News

Beacon Hill, the video star

6 Comments

On Sunday, October 20, Stevens Place Park (the triangle park at Beacon and Stevens) will be the site of a video shoot for footage to be used in a Seattle Children’s Hospital benefit event.

Vossler Media Group of Kirkland will be shooting video of two couples meeting on the sidewalk in the park and on the sidewalk on the south side of Stevens Street between Beacon Avenue South and 17th Avenue South. According to a handout delivered to houses surrounding the park, there will be a crew of about 13 technicians and actors, and the shoot will take about five hours, from 1 to 6 p.m.

There will be some No Parking signs in place during the shoot, but there should be no blocking of residence access or vehicle traffic. Sound isn’t being recorded, so feel free to practice your tuba during the shoot. You probably shouldn’t photobomb them, however.

Education, Opinion

School district needs to hear from Maple neighbors

by Julie van Arcken

In both their latest boundary maps, Seattle Public Schools wants to kick Mid Beacon Hill out of the official Maple walk zone (an area so close to a school that bus service is not even provided) and instead make our kids bus miles to school every day.

We’ve been working hard to rally the neighborhood to oppose this change, but the majority of our neighborhood are not native English speakers, and none of the boundary materials have been translated into any other language. At the Oct. 16 School Board meeting, we were supported by members of our local Vietnamese, Japanese, and Chinese communities, and we spoke about retaining our Maple walk zone, and also the need for native-language outreach in these important decisions. Together with an East African woman (to whom we donated one of our speaking slots, as she was also speaking out for the need for cultural and native-language outreach), we were the only voices speaking about the lack of racial and linguistic equity in this process. (See this post on the Mid Beacon Hill Blog, containing a bar graph depicting the lack of diversity in feedback the district has received so far.)

If you also feel it’s unjust that SPS is kicking a majority-non-English-speaking community of color out of its local school walk zone without even notifying affected families in the languages they understand, please fill out this two-question SPS survey before Oct. 25 at 6 p.m.:

Survey link

Choose Zone 36 for the area of concern, and provide a comment like “Let kids in the Maple walk zone walk to Maple. For a racially equitable process, notify affected families in their native languages.”

Zone36ToMaple

Urban Planning

Zoning changes intended to prevent “suburban-style” development apply to Beacon Hill, too

4 Comments
Does this type of development belong in urban villages such as Wallingford, Lower Queen Anne, and Beacon Hill?
Does this type of development belong in urban villages such as Wallingford, Lower Queen Anne, and Beacon Hill?
by Chris Bailey

If you followed the issue of the development at Beacon and Horton, or any other development issues in Beacon Hill, you may be interested in a new zoning rule affecting some properties in the Beacon Hill Urban Village.

In response to some recent low-rise commercial projects with lots of surface parking (CVS pharmacies) proposed within pedestrian overlay zones, Council Member Richard Conlin drafted emergency land use legislation last month, which passed full council. The new rules aim to prevent further projects that under-utilize properties and attract more car traffic within higher density, pedestrian-oriented zoning. The main tool of the legislation is to set minimum FAR requirements for projects on neighborhood commercial lots within urban villages, station overlays, or pedestrian overlays. There are also further parking restrictions in the new rules that actually limit the number of parking spaces. The FAR refers to the floor-area ratio; for instance, 50% lot coverage and 4 floors would have a FAR of 2. See here, here, and here for more specifics.

While not specifically called out in the rule language or discussions I have read, I confirmed with Richard Conlin that this is a city-wide rule and the properties surrounding the Beacon Hill Station zoned NC2P-65, and -40 are affected by this new rule. The minimum FAR set by the new rule is 1.5 for the NC2P-40 properties and 2.0 for NC2P-65.

The emergency legislation appears to be in effect for a year, but the goal is to make it permanent. A public hearing is scheduled for October 30 and written comments will be accepted. More information on the hearing is available here.

Religion

Zen classes starting next week

2 Comments
Photo courtesy of Chobo-Ji.
Photo courtesy of Chobo-Ji.
Chobo-Ji, Beacon Hill’s Zen Temple, is offering a four-part series on the basics of Zen philosophy and meditation, starting on Tuesday, October 15.

Classes are Tuesday evenings from 7:30-8:45 p.m. Here’s what will be included:

  • Oct 15 Zazen: the basics of meditation
  • Oct 22 Meditation in motion: walking meditation, working meditation, chanting, tea ceremony
  • Oct 29 Roots of Rinzai Zen philosophy: with Abbot Genjo Marinello on the basics of “koan practice” and the role of the “Zen Master”
  • Nov 5 Zen Meals: the special place that cooking and eating has in Zen practice and life
  • Sunday, Nov 10, 5:00 am- 11:30 am “Mini-Sesshin”: a half-day sampling of what a traditional week-long Zen retreat is like including, chanting, personal interviews with the abbot, a formal meal, meditation, and a Dharma talk

Cost of the series is just $20, or $40 including the half-day on Sunday. All are welcome regardless of ability to pay. Come to one class, or all. For further questions, contact Tobin Fudo Youngs at 425-351-3929.

Education

Kids invited to create in Día de los Muertos crafts class

1 Comment
Photo by Wendi Dunlap.
Children and their parents or caregivers are invited to the Beacon Hill Library on October 27 to learn about and celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) with a free milk carton crafts workshop. Kids aged 7 and up will learn how to create an altar, shrine or shadow box with milk cartons.

The event is from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 27 at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Ave. S. There is no fee, and everyone is welcome.

Education, Volunteering and Giving

BHIS students planning dream trip to China

1 Comment
Photo by Rob Ketcherside in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool on Flickr.
The Northwest Asian Weekly reports that fifth grade students in the Mandarin Immersion Program at Beacon Hill International School are planning a trip to China in 2014 to meet their pen pals from Renmin Rongqiao Primary School in Chongqing. They need to raise money to achieve their dream, which may cost as much as $2,500 per child.

For more information about the school, and to make an online donation to the China trip fund, visit the school’s website.

BH in the News, Neighborhood Pride

PIE features Beacon Hill

1 Comment

The latest episode of the KCTS9 show PIE, with the theme “wheels,” visits Beacon Hill for two segments featuring local people and landmarks.

The first is an impressionistic “then and now” about the beautifully restored Fire Station 13, with views of Jefferson Park next door. See it here.

The second segment, “Old Guy Skateboarders,” also visits Jefferson Park, and finds that many skateboarders using the skate park aren’t the kids you might expect. Skaters in their 40s and 50s and even older are out there too. Some are returning to skating after taking time off for families and work, while others never stopped skating. See the segment here.

Local Events

Cider, pumpkins, and other fall fun at the Fall Festival

8 Comments

Now that the leaves are starting to turn, it’s a good time to celebrate the new season before the winter rains move in to stay. To that end, Rainier Valley Cooperative Preschool is hosting their annual Fall Festival tomorrow, October 5 from 10 a.m.to 2 p.m. on Roberto Maestas Festival Street (next to Beacon Hill Station).

Activities for the whole family include pumpkin decorating, a bike parade, a cider press, a bake sale, face painting, a photo booth, and much more.

Screen Shot 2013-10-04 at 5.52.48 AM

Local Events

Benefit Bazaar to showcase handmade arts, crafts and food

1 Comment

As the holiday season rapidly approaches, so does the season of many craft fairs. Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church kicks off the craft fair season with a Benefit Bazaar this Saturday, featuring food, arts and crafts, and children’s activities from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Funds raised will benefit Red Bird Mission, a United Methodist Church mission to people in the Appalachian mountains.

Blaine Memorial is located at 3001 24th Ave. S.

Clean and Green, Recreation, Volunteering and Giving

Cheasty/Mt. View volunteers needed tomorrow

1 Comment

Volunteers are wanted this Saturday, October 5, at the Cheasty Greenspace/Mt. View work party, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. Volunteers will be removing blackberry and ivy vines east of the Angeline Trail Head.

All you need to bring is yourself, your sturdy shoes, warm clothes, water to drink, and a treat to share. Volunteers should meet at 2809 S. Alaska Place 98108 starting at 9:45 a.m.

In other Greenspace news, the Cheasty/Mt. View group applied for an Opportunity Fund grant, but their proposal for a mountain bike path was not selected because of rules banning off-road bicycles in parks. The Seattle Board of Park Commissioners will meet next Thursday, October 10, to discuss and vote on an update to the Bicycle Use Policy that would allow the projects like the Greenspace project to happen.

Neighbors are invited to attend and express their opinions at the meeting starting at 6:30 p.m, October 10, at 100 Dexter Ave. N. in the Kenneth R. Bounds Park Board Room.