Archives for July 28, 2010

Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess is one of the members of the Committee on the Built Environment who heard the public comments today and voted to keep the RDG’s changes to the comp plan from moving forward.

I sent him an email last night, expressing my views and concerns about the RDG amendment, and received the following in return this morning (post vote):

Thank you for your e-mail to Councilmember Burgess. Last year the Council adopted a comprehensive plan amendment that paved the way for implementing a neighborhood plan update initiated by the Roosevelt community.  That process is underway and is moving forward at a good pace. The neighborhood planning process needs to be honored and Tim voted in committee today not to advance comp plan amendment #8 from the Roosevelt Development Group.

Tim appreciates how the residents of the Roosevelt neighborhood have worked hard to plan for the future. He wants to see that process move forward and be completed before considering any stand-alone proposals. The committee agreed and recommended to the full council that the comp plan amendment not advance. The full council’s decision will come on Monday.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Nate Van Duzer
Legislative Aide
Councilmember Tim Burgess

Sallys Clark and Bagshaw did most of the talking in today’s meeting, so it was nice to hear Burgess’ thoughts on the matter as well.

The City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment (Sally Clark, chair; Sally Bagshaw; Tim Burgess) recommended this morning to remove the Roosevelt Development Group’s Comprehensive Plan amendment from further consideration this year.

Here’s a message from the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association’s Jim O’Halloran (Chair, Land Use Committee) on how the meeting went, with thanks for those who spoke out and next steps (emphasis mine; the original can be found at the RNA blog as the entry for July 28):

Neighbors,

Only minutes ago, City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment (COBE) voted unanimously to *remove* the RDG Comp Plan amendment from further consideration on this year’s Comp Plan amendment policy docket.  This is exactly what we asked them to do, and I’m thrilled to be able to share this news with you now.

COBE’s vote this morning, from three councilmembers (Clark, Burgess and Bagshaw) is *not final* until the full Council takes a vote, probably on Monday, August 2nd. I am confident, however, that full Council will support this position.

Please understand what we have accomplished.  Two weeks ago, the RDG Comp Plan amendment seemed headed for easy passage. DPD recommended it.  The Seattle Planning Commission recommended it.  Even City Council’s own Central Staff recommended that this amendment be included on the policy docket.  It was only the outpouring of passionate yet well-reasoned, and exquisitely well-timed e-mail from the Community which moved this mountain. There’s a big lesson here for all of us;  please share it with your children!

Thank you to everyone who wrote to our City Councilmembers. Your e-mails were stirring but for the most part struck the just the right tone of reason.  This is what distinguishes us as a neighborhood; not just ranting but taking responsibility for our future, and offering constructive input to our elected officials.  I hope you can see how effective we can be, when we organize around some commonly agreed principles.

Special thanks to those of you who were able to make the extra effort to attend this morning’s COBE meeting:  John Adams (and his capable summer intern architect), Diane Haddock, Melissa Westbrook, Renee Davis, Judith Leconte, Bill Dunning and others I may have missed.  Your presence was influential.  I would have been there but I’m stuck in Oregon on business.

If you’d like to watch the COBE meeting on the Internet, it should be posted by early this afternoon online at http://www.seattlechannel.org/  Look for the “July 28 meeting of the Committee on the Built Environment”.

I have one other thought for you at this time.  If your e-mail fingers are not totally worn out from writing to Council, consider just one more quick message, a *thank you* to COBE members, for their recognition of Community input, and for their vote to strike Comp Plan amendment #8.  Please note that Sally Clark took a genuine leadership position on this issue, working behind the scenes with DPD, and that she chose to override the recommendation of all advisors sitting at the table, with her own Amendment to the Resolution setting the Comp Plan policy docket.  Sally Bagshaw was effusive in her compliments for the Roosevelt neighborhood at the COBE meeting this morning; she’s also listening to us.  And Tim Burgess was part of the unanimous “yes” vote which carried the day for the Community.

This battle’s not won ‘till the full Council votes on Monday, but I’ve gone out on a limb with my own notes of thanks, to provide quick, positive reinforcement for our friends on City Council.

Thank you, neighbors, for your interest and support on this Comp Plan issue.  We’ve really made a difference!

Jim

Jim O’Halloran
Chair, Land Use Committee
Roosevelt Neighborhood Association

[NOTE: There were Ravenna residents present at the meeting offering public comments (all against). I have heard that the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association is also against the RDG’s plans, but I have no specific information on their stance. Attempts to contact them have so far gone unanswered.]