Dispatches from Ravenna, a neighborhood in Northeast Seattle
The U.S. Bank branch in the Roosevelt neighborhood (1023 NE 63rd St) was the target of Occupy movement-related vandalism in the early morning of Saturday, November 26.
Photo by Dominick DiGregorio/Roosevelt Neighborhood Blog. Used with permission.
Our friends over at Roosiehood have the story (and more pictures).
Should you need to access another U.S. Bank branch in our area, there are four others in Northeast Seattle. Click on the map for location information.
Two really fun parts of the latest North Link Light Rail construction open houses for the Roosevelt and Brooklyn Stations are now available for viewing online: Illustrations of the construction sites themselves.
Enjoy!
These animations, and the presentations they were a part of, can be found on Sound Transit’s North Link Documents Library page.
CleanScapes, one of the city of Seattle’s waste collection providers, has announced its 2011 Neighborhood Waste Reduction Competition winner. And it’s US!
Our collection area, Tuesday North (which also includes parts of Roosevelt, Bryant and Wedgwood) has won $50,000 towards a community improvement project to be built in 2012.
From the press release:
Between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011 the residents of these neighborhoods decreased their waste by 400 tons, a 4.7% improvement over the same period the previous year. The runner up was CleanScapes Tuesday South collection area (Queen Anne and Magnolia) with a reduction of 325 tons.
Every year CleanScapes challenges neighborhoods in the municipalities it serves to reduce their waste footprint in this annual competition. Working together, Seattle neighborhoods in CleanScapes service area lost a total of 1,226 tons in 2011: an impressive waste reduction accomplishment and a huge step toward the City of Seattle’s 2020 Carbon Neutrality and Zero Waste goals.
Congratulations, everyone! We made less waste, together.
Now, how do we spend our spoils?
Starting today [October 28, 2011] through January 31, 2012, all Seattle residents are invited to submit a project proposal for the $50,000 reward. To be eligible for consideration, projects have to meet four basic criteria: the project is a capital improvement, located in the winning neighborhood collection area, easily accessible by the public and the total cost of the project does not exceed $50,000.
That’s right: Anyone in Seattle may submit a proposal for a project to be built within the Tuesday North neighborhoods. But the proposals will be reviewed and a winner chosen by a volunteer committee representing community councils in the Tuesday North collection area.
Project proposal criteria and a proposal form can be downloaded here. Proposals are due by January 31, 2012.
Last year’s inaugural winner of the CleanScapes Neighborhood Waste Reduction Competition in Seattle was a Thursday collection area that included portions of Montlake, Madison Park, Madison Valley, Capitol Hill, First Hill and Yesler Terrace. The winning proposal built a new playground in Washington Park.
The Ravenna-Bryant Community Association is holding their monthly meeting this Wednesday, September 15th. It will once again be held at the Northeast Library (6801 35th Ave NE) from 6-7:45pm.
I don’t know the precise agenda at this time, BUT I know that the big community meeting in October will be discussed.
And if you need further reason to attend, I’ll be bringing HOMEMADE COOKIES. And they are VERY TASTY.
The NE 45th Avenue viaduct project is almost done. Huzzah! Construction is due to be completed on September 10th, just in time for the first Husky football game the next day.
There are a few more viaduct projects to finish in October and November — lighting installation, finalizing the line striping and pedestrian markings, and replanting the surrounding area — but the detour will be no more, and life will return to normal…
…until January of next year, when two new construction projects are headed our way.
I’m sure we can all agree that the surface of 15th Avenue NE is a pothole-riddled disaster, and the increased traffic from the viaduct detour route isn’t doing it any favors.
Happily for us, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has plans in the works to reconstruct most of 15th Avenue between NE Pacific Street and NE 55th Street between January and October of 2011.
Project area for the 15th Ave NE reconstruction, courtesy SDOT
This popular arterial will be FULLY RECONSTRUCTED between NE Pacific Street and NE 50th Street between January and September, while the stretch between NE 50th Street and NE 55th Street will just get a repaving. Intersections at NE Pacific Street, NE 45th Street, and NE 50th Street will not be repaved as this was done more recently.
And there’s more! From the SDOT’s 15th Avenue Reconstruction Project website:
Other improvements include:
- New curb ramps and curb bulbs to improve pedestrian mobility
- Sidewalk widening at bus zones (bus bulbs)
- Drainage upgrades
- Installation of a new marked crosswalk at NE 41st St
- New northbound left turn lane at NE 42nd St
- Upgraded street lighting system
- New electrical infrastructure for future transit improvements
- Transit improvements including
- North to west turn restriction from 15th NE to NE 45th during some or all of the day
- Expanded bus stop waiting areas (bus bulbs) at two locations
- Bus stop consolidation where stops are too close together
All great stuff. But the area is going to be a general mess during the construction. Trolley wires will be turned off on weekends to accommodate construction needs. This means diesel buses will be traveling through the area instead. There will always be access to residences and businesses for pedestrians, but rerouting and/or detours could spring up. Vehicles will definitely be affected: No street = no street parking, and access to parking lots and garages will be affected as well.
Just like with the viaduct and the 22nd avenue NE repaving project, it seems as though the SDOT can fund another, smaller, nearby project through the bidding process for the 15th Avenue NE project. And this one should make pedestrians breathe a sigh of relief.
Here’s what the area in question looks like now:
The "Scramble," with street names
Street names removed, pedestrian "no-man's land" highlighted
And here are the current construction plans for the area (click image to open a larger version in a separate window):
Current "Scramble" construction project plans, courtesy SDOT
Two items of particular note in this graphic:
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I am very excited about both of these projects, but speaking both as a pedestrian and a driver, I really look forward to unscrambling the “Scramble.”
For more information on these projects, visit the main 15th Avenue NE Reconstruction page and the accompanying FAQ page.
An open house thrown by the SDOT detailing these projects and their effects on the community will happen sometime this November or December.
Funding for these projects comes from the Bridging the Gap levy passed by Seattle voters in 2006.
You can see a specially-crafted Google Map of the “Scramble,” and scroll around all you please, right here.
Many thanks to Project Manager Jessica Murphy at the Seattle Department of Transportation and Kristine Edens from EnviroIssues for stopping by the August Ravenna-Bryant Community Association meeting and sharing this information.
UPDATE: Email update from the SDOT says that the projects will be advertised for competitive bids this month (September). Schedule remains unchanged.
You could clean your garage this weekend, like you’ve been meaning to do for MONTHS. But here are some other options for your weekend that you might enjoy a little more than that:
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
BOTH
Anything else to add? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll edit the post!
NOW is the time to send in your thoughts about the proposed rezoning of the properties around 15th Ave NE and NE 65th St, if you haven’t already. The deadline for public comments about the Environmental Impact Survey for the Roosevelt Development Group’s proposed zoning changes is next Wednesday, September 1.
If you feel well-informed on the issue, feel free to skip down to the “How should I send in my input?” part of this blog post and start there.
For the rest of us (myself included), I’ve hunted down answers to some common questions about the scoping process AND what the content and form of our comments should be.
I found the following description of the scoping process in the Enviromental Scoping Information Report (EIS) for the East Link Project (applies to our situation as well; emphasis mine):
The purpose of scoping is to determine the range of alternatives and identify the potentially significant issues to be analyzed in depth in the EIS. The scoping process is also intended to eliminate detailed study of those issues that are not significant and those issues that have been addressed by prior studies. This scoping process includes public meetings at which anyone may have their oral comments recorded and/or provide written comments. Written comments are encouraged throughout the scoping period.
In other words: Developers want to make big changes in your area. Here are their plans. What do you think?
There have been two public meetings on the Roosevelt/Ravenna rezone issue where public comments were recorded (sort of; DPD tries to explain what happened here, Glenn Roberts gives his impression here). Now the comment collection window is closing. It’s time to let the city know what YOU think about these rezone plans!
Again: Developers want to make big changes in your area. Here are their plans. What do you think?
It’s in OUR neighborhood where these proposed changes may take place, OUR backyards. It doesn’t matter whether you support the rezones or not: You should let your City know what you think, either way.
The Roosevelt Neighborhood Association has an excellent list of comment suggestions (MSWord doc) that will help you organize your thoughts in writing (no matter what side of the issue you’re on):
The DPD has already identified six key elements for discussion in the Environmental Impact Survey for the Sisley properties (DPD Notice of Determination of Significance):
Now, the Roosevelt Development Group has outlined six different proposals for the EIS which were on display at the last scoping meeting on July 21st. You may want to address specific plans in your comments (for instance, the plan that rezones the area for 160-foot-tall buildings). You can find a description of those alternatives here. Graphics of the six alternatives are also online (pdf, 5.6 MB file).
If you want to be a Thorough Theodore, you may want to apply ALL SIX key elements (Height, bulk and scale; Land use; etc.) to ALL SIX of the RDG’s six proposals. Yeah, that’s a lot of work, but that’s what happens when a developer throws six different proposals out all at once.
If you like some direction on which of the six proposals you should spend your time on, Glenn Roberts (Roosevelt-Ravenna Zoning Issues) has the following to say (emphasis mine):
I agree with almost every remark made [in the scoping meeting transcripts]. And strongly agree that only Options #1, 2, and 6 be studied in the EIS. #1 is no change, #2 is the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association rezoning plan, and #6 (because it is so patently ridiculous) the 160′ RDG proposal.
City of Seattle
Department of Planning and Development, Attn: Shelley Bolser
700 5th Avenue, Suite 2000
PO BOX 34019
Seattle, WA 98124-4019
However you choose to send your comments in, INCLUDE THE PROJECT NUMBER: 3010100.
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References
I usually don’t post such time-sensitive information on the blog (usually save it for the twitter feed), but a deal on local frozen custard is a beautiful thing!
TODAY ONLY at daily deal maker Groupon, $5 will get you a $10 to spend at Peaks Frozen Custard (1026 NE 65th Street).
The link to the Groupon site for this deal is here.
If you haven’t been in to Peaks yet, and aren’t sure what flavors they have, here’s a link to their Flavor Forecast so you can see what you’ve been missing.
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THANKS to Laura (LASdesigns ceramics on Etsy) and Deb for the tasty tips!
The Ravenna McCarthy & Schiering Wine Merchants (6500 Ravenna Ave NE) usually has free tastings on Saturdays, and this weekend is no exception. From 11am-5pm they are sampling seven different varieties of 2008 Oregon Pinot Noirs. See the full selection here, at their weekly news page.
Now, a local free tasting of seven different Pinot Noirs is pretty great news. But the other wine event today promoted on the McC&S site is pretty darn fantastic, too.
There’s a WINERY opening in the Roosevelt/Ravenna neighborhood! And they have an open house today AND next Saturday, also from 11am-5pm.
Eight Bells Winery, in the heart of the audio/visual area of Roosevelt
Eight Bells Winery (6213B Roosevelt Way NE; 8bellswinery.com) is jointly owned and operated by three guys (Tim Bates, Andy Shepherd and Frank Michiels), one of whom (Tim) has been making wine on his own since 1980. Andy joined him in 1996, and Frank completed the trio in 2006 (came to watch, ended up fermenting 100 pounds of grapes in his own kitchen for the cause). Read more about them on the Eight Bells Winery About Us page.
They do ask that you RSVP if you plan on attending either open house (rsvp [at] 8bellswinery.com).
Eight Bells will have samples of their Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Tempranillo (all 2009) for tasting and sales (read more about these wines here).
Also on display and for sale during the Eight Bells Winery open houses are paintings by Seattle artists Patty Ryan, Rita Marlowe, and Susan Hamilton. Read about these artists and see samples of their work on Eight Bells’ art page.
If those links aren’t enough, Eight Bells also has a facebook page, where you can see some pictures of the new winery’s interior.
Sisleyville Scoping Comments Deadline TOMORROW
If you’ve been putting off telling the city how you feel about potential development in your neighborhood, you’re OUT OF TIME!
The deadline for public comments about the Environmental Impact Survey for the Roosevelt Development Group’s proposed zoning changes is this Wednesday, September 1.
That’s TOMORROW.
Here’s the Quick and Dirty version of what to do (as posted in the Tremendously Long and Thorough version of a few days ago):
This is OUR neighborhood, this is OUR conversation. Make your voice heard.