SquirePark.org

The Black Dollar Days Task Force sponsored Community Walk, Bite & Jazz Festival will take place on Saturday, August 25, 2007. The day’s events will begin with a rally and community walk through the Central District. All interested walkers should meet at Spruce Park on the corner of 21st and Fir Street at 9:30 a.m. to register. Following the walk, participants will be greeted with entertainment from local jazz bands—Goodybagg Jazz band, Sam Chambliss and Soul Moving Band, among others—as well as food, clothing , arts and crafts vendors, and special activities for children in Pratt Park, the community walk terminus.

If you would like more information about the Community Walk, Bite & Jazz Festival or vendor or sponsorship opportunities, please call 206.324.3114 or e-mail contact@blackdollar.org.

–Susan Minogue

CASA Latina, which provides education, employment, and leadership services to Latino immigrants, is moving its headquarters to 17th & Jackson in Squire Park. CASA Latina has invited various neighborhood members to participate on a committee that enables participants to raise and resolve issues. The committee of 16 is made up of two CASA Latina board members and 14 neighborhood community members. The goals of CASA Latina and the committee are to:
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At the January 2, 2007 SPCC Board meeting, the Board voted to increase its member count to 15. (The current board member count is 11). At the upcoming July 14 SPCC quarterly membership meeting this vote to increase the board will take place. Board member duties include, but are not limited to:
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The Goodwill site at Rainier Ave and Dearborn Street is proposed for redevelopment by TRF Pacific. If the proposal is approved by the City Council, Goodwill will trade its portion of the 10-acre site in exchange for new facilities to be rebuilt on the site. In addition to the Goodwill facilities, the developer will also be putting in 2,200 underground parking spaces, 630,000 square feet of retail, and approximately 450 housing units. Currently in the City planning process, the project has met with opposition from a large and growing number of groups, collectively known as the Dearborn Street Coalition for a Livable Neighborhood (DSCLN).

DSCLN believes there are better uses for the Goodwill site than that currently proposed by TRF Pacific . While we welcomed the opportunity to meet with the developer to discuss the project earlier in the year, we found them unwilling to address our significant concerns about the project, and we have seen no substantive changes to the project since meeting with them. These concerns involve the overwhelming size of the project, the auto-centricity and resulting traffic issues, and the generic mall character of the project with its emphasis on big-box and national chain stores. While the DSCLN considers itself pro-development, it finds these elements of the proposed project counter to neighborhood character, a threat to neighborhood shopping districts such as Little Saigon, and inconsistent with city goals for Urban Villages and reduced auto traffic. Currently, negotiations with TRF Pacific are at an impasse. Since the developer is moving ahead with a proposal that we can not support, we are using public processes available to us to challenge it.
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The property of the former Coleman Building (SW corner of 23rd and Union) is the site of a new development proposal. Developer Jim Mueller proposes a sixstory building with approximately 4,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and about ninety residential units above. The site is currently zoned for a maximum height of 40 feet, and Mueller is asking the City for approval of a “contract rezone” to increase the height to as much as 65 feet. The developer has stated that it is not economically possible to build a mixed-use building of only 40 feet. Mueller’s position is that the additional revenue from two more floors of residential units in a 65-foot building would make it possible to build on this location. He points to the lack of development on Broadway until it was recently rezoned to allow 65-foot buildings as support for that position. He also argues that more housing units result in more residents and therefore more customers for retail shops, making retail success more likely. Finally, Mueller states that principals of urban design suggest, in the case of streets as wide as 23rd and Union, taller buildings will create a more pleasing environment.
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HomeSight, a community development corporation that promotes affordable homeownership opportunities, has announced the grand opening of a new affordable workforce housing project in Squire Park. On Tuesday, July 24, at 9:00 am the “ribbon will be cut” on the new condominium building at the corner of 13th Avenue and E. Columbia Street. The three-story building will have 19 units ranging in size from studios to threebedroom units. The homes are available for single adults, single parents, couples, and couples with children. Purchase assistance is available to qualified buyers. For more information, see the HomeSight Web site, www.homesightwa.org or call (206)723-4355.

–Bill Zosel

Squire Park residents interested in land use issues have expressed the most concern about the nature of the development taking place on properties zoned for multiple dwellings. When the City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) proposed revisions to the Land Use Code for multi-family zones, some of the proposals seemed to offer hope for improved developments. The SPCC land use committee submitted its comments on the proposed revisions. (See www.squirepark.net for the text of SPCC’s letter to DPD and for links to DPD’s Web site’s pages on the multifamily land use code revision project). However, the next stage in the Land Use Code revision process has been delayed several times. DPD is now saying that the draft revisions, first scheduled for further community review last winter, now should be available for review very soon, perhaps even before this newsletter is distributed in early July. When that draft is released, a notice of a meeting of the SPCC land use committee will be posted on the list serv, squirepark@yahoogroups.com.
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Are you concerned about the impact of new residential developments in our community, and the destruction of older historic homes that often goes with it? Are you worried that we are losing the character of our neighborhood each time another home is torn down and replaced by new construction? An exploratory committee is forming to research new and creative ways to work with developers, Department of Planning a n d Development, and historic preservation boards to preserve existing homes while still meeting the city’s goal of increasing density at the urban core. New development doesn’t have to start with a bulldozer and dump truck! If you interested in dedicating time and effort to be a part of this exciting opportunity, please contact SPCC Board Member Alex Zankich at azankich@hotmail.com.

–Alex Zankich

Thanks to your input, the SPCC’s Reclaiming the Streets for People Committee (RSPC) developed a Traffic Calming/Pedestrian Safety Improvement plan that identifies more than 50 projects that will make our neighborhood streets friendlier (and safer) for all travelers and create places for community-building activities. A few projects have already been implemented, some are currently in the works, but for many we need you and your continued involvement to make them happen! Come to the July quarterly SPCC meeting to find out how you can get involved. You can also check the SPCC Web site (www.squirepark.net) for a list of projects and the story of how we came up with the plan.

–Barb Biondo

Now that summer’s in full swing there’s no better time to throw a party with your neighbors right out on your street! And it’s so easy to do. Interested? Well, read on. Seattle Night Out, sponsored by the Seattle Police Department (SPD), provides residents with an opportunity to raise crime prevention awareness and to build community—as well as the chance to close off your street for free (SPD waives the normal fee for street closure) and enjoy a picnic, barbecue, potluck, acoustic jam fest—whatever your pleasure—with your neighbors. This year’s night out will take place on Tuesday, August 7.

For more information about Seattle Night Out and/or to register your block/street to participate, go to http://www.seattle.gov/police/nightout/ EastRegister.htm. The deadline for registration is July 27. Registration information is shared with our local fire station, who, if time allows, will visit your night out event.

–Susan Minogue

Squire Park intersection traffic circles are a beautiful thing. Maintained by community members, traffic circles are a way for neighbors to meet and work together on a common project. And an added bonus: Traffic circles actually slow down thru traffic and create pedestrian- friendly streets!
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This fall, the Department of Neighborhoods will be providing free trees for planting on residential streets in Seattle neighborhoods. Applications are accepted from groups of neighbors and are due on Friday, August 10, 2007. This is the Tree Fund’s 11th year, having planted 18,000 trees and investing over $650,000 in making Seattle a greener city.

The Tree Fund is a program of the Neighborhood Matching Fund and the Seattle Department of Transportation. In exchange for free trees to be delivered by the City this fall, groups of neighbors attend a City-sponsored training session and then organize their neighbors to plant the trees. The goal is to beautify Seattle streets and to support a clean and green environment.
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On January 29, the Parks Department convened a meeting to describe its efforts to identify a suitable site to buy property for a neighborhood gathering place. (A summary of the project and the meeting is at (http://www.seattle.gov/parks/proparks/projects/12thAve.htm.) The two potential sites discussed at that meeting were the City-owned sites at 12th and James Ct. and 12th and Jefferson.

Following that meeting, owners of the largest properties and developers in the area were invited to a meeting on March 1 to talk about issues related to the park location. There are approximately 15 undeveloped or “underdeveloped” sites on or near 12th Avenue, if that is defined as including sites with no buildings or one-story buildings where zoning allows more. (23rd Avenue south of Alder Street is considered to be within easy walking distance of Horiuchi Park, the only park in the 12th Avenue urban village, and therefore that area is less favored for a new park site.) King County representatives have repeatedly said that neighborhood-friendly development, including, possibly, open space, will be included in the future on the Youth Services site just south of Jefferson. The offices of Councilmembers Larry Gossett and Larry Phillips—the Youth Services site now lies in Phillips’ district—have expressed interest in issues related to future use of the site.
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In response to the need to renovate the Yesler Terrace housing complex, the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) formed the Yesler Terrace Citizens Review Committee (YTCRC) as Phase 1 of the renovation process. The YTCRC comprises representatives from several community stakeholders, including Squire Park Community Council. The committee’s objective is to establish guidelines for the renovation regarding resident capacity, green building, and social equity. Having established draft guidelines, the committee used its April and May meetings to revise the language used in the guidelines and to discuss disagreements pertaining to the use of property available to SHA for the renovated Yesler Terrace. SHA plans to utilize the high market value of some of the Yesler Terrace property as a means to fund replacement housing. Tom Tierney, director of SHA, emphasizes, however, that they are committed to replacing all housing on site or in close proximity to the current footprint of Yesler Terrace, including family units.
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