Parks « Wedgwood Community Council

Show Your Support for Wedgwood Parks & Open Space

By Johnson, on May 14th, 2013

Please take a moment to sign our petition and show your support for Wedgwood’s parks and open space!

The WCC’s Parks Committee has been working to improve Wedgwood’s parks and open space in the hopes of closing the gap identified by the City which has determined north Wedgwood to be lacking in usable park space. Through the City’s 2008 Parks & Green Spaces Levy, the Morningside Substation is being pursued for acquisition on behalf of our community by the City’s Parks Department. However, no funds are available to design or develop the former Seattle City Light substation for it to actually become a park in the near future. In fact, we’ve applied for such funds but have been told that the Parks Department has put a moratorium on future park design and development until their maintenance funding is addressed. So, while the acquisition moves forward, we do not know when we will be able to complete a design for the future park or when the park would be constructed.

Similarly, Wedgwood has a some park space that is currently unusable since much of it is a steep, wooded ravine. The Inverness Ravine Park is a wooded park with SDOT right-of-way that connects it to multiple roads for potential access points. While it does have steep slopes, there is space and topography that would accommodate a pedestrian trail system through the park, connecting the Wedgwood and North Inverness neighborhoods together. The WCC Parks Committee presented a concept for the Inverness Ravine Park Trail through the Parks Department’s Opportunity Fund. The project was endorsed by the Northeast District Council and Feet First. It was also initially ranked very highly by the Parks Department, although it appears that it too will not be funded.

We have created this petition to gather signatures during the first few weeks of May to be able to show the community’s support of these two projects and of improving Wedgwood parks and open space in general. Currently, the Parks Department is hosting a series of meetings for their Legacy Plan which is expected to result in a levy for voters to approve park funding in 2014. We hope to give the signatures to the Parks Department at the May 21st meeting to show our community’s support for parks and to request that Wedgwood’s two park projects (Morningside Substation and Inverness Ravine Park Trail) are funded through the levy.

Emergency Communications Drill

By valarie, on May 6th, 2013

This Saturday, May 11th between 9 and 11 AM community groups and emergency volunteers throughout Seattle will participate in a disaster drill to test neighborhood emergency preparedness. Northeast Seattle’s Hub at Hunter Tree Farm, 7744 35th Ave NE, will be one of the practice sites. Everyone is invited to come out and see what procedures are in place should an earthquake or other emergency occur.

The groups will include amateur radio operators who will practice sending in messages to the City of Seattle Emergency Operations Center. In a real event, the info sent in could be used by City response planners to assess conditions. Other neighborhoods will be activating their Hubs – get the list on the Sustainable NE Seattle page and let your friends know where they can participate.

Northeast 65th Street Cycle Track Now Open!

By valarie, on April 5th, 2013

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has opened the Northeast 65th Street Cycle Track, a dedicated bike lane. The cycle track is separated from traffic by a sturdy barrier. Separating traffic types (cars, bikes, pedestrians) into different lanes not only increases convenience, but adds safety.

The Northeast 65th Street Cycle Track provides a family-friendly connection between the Burke-Gilman Trail and Magnuson Park, helping people of all ages to ride bikes along 65th and also cross Sand Point Way more easily. At the Sand Point Way crossing point, there is now a larger waiting area, larger and better aligned curb ramps, repainted crosswalks and specially marked “crossbikes” — crossing areas for bikes to have their own area of the street separated from pedestrians.

To learn more about cycle tracks and how they are being used around the City of Seattle, visit the cycle track webpage.

Waiting for a Park in Wedgwood

By valarie, on March 30th, 2013

The building at 8605 35th Ave NE must be removed before environmental clean-up can be completed.

As of the end of the month of March, some environmental clean-up work has taken place at the site of a future park in Wedgwood, 8605 35th Ave NE. Dirt was excavated to a depth of five feet and was removed because of the presence of contamination still remaining from when a gas station was there in the 1950′s. The contamination extended to the roots of the trees so they had to be removed, as well. Now further work is on hold until removal of the building at the front of the lot. Here’s what we know so far:

The building at 8605 has been there since about 1968 and has been leased by different businesses over that time. The most recent business, a hair salon, does not own the building. The salon closed in early November and the stylists have redistributed themselves out to other locations in the neighborhood.

The land at 8605 35th Ave NE is owned by City Light. They must complete the environmental clean-up work before transferring the property over to the Parks Department. But they can’t finish the work until the building is removed. The owner is currently advertising the building as free to anyone who wants to take it away. After the site is prepared and transferred over to the Seattle Parks Dept. we don’t know how many years it will be until the site will be developed, because Parks currently has a moratorium on new projects.

Seattle Sketcher at Picardo P-Patch

By valarie, on March 23rd, 2013

Seattle’s community gardening program which spread nationwide is featured this weekend on Seattle Sketcher, a feature of the Seattle Times newspaper. ”You can’t spell P-Patch without Picardo” because the Picardo family’s farm became the first P-Patch in 1973. The P-Patch program is still going strong all over the city of Seattle, with new sites being added each year.

This fortieth-anniversary year of the P-Patch will be full of events and commemorations, and volunteers are invited to get involved. More on how the Picardo family came to have a farm in Wedgwood is on Valarie’s history blog.

Japanese Garden opens on March 1

By valarie, on February 27th, 2013

The Seattle Japanese Garden in the Washington Park Arboretum will open for the spring season on Friday, March 1 at 10 AM. On Sunday, March 3, there will be an opening ceremony and for the remainder of the month of March, the Garden will be open from Tuesdays through Sundays. There is an admission fee, and there are admission restrictions: pets are not allowed inside the Garden, nor the use of tripods for cameras. Tea ceremony demonstrations begin in April and the open hours of the Garden will be extended beginning in April.

Seattle’s Japanese Garden was constructed in 1960 and is now operated by Seattle Parks. The Garden pays tribute to Seattle’s rich heritage of Japanese community members who excelled in gardening, a legacy which has influenced art and architecture in Seattle, as well.

School Break Camps

By valarie, on February 24th, 2013

Registration is open for School Break Camps including Friday, March 15 (no school for students on a teacher professional development day) and Spring Break from April 15 to 19. At Magnuson Nature Programs, campers will explore nearby park areas to investigate how the trees and flowers are springing to life. Campers will see Magnuson’s forest, wetland, garden, and grassland areas and learn the science of the seasons.

At the Washington Park Arboretum, Spring Break Camp will explore some of the Arboretum’s 230 acres, go on hikes and adventures, play games, create art and learn about the uses of native plants. The schedule for nature-based summer camps is ready for registration, too – think ahead to summer!

Call for volunteers!

By Keeley, on February 20th, 2013

Photo courtesy of Joe Mabel via Wedgwood in Seattle History

How long have you been gardening? Chances are it’s not as long as our friends at the Picardo P-Patch, Master Gardener Foundation and Seattle Tilth, all of which are celebrating BIG anniversaries this year. Combined, these three organizations have provided over 110 years of gardening opportunities and expertise to the community.

And now, they’re sowing the seeds for volunteers to help at the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) conference this coming August! There are lots of ways you can help as both volunteer and participant; the current roster of activities includes:

◾Food truck rodeo
◾Film festival
◾Tours of P-Patches
◾Workshops, workshops, workshops!
◾Gala dinner with music
◾Speakers, panels
◾Exhibits
◾Silent auction

More details can be found on the event page. If you’re interested in volunteering, please complete the application and contact Eileen Eininger at eeininger@hotmail.com.

Happy thoughts of summer gardening to get us through these last few weeks of winter!

Update on Wedgwood’s Soon-To-Be Park!

By wedgwoodparks, on February 14th, 2013

Update 2: Site clearing has begun and the trees are down. Here’s a Photosynth photo (requires Microsoft Silverlight plugin) of the site on February 24, 2013. Today, fencing went up around the site and the contractors excavator and trailer were placed on site.

Reminder 1: While the property is moving closer to acquisition by the Parks Department for a park, many have asked what the park will be and when it’ll be open. This is a great question that cannot be answered at the moment. As we’ve written about before, we applied for a grant to work with the Parks Department to come up with a park design. However, given the Parks budget, there is a moratorium on new park development. Until their maintenance budget is sorted out (…we’ve heard rumors of a levy for park maintenance in the future), we cannot design the park and therefore it cannot yet be officially a park.

UPDATE 1: Since we originally wrote this post, we have received more details on the upcoming cleanup from Bill Devereaux, Manager of the Environmental Management and Compliance Unit with Seattle City Light. We’ve taken editorial privilege to add bold text to highlight important items, a photo of the trees in the northwest corner of the parcel, and editorial notes in [brackets] throughout for greater clarification. The trees will largely be cleared.

David:

I apologize for the time it has taken to get back to you on your questions. The project is a work in progress. Hopefully the following addresses the questions you earlier sent to me.

Grove of trees in NW corner of the lot that will be removed as part of cleanup.

The cleanup work is planned for the period February 18 through March 8. Due to the nature of the work, it may be somewhat punctuated during that time frame. The nature of the work will be to remove roughly the upper 18 inches of soil and the concrete pad from the western half of the property (roughly the unpaved portion). This was the area used by City Light as a substation in the past. In addition, there is an area in the northwest corner of the paved portion that will require soils removal down to approximately 5 feet. Note that most of the trees will be removed in order to ensure a complete cleanup. The affected area will be fenced during the removal activities.

After the removal work City Light plans to bring the excavated west area back to grade with clean fill and a mulch of bark and wood chips. The excavation in the asphalt area will be brought to grade with clean fill and topped with gravel. The fencing around the former substation will be removed and the property will be open. As Parks has not completed their plans for the property, we will not be replanting in order to leave them with a clean slate in which to work [Editorial Note: Letter from SCL linked to below states that replacement trees will be planted.].

The building on the site is the personal property of the former lessees, and they have been asked to remove the building [Editorial Note: We are not clear when the building will be removed and if SCL or Parks has given a deadline for its removal. However, the owner had been trying to give it away for free on Craigslist earlier]. When the cleanup is completed and the building removed, the property will be transferred to the Parks Department. Any requests for landscaping between the transfer and the future park development should be referred to Parks [Editorial Note: Replacement trees are reportedly going to be installed though by SCL per the letter linked to in the next paragraph]. We have been coordinating with Chip Nevins at Parks.

Attached is a copy of the cleanup notification letter that was sent to nearby owners and tenants last Friday…

Very Respectfully,

Bill

Original Post: Wedgwood Community Council (WCC) is pleased to report that the Morningside Substation site, at the northwest corner of 35th Ave NE and NE 86th Street, is about to undergo a radical transformation. The site, which is owned by Seattle City Light (SCL), is home to the now-vacant CC & Co. salon building (the salon was there under lease, and the CC & Co. hair stylists are now working in other locations around Wedgwood.) SCL is in the process of transferring ownership of the site, which is about a third of an acre in size, to Seattle Parks and Recreation (Parks) so that it can be turned into a new park for our community (you can learn more about the park here).

Before the transfer can take place, SCL must perform environmental remediation so that Parks receives a clean site. The long-ago home of a gas station, testing has revealed that the top layer of the site’s soil contains contaminants and must be replaced with clean topsoil. In the coming weeks Wedgwood residents will notice construction fencing going up, the salon building coming down, and the site’s surface being stripped. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the contamination, the small stand of trees on the northwest corner of the site will become a casualty of this process.

WCC has contacted SCL regarding the remediation effort and its timeline, and will report details as they become available. Once the cleanup and title transfer are complete, Parks will await funding to begin park development. WCC has asked that in that interim period the parcel be seeded in lawn and open to the public so that our community will have attractive, usable open space in its core while we wait for funding for the design and construction of our future park. Please stayed tuned for more exciting news in the development of Wedgwood’s newest park!

Need a Free Guest or Vacation House?

By Johnson, on January 29th, 2013

As part of park acquisition process of the former Morningside Substation, Seattle City Light will have to perform some minor clean up of the site. Additionally, the former CC & Company building will need to be removed from the lot. The owner of the building, which has had a ground lease on the City owned parcel, needs to remove the building from the parcel.

The former CC & Company building is now listed for free on Craigslist (here’s a screenshot). According to the listing:

ABSOLUTELY FREE MANUFACTURE HOME THAT NEEDS TO BE MOVED IMMEDIATELY!!!

Lindal Manufactured home, constructed on lot in 1968. 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, kitchen,
living room. Need to be moved to your lot immediately.

Perfect for beach cabin.

If you are legitimately interested in the free building, the contact details are located on the Craigslist listing.