Weather forecast raises flooding concerns — Clear those drains!

January 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There are 80,000 storm drains in the City of Seattle, and many of them are currently clogged by snow and debris.

This is a problem on a good day, but with all that snow and ice melting PLUS a forecast full of rain, flooding is a major concern.

The City is asking that everyone pitch in with the drain clearing effort, enlisting Mayor Mike McGinn to get help the word out via the following videos from the Seattle Channel.

Here’s the Mayor explaining the importance of clearing storm drains before today’s rains:

And here he is clearing a drain himself:

Filed Under: Civic Envolvement, Mayor's Office, Northeast Seattle Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Wedgwood discusses the 35th Avenue NE business district tonight

January 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Our neighbors in Wedgwood are holding a meeting tonight that has quite a few points of interests for Ravennians, too.

Here’s the agenda for tonight’s general meeting of the Wedgwood Community Council (via the WCC website):

  • CleanScapes will share the fantastic news about the $50,000 the Tuesday collection area won towards a community project!
  • We’ll share a bit about what the next steps are for the $13,000 grant the WCC, Sustainable NE Seattle, and others won for emergency preparedness.
  • We’ll describe the “Donut Hole” and where both “Wedgwood” and “Ravenna-Bryant” begins.
  • We’ll present the land use planning process the WLUC [Wedgwood Land Use Committee] is proposing and describe how you can get involved in shaping the future of 35th Ave NE.

The Wedgwood Community Council meets at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church (8008 35th Ave NE) from 7-9 PM.

Filed Under: Civic Envolvement, Meeting, Ravenna, Wedgwood Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Ravenna-Bryant Community Association Meeting, this Wednesday

September 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: Bryant, Civic Envolvement, Meeting, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Roosevelt Tagged With: , , ,

Sisleyville Scoping Comments Deadline TOMORROW

August 31, 2010 By 1 Comment

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):

  1. Look at this page. Read the top.
  2. Read about the proposed rezoning alternatives (all six).
  3. Look at these comment-making suggestions.
  4. Think.
  5. Type.
  6. Email your comments to Shelley Bolser (shelley.bolser@seattle.gov) at the Department of Planning and Development.

This is OUR neighborhood, this is OUR conversation. Make your voice heard.

Filed Under: Civic Envolvement, Ravenna, Real Estate, Roosevelt Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Sisleyville EIS Scoping Comments Deadline Nears

August 26, 2010 By 2 Comments

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.

What is the scoping process?

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!

Why should I send in my input?

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.

What should my input look like?

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):

  • Briefly explain who you are and why you are interested in the project.
  • Comment only on issues relevant to the decision being made.
  • State informed opinions and, where possible, include data to support your opinion.
  • Keep focused on your objective.  You want DPD to hear your concerns and be compelled enough to investigate further.
  • Ask for studies that you think are important but have not been provided.
  • Ask to be added to the project mailing list and request a copy of the notice of decision. (You must give your mailing address, because notices are only sent through US Mail.)

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):

  • Height, bulk and scale
  • Land use
  • Parking
  • Housing
  • Shadows on open spaces
  • Traffic and Transportation

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.

How should I send in my input?

  • By email: You may send along your comments to Shelley Bolser (shelley.bolser@seattle.gov) at the Department of Planning and Development.
  • By fax: (206) 233-7902
  • By mail: Here is a Blank RDG EIS Scoping Comment Form (pdf) you can mail in, also to Shelley. This comment form includes the list of six key elements for discussion mentioned above.  The address is:

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.

TO SUM UP:

  1. Print out this page. Read the top.
  2. Read about the proposed rezoning alternatives (all six).
  3. Look at these comment-making suggestions.
  4. Think.
  5. Write.
  6. Send it to the DPD by September 1.

_____________________

References

Filed Under: Civic Envolvement, Construction, Ravenna, Roosevelt Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last Wednesday’s RBCA Meeting – Agenda, Impressions, Next Steps

August 20, 2010 By 5 Comments

Yours truly made it to a Ravenna-Bryant Community Association meeting at long last! Huge success.

The following is my report to you, the community-at-large, in three parts (which is why this is a Friday post and wasn’t a Thursday post).

Agenda

  • There were two women from the Seattle Department of Transportation present to discuss an upcoming road project (15th Avenue NE Reconstruction + the 22nd/Ravenna Ave/55th “scramble”; all to be covered in a later post).
  • There was an update on the SR 520 project from the Resident Expert on the subject (I seriously think she’s been to every meeting held for that bridge).
  • A charming elder from Sustainable NE Seattle (read his blog here) read a piece he’d written about being old, the history of the downtown Ravenna area (NE 65th St), and changes he sees coming.
  • A fairly distraught foot soldier of the 46th Legistlative District Democrats was there, asking for help before the main election. (Looking back, he could have used a group hug.)
  • Ellen Stoecker, Chair of the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association’s Sustainability Group was looking for the RBCA’s support in aligning the RNA’s Urban Village Design Guildlines (2000) with the Draft Citywide Design Guidelines (2010). She got it.
  • Recruiting new board members for 2011, finding issue followers (ex. Sisleyville, 520, Children’s expansion), forming committees around issues as well – just general talk on these
  • Planning for the BIG Fall Community Meeting in October – speakers on three or so topics, a big location (I offered to find that piece), and getting the word out

Impressions

As a member of the hyperlocal, hyper-plugged-in community, I have to say that — up to this point — I’ve found the group very frustrating.  The website’s been stagnant for years. Contact information had lead to dead ends or nothingness. I didn’t even know how many people served on the board until that night (5 officers, 5 at-large). And finding meeting information was merely serendipitous (I spied the about sign at the library last month, the day before July’s meeting).

Now that I’ve been to a meeting, I feel SO MUCH better.  These are passionate people — passionate about their neighborhood, passionate about issues affecting the neighborhood.  But they’ve been at this a while (some for a long while).  Issues come and go, interest wanes, board members get graduate degrees and their time is sucked away…it happens.  I’m certainly not blaming anybody — it’s the nature of the community association beast.

Next Steps

I’m a firm believer in “See a problem? Help fix it.” Some trash on the ground? I’ll pick it up! My new neighborhood doesn’t have a blog? I should start one! My neighborhood’s community association needs some energy? I’ll join up and help supply some!

The next RBCA meeting is September 15, at the NE Branch (6-7:45pm) again (agenda includes more discussion of the BIG Community Meeting in October).  I’m going to be there again. You should join me.

________________

YOUR TURN: What would it take to get YOU more involved in your neighborhood association?

Filed Under: Civic Envolvement, Events, Meeting, Ravenna, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association

Ravenna-Bryant Community Association meeting TOMORROW night

August 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This Wednesday, August 18th, from 6-7:45pm at the Northeast Branch of the Seattle Public Library (6801 35th Avenue NE), the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association is holding a meeting.

If you have ANY interest in becoming a more active member of your community (and perhaps even helping define what that means in the Ravenna-Bryant neighborhood), I urge you to come.

I will be there this time! And you can plan on reading a post about the meeting the next day. But I’d rather see you in a chair next to me.

Besides, we can’t let Roosevelt have all the fun!

Filed Under: Meeting, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association Tagged With: , ,