By Johnson, on May 8th, 2012
Community Meeting: Tuesday, May 15th, 7PM at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church
Formal Hearing: Tuesday, June 12th, 7PM at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post inaccurately identified the location of two of the surplussed sites. The locations are correct as listed below.
Seattle City Light has numerous pieces of property around the City that are surplus and not needed, yet what to do with these properties and how to do it is often a challenging question for them. One of these surplussed properties, the Morningside Substation at the NW corner of 35th Ave NE and NE 86th Street, is being acquired by the Parks Department for a new Wedgwood park. However, there are five other properties throughout NE Seattle, including 2 more in Wedgwood and 1 in Ravenna-Bryant, that are surplussed (see below).
SCL will be hosting two meetings in Wedgwood over next two months on this topic. The first meeting on Tuesday, May 15th, 7PM at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church will be to discuss disposition alternatives. The second meeting will be a formal hearing on June 12th, 7PM, which is required before the Council can act on any of the alternatives.
The 3 surplussed properties in Wedgwood and View Ridge are as follows:
Wedgwood: 2321 NE 95th Street (across from Ryther)
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Wedgwood: 7502 44th Avenue NE
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Ravenna-Bryant: 2507 NE 70th Street
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By valarie, on May 3rd, 2012
Magnuson Park was named after Warrren Grant “Maggie” Magnuson (1905-1989) who represented the state of Washington in the United States Senate from 1944 to 1981. In May 1977 Sand Point Park was renamed for Senator Magnuson, who helped to secure federal funding for developing the park. More info on the park’s history can be found at: http://www.seattle.gov/parks/magnuson/
Continue reading Who is Magnuson Park named for?
By Johnson, on January 8th, 2012
Last month, Chip Nevins with Seattle Parks shared during a walk down 35th Ave NE with other City staff and officials that they were about to start further studies to identify whether there is contamination at the Morningside Substation. Earlier studies by Seattle City Light identified that the site used to have a gas station on it prior to becoming a substation. Gas stations, like the one in the photograph below at NE 25th St and 75th Ave NE, sometimes resulted in subsurface contamination. The assessment that Seattle Parks is having completed at the Morningside Substation will help identify whether there are any remaining underground storage tanks and if there is any residual subsurface contamination.
The analysis that’s being completed is a necessary part of the acquisition process. As we understand it Seattle Parks requires that any property they acquire fromanother City department is “clean.” Therefore, the time frame for Seattle Parks to acquire the property from Seattle City Light will be, in part, dependent upon the results of this assessment. However, as we’ve shared before, development of the Morningside Substation into our future park won’t occur until funding for development and maintenance becomes available.
By Johnson, on December 7th, 2011
On Tuesday, December 6th, several City staff and councilmembers met with WCC trustees, members of the Wedgwood Land Use Committee (WLUC), and members of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association to discuss the Vision Plan and how to achieve several of its stated goals. We were fortunate to have been accompanied by:
City Council President, Richard Conlin and his legislative aid Elaine Ko;- Councilmember Sally Clark, who chairs the Committee on the Built Environment;
- Karen Ko with the Department of Neighborhood;
- Jim Curtin with Seattle Department of Transportation; and
- Chip Nevins with the Seattle Parks Department.
The WLUC requested the meeting to discuss the Vision Plan and what we hope to initiate in 2013, which is a neighborhood discussion of land use along 35th Ave NE. While the Vision Plan identifies some extremely useful general themes and shared goals, there is not enough detail within the document to make planning-level decisions for the neighborhood. Therefore, the Vision Plan’s first two suggested actions are:
- “Undertake a neighborhood plan that includes a review of current zoning standards and design guidelines with the City Department of Planning and Development. Revise development standards as appropriate in accordance with community preferences established in the neighborhood plan.”
- “Work with Seattle DPD to establish neighborhood-specific design guidelines that direct new development.”
Since the unveiling of the Vision Plan in 2010, these two suggested actions have been the Wedgwood Land Use Committee’s two primary objectives. Typically though, neighborhoods that pursue these two tasks are identified as “Urban Villages,” a classification within the Comprehensive Plan for neighborhoods that have been designated to accommodate more density. Given that Urban Villages are population dense, the City can justify funding the development of these neighborhood planning tools, or updates to these tools. Along with great potential for City funding, the Urban Village classification has a more defined path for Council approval of these tools. Therefore, over this past year, the WLUC has been meeting with councilmembers, talking with City staff, and brainstorming with Planning Commission members to identify a process to develop and obtain Council approval of these neighborhood planning tools.
During Tuesday’s walk, we shared our general process for completing these land use planning tools. We also discussed a lot more as well…too much in fact to go into great detail in a single post. However, during our walk we showed the City the new Wedgwood Apartment project that’s quickly taking shape at the former JCC site. We showed the City the Morningside Substation that the Parks Department is in the process of acquiring on our behalf (which requires Council approval). We discussed current zoning designations along 35th Ave NE relative to the goals described within the Vision Plan. We discussed the potential development of design guidelines and a streetscape plan for 35th Ave NE. We discussed traffic issues along 35th Ave NE (in front of the Post Office) and at the intersection of NE 75th Street. We discussed pedestrian safety issues, such as sidewalks and a crosswalk at NE 80th Street. And we showed off Wedgwood’s favorite Christmas tree lot and new gathering place, including the new Wedgwood Emergency HUB, where Councilmember Clark is planning on picking up her tree this year from.
It was an excellent opportunity to share the goals of the Vision Plan, discuss our identified process, and receive feedback from councilmembers and City staff. They all had extremely encouraging things to say about the work of our community. We are eager to share this process and proposed timeline with the community in January at our next community meeting on January 11th. More details and specifics on the meeting will be shared shortly. In the meantime, feel free to email if you have any land use related questions.
Seattle International Migratory Bird Day at Magnuson Park May 12, 10 AM to 3 PM
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