  Action teams will be forming soon to work on specific items in the plan—stay tuned to the Beacon Hill Blog to learn how to get involved!

Our community is strong and vibrant because neighbors like you get involved in the planning process and—most importantly—in the many ongoing projects happening on Beacon Hill. Whether you have five minutes to send an email or hours to devote to meetings, thank you for helping make North Beacon Hill an amazing place to live, work, play and learn!

Opinion, Urban Planning

Analysis: Neighborhood action plan still lacks clarity

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This poster from the Beacon Hill Festival in June was covered with stickers that Beacon Hill neighbors used to vote on projects to prioritize in our neighborhood plan update. Photo by Wendi.
by Frederica Merrell

The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) has introduced legislation to the City Council for adoption of our neighborhood plan update in Councilperson Mike O’Brien’s committee next Tuesday, September 28. You can download the Action Plan PDF file here. In the past week, they have finally put in all the details that people have been asking to see. Don’t blink, you will miss it!

For comparison, here is the matrix of projects voted on at the Beacon Hill Festival (only the ones that received an average support rating of 2 or higher). Many great ideas are not included in the DPD update.

DPD actions are phased as: o for on-going, p for planning, u for underway, or d for done. There are lots of blanks where they don’t know which phase we are in. I have to wonder why we are getting “done” projects in our action matrix for a ten-year plan for the future? I guess we need a little padding in a few spots! Here is my educated review of the Action Plan:

Goals #1, 2, and 3. DPD has put a lot of emphasis on developing low-income housing. DPD again claims to be developing an urban design framework for us, but I still don’t know what that means. Clearly zoning and land use is DPD’s main interest and expertise area. (It doesn’t hurt that every development project that gets permitted puts money in the department coffers.)

All the actions under the first three goals (housing and commercial district development) are on-going or planned. There is one interesting exception: Resolving litter issues in the town center is listed as done! I am not sure how that has manifested in our town center, exactly.

There are no housing goals, nor is there acknowledgement of the huge amount of multi-family housing going in at the north end of the hill. Rating: OK but incomplete for rest of neighborhood and maybe a little inaccurate on the litter front.

It starts to get weird under Goal 4: Parks and Open Space. They have only two policies: Preserve and support El Centro, and Seek Small Pocket Parks. There is emphasis on the El Centro Civic Gathering Space, an indoor facility, I believe (see Goal 6). The only actions with a planning designation are El Centro’s civic gathering space, El Centro’s children’s play area and an urban design framework element for Jose Rizal Park. In spite of the fact that eight different proposals for open space were submitted to the Parks Opportunity Fund this year, the only one acknowledged by DPD is the El Centro Children’s Play Area project. What about the other five: Lewis Park, North Beacon Central Park, Walker Street, 12th Street View Spot, and the Gatehouse project at Jefferson Park?

DPD pads this section with completed or almost completed projects. Beacon Hill Playground project is listed three times and is already underway, probably to be finished before the end of the year. Under Jefferson Park Master Plan, a small number of projects are underway or done. Why is “recommission the South Reservoir” in there as an action? It was completed over a year ago!
Continue reading Analysis: Neighborhood action plan still lacks clarity →

Meetings, Urban Planning

September NBHC meeting agenda

The postponed-due-to-the-week-long-library-closure September North Beacon Hill Council Meeting is happening this Thursday at 7pm in the Beacon Hill Library Community Room. Everyone is welcome, and if you’ve been to at least one meeting, you’re eligible to vote!

The agenda as posted on the NBHC website with some added emphasis:

  • 7:00 Introductions and Welcome
  • 7:05 Allison Schwartz, Transportation Planner, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Mike Podowski, Planner, Department of Planning and Development (DPD) will give an update on light rail station area parking and get feedback on the Restricted Parking Zones – how are they working for us. Q & A follows five minute presentations by each.
  • 7:40 City Councilmember Mike O’Brien, Chair, Seattle Public Utilities and Neighborhoods Committee: CC member O’Brien’s City Council Committee will be making a decision this month on the Neighborhood Plan as presented by DPD; he has asked for this opportunity to receive neighborhood feedback. Mike will also be soliciting members for the Action Teams which are forming to implement the Neighborhood Plan.
  • 8:10 Neighborhood updates
    • Beacon Rocks
    • Beacon Hill Business Association
    • Nomination of new North Beacon Hill Council Board Member
    • Resignation accepted from Shelly Bates, Board Member – thank you so much, Shelly, for all you have done for us!
    • Other announcements, events
  • 8:30 Executive Board Meeting (open to all, however only Board Members are allowed to speak and take any needed votes. If you choose to leave at this time, it’s understood!)
    • Election of new board member(s)
    • Updates on plans made at the August Board Social meeting
Urban Planning

Results of recent neighborhood plan update surveys posted

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City Councilperson Mike O'Brien speaks with Beacon Hill residents at May's town hall meeting at Mercer Middle School.
The Department of Planning and Development has posted the results of the recent town hall and Web surveys about the North Beacon Hill Neighborhood Plan Update. They sent out the following announcement:

Thank you for your participation and contribution to your Neighborhood Plan Update from the March 2009 meeting through the May 2010 Town Hall meetings and the online survey. Your input in creating the updates and your help prioritizing the Action Steps will guide the Implementation Phase, which we are just about to start. Implementation will involve a partnership of community members, community organizations, the City and funders. We look forward to working with you on the Strategies and Action Steps to bring about your community’s Vision and Goals.

The May 2010 Town Hall and web surveys results are now posted to our website. Click on the following link if you wish to see what your fellow community members think: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Neighborhood_Planning/Overview/ (Editor’s note: You can go directly to the survey result PDF here if you prefer.)

Your commitment to your community is further demonstrated by the hundreds of Action Team members signed up to implement the Action Steps. City Departments will be activating the relevant Action Teams as we start our work in your neighborhood. If you did not sign up, but are interested, please contact your Neighborhood District Coordinator: Yun Pitre (yun.pitre@seattle.gov) if you are in Othello or North Rainier; or Steve Louie (steve.louie@seattle.gov) if you are in North Beacon Hill. In the meantime, you can keep up to date on our progress via our website and Facebook page.

Again, thank you for your commitment to your neighborhood. We are excited to begin our shared work plan in your neighborhood.

Recreation, Urban Planning

Jefferson Park skatepark schematic to be presented at 7/14 meeting

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One of the skatepark designs proposed at the May community meeting.
The final design meeting for the Jefferson Park Skatepark is next Wednesday, July 14, at the Jefferson Community Center, 3801 Beacon Avenue South. Beacon Mountain Play Area and Jefferson Park Playfield will be discussed from 6:00 to 6:40 pm, then from 6:45 to 8:00 the final schematic design for the skatepark will be presented. Here is a flyer with more information. Meeting notes and concepts from the April and May community meetings may be downloaded here. The project is currently planned to be advertised for bid in early 2011 and completed in late summer of the same year.