By Johnson, on April 15th, 2012
(This originally was posted on the The Future of 35th website.)
Coffee Talk: “Design at a Human Scale. A Primer on Urban Design Concepts and City of Seattle Design Review Guidelines” - Thursday, April 26th, from 7-8:30PM at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church (8008 35th Ave NE).
What makes a great building design? We’ve all seen buildings that we like and don’t like, yet we’re not all architects. As 35th Ave NE is inevitably redeveloped in the future, the question is how can we collectively articulate what types of building forms and design our community wants to see. The purpose of this Coffee Talk is to improve our understanding of design and the design review process. This is the 3rd of a 7-part series of Coffee Talks sponsored by the American Planning Association’s Washington Chapter’s Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT).
John Owen will be presenting a primer on important design principals that our community can use as we plan for the future of 35th Ave NE. Not only is Mr. Owen a partner with MAKERS Architecture + Urban Design, he also led the Wedgwood Vision Plan. Cheryl Sizov is a Senior Urban Planner with the City of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development who managed the drafting of the City’s most recent Seattle Design Guidelines. Ms. Sizov will present the City’s design guidelines and describe the City’s design review process. A process that some on the Wedgwood Action Group became familiar with during the design of the Jasper Apartment Building.
Thanks again to Top Pot Doughnuts for their support and providing delicious coffee and baked goodness for the Coffee Talks. Make sure to put the remaining Coffee Talks on your schedule:
- Coffee Talk 7: ”The Trade Offs of Land Use Planning” – Thursday, Aug 23rd, at Messiah Lutheran Church (Fellowship Hall – Downstairs) from 7-8:30PM – Speaker: Erin Christensen, AIA, LEED AP ND, Mithun
By Johnson, on January 13th, 2012
 (Photo at left is looking north along 35th Ave NE at what would become the Post Office [foreground] and Hunter Farm [background] site in 1957, courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives Photograph Collection)
This past Wednesday, the WCC held its first general meeting of the year with about 50 people in attendance from Wedgwood, View Ridge, Matthews Beach, and Ravenna-Bryant. The meeting kicked off with a presentation by CleanScapes on the Neighborhood Waste Reduction Rewards program and $50,000 that the Tuesday North collection service area has to work with for a community project. We also provided a few details on the $13,000 Small and Simple grant the WCC received to work with other NE Seattle community groups on community emergency preparedness. However, the meetings agenda largely focused on the future of 35th Ave NE and how we as a community will be developing a “neighborhood plan” over the next year or so.
Per Johnson and Mary Beth O’Neill with the Wedgwood Land Use Committee presented has been doing over the past year to identify suitable land use tools and a potential process for creating our “neighborhood plan.” Details on the proposed plan and process can be found on the 35th Ave NE Neighborhood Plan page, which has been linked to through the Land Use Committee page. In general though, the WLUC is beginning a process to recruit a steering committee of community members to craft land use planning tools that will comprise our “neighborhood plan.” We will coordinate Community Learning Seminars to educate anyone interested in land use concepts and topics found in the Vision Plan, such as “how to make a neighborhood walkable” or “how to create a diverse and thriving business district.” These Community Learning Seminars will be presented by experts in the field so that we, as a community, will be able to discuss through Public Workshops what shared goals our community want. We hope to present our draft “neighborhood plan” in January 2013 to the community for comments and have the WCC vote on the final plan in April 2013. If all goes to plan, we will be submitting our “neighborhood plan” by mid-May 2013.
If you have questions or would like to join the volunteer steering committee, please email » the WLUC.
Here is a video of the meeting. The audio is a little quiet and it’s a rather long video. To make it easier for you to see/listen to what you want, the presentation by CleanScapes begins at 0:46, an announcement on the $13,000 that the WCC has received to work on emergency preparedness begins at 8:13, the 35th Ave NE Neighborhood Plan presentation begins at 14:14, and Q&A begins at 50:07.
Future of 35th Ave NE, A Community’s Decision from Wedgwood Community Council on Vimeo.
By Johnson, on January 3rd, 2012
WEDGWOOD GENERAL MEETING: The Future of 35th Ave NE
Wedgwood Presbyterian Church, 8008 35th Ave NE
JANUARY 11TH 2012, 7-9pm
 On January 11th, the Wedgwood Land Use Committee will present a process by which the Wedgwood community would shape the future of 35th Ave NE to achieve the shared vision expressed by the community in the Vision Plan. The process that will be presented in the outcome of a long year of research and consultation with City staff, councilmembers, and planning commission members.
More information on the WLUC’s ongoing land use planning can be found HERE.
Please help us spread the word to your friends and neighbors so that we can make sure the community is aware of their chance to come out and participate in shaping the future of 35th Ave NE.
Meeting Agenda:
- 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 is proposing and describe how you can get involved in shaping the future of 35th Ave NE.
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.
By Johnson, on December 1st, 2011
 On October 31st, we released a poll on our website in the hopes of hearing what your single-most priority was. The purpose of this poll was to see what generally is important to our neighbors. After being open for 1 month, 41 people completed the poll, which is a small sample set. Also, we only asked 1 question, so there are bound to be nuances that weren’t captured. Nevertheless, this poll is helpful to make sure that we are a more effective advocate for our neighborhood. Here is what we learned.
The Wedgwood community’s top priorities, generally, are as follows:
- Public safety (police presence, block watch, emergency preparedness) (32%, 13 Votes)
- Neighborhood Plan (design guidelines, 35th Ave NE zoning, streetscape) (27%, 11 Votes)
- Pedestrian improvements (sidewalks, crosswalks, pedestrian overlay zone) (20%, 8 Votes)
- Open Space (park acquisition, trails, recreation facilities) (15%, 6 Votes)
- Traffic and Transit (traffic calming, bus service, bicycle infrastructure) (5%, 2 Votes)
- Other (2%, 1 Votes)
- Utilities (stormwater, water/sewer lines, low impact development) (0%, 0 Votes)
Thank you to everyone who completed the poll!
These results reaffirm our commitment to public safety, land use planning, and pedestrian improvements. Our neighborhood has a strong Block Watch program and the WCC recently began focusing on emergency preparedness. In the coming weeks, we will be sharing exciting plans that the Wedgwood Land Use Committee has been working on for over a year. We also continue to pursue pedestrian improvements like new sidewalks and crosswalks, especially around our schools.
What do you think of these rankings? Share your thoughts in the Comment Section below.
The WCC is an all volunteer council that advocates on behalf of the Wedgwood neighborhood. We would love to talk with anyone in Wedgwood who would like to become involved and serve as a WCC trustee? Please email » Brian Turnbull or email » Per Johnson to discuss further.
By Johnson, on October 31st, 2011
The Wedgwood Community Council is a volunteer community organization that represents and advocates on behalf of the Wedgwood neighborhood. We do this through a variety of ways, whether its through general meetings we organize; the grants we pursue for creating open space and improve pedestrian safety; neighborhood planning such as the Vision Plan; helping to make Wedgwood safe by supporting our Wedgwood Wide BlockWatch program; creating a more livable community through sponsoring annual events like the Outdoor Cinema or Business Trick-or-Treat; and other important things. However, we want to make sure we are representing our community effectively and accurately. Therefore, we want to hear what your priorities are so we can focus on those things that are most important to you.
Please take a moment and share your TOP PRIORITY in the poll below. Also, please feel free to expand on your top priority (or secondary priority) in the Comment Section below (fyi, your comment may not show up immediately since we have a spam filter set up). We want to hear from you!
(By the way, these are intended to be broad, general categories to help point us in the right direction. If you have specific ideas, expand on them in the Comment Section below.)
Share Your Top Priority
- Public safety (police presence, block watch, emergency preparedness) (32%, 13 Votes)
- Neighborhood Plan (design guidelines, 35th Ave NE zoning, streetscape) (27%, 11 Votes)
- Pedestrian improvements (sidewalks, crosswalks, pedestrian overlay zone) (20%, 8 Votes)
- Open Space (park acquisition, trails, recreation facilities) (15%, 6 Votes)
- Traffic and Transit (traffic calming, bus service, bicycle infrastructure) (5%, 2 Votes)
- Other (describe in Comment Section below) (2%, 1 Votes)
- Utilities (stormwater, water/sewer lines, low impact development) (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 41
 Loading ... Did I mention, the WCC is all volunteer? So, if you haven’t already, please consider getting involved or becoming a member. Our members really are the life blood of this organization, so JOIN NOW (you also get the Wedgwood Echo mailed to you)! If you’re passionate about any one of these issues in particular or are interested in becoming a trustee, please email » Brian Turnbull or email » Per Johnson.
By Keeley, on July 23rd, 2011
Walk Score, a Seattle-based company that measures the walkability of neighborhoods around the U.S., just released its annual ranking of the top 50 walkable cities late last week. Coming in at #6 is our very own Seattle, just behind East Coast cities like New York and Chicago; San Francisco, ranked at #2, is the only other West Coast city in the top 5.
While it’s no secret that Wedgwood is one of the most walkable neighborhoods within Seattle, read on to learn more about Walk Score and its methodology…. Then refresh your memory of the Vision Plan to see how Wedgwood plans on keeping its title of one of the city’s most walkable neighborhoods!
How Walk Score Works
Walk Score is a number between 0 and 100 that measures the walkability of any address. Their rating system is as follows:
90–100 Walker’s Paradise — Daily errands do not require a car.
70–89 Very Walkable — Most errands can be accomplished on foot.
50–69 Somewhat Walkable — Some amenities within walking distance.
25–49 Car-Dependent — A few amenities within walking distance.
0–24 Car-Dependent — Almost all errands require a car.
What’s the Significance?
According to Walk Score, walkable neighborhoods offer surprising benefits to the environment, our health, our finances, and our communities. This isn’t a surprise for many of us here in Wedgwood, but here are some additional great facts about why walking matters:
Health: The average resident of a walkable neighborhood weighs 6-10 pounds less than someone who lives in a sprawling neighborhood.1
Finances: One point of Walk Score is worth up to $3,000 of value for your property. Read the research report.
Communities: Studies show that for every 10 minutes a person spends in a daily car commute, time spent in community activities falls by 10%.
By Johnson, on June 1st, 2011
Hunter Farm Gathering Place Project
Community Kick-Off Meeting & Workshop
June 11th, 10AM – 5PM at Messiah Lutheran Church, Fellowship Hall
(7050 35th Ave NE)
(child care provided from 10AM – 12PM)
On June 11th, we will be hosting a community kick-off meeting and workshop for the Hunter Farms Gathering Place Project! The purpose of this public meeting/workshop will be to identify the project goals, define the criteria for the community developed designs, and brainstorm design concepts for a new gathering place. All are absolutely welcome for the whole project.
Due to the tight project timeline, we will need to take full advantage of this upcoming public meeting/workshop to get a lot accomplished, which is why we have a full day planned. For those that can’t commit to the full day, we completely understand. However, the project would be greatly benefited by those that can make 10AM – 12PM to take part in the brainstorming session AND from 4PM to 5PM for the concept design open house. This is an extremely important meeting for this project as we’ll be using the community’s conceptual designs develop at this meeting to craft a final community’s inspired design which will be presented on July 13th.
Can’t make it at all? Not to worry!
Fill out the brief Community Treasures Survey (Click here to take survey). Also, please email » your sketched ideas or a narrative of your concept.
Note: Parking is available behind Messiah Lutheran Church by turning east off of 35th Ave NE onto 70th Street NE and turning north onto 36th Ave NE.
By Johnson, on May 9th, 2011
WEDGWOOD IS GETTING A NEW GATHERING PLACE AT HUNTER FARMS CHRISTMAS TREE LOT! SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW!
The WCC has learned that an application co-submitted by us and the Hunter Family has been chosen for an outstanding grant to create a community gathering place on the Hunter Christmas Tree Farm in the heart of Wedgwood. This is fantastic news for Wedgwood and the broader NE Seattle community, which has recently begun to use the site for summer festivals and berry sales. The purpose of this grant is to improve the Hunter tree farm site for increased public use and activities while accommodating the Hunter Tree Farm business. You can read more about the site’s selected HERE.
  The grant is the result of a new partnership established between Tully’s Coffee and the Pomegranate Center. As part of this partnership, Tully’s Coffee is providing funding to create 3 gathering places in communities across greater Seattle, which the Pomegranate Center is contributing their vision and design expertise, leadership training, and community-engaging process which has proven effective and has already resulted in numerous unique places.
On April 15th, the WCC and the Hunter Family submitted its application to the Pomegranate Center in response to the Gathering Places request for proposals. Shortly thereafter, the WCC was notified that it was 1 of 7 finalists and met with 3 members of the selection committee on Tuesday, April 26th.
This project has an extremely aggressive schedule, so lots will be happening in very short order. Here’s a rough schedule of the project’s main community events and ways to get involved.
- Our KICK-OFF PUBLIC MEETING will likely be on Saturday, June 11th from 10AM – 5PM. The format of this first meeting will generally be as follows: brainstorming session for design ideas from 10AM – 12PM, followed by a concept design session from 12PM – 4PM, and closing with an open house to review concept designs. So, please feel free to come when you can and make sure your voice and vision is included.
- Our FINAL PUBLIC MEETING will likely be Wednesday, July 13th from 7PM – 9PM. This meeting will be to present the final concept design and get any final public comments prior to construction.
- 4-DAY BUILD IN MID-AUGUST! There will be countless ways for kids and adults, artists and non-artists, skilled craftsmen/women of all kinds and the not-as-skilled, and many more to get involved in the design and construction of this project. So stay tuned!
We are seeking community members with all sorts of talents to be Public Space Rangers, which are designers, construction workers, artists, craftsmen/women, writers, etc. who are willing to assist with the design of the project from concept to construction. If you’re interested in this, please send us an email ».
If you want to get involved in other ways, stay in touch, or DONATE to this project, please send us an email ». All financial, materials, and in-kind donations will be very much appreciated and the Pomegranate Center can provide you with a tax-receipt.
NOTE: While this is a fantastic project that will bring a community gathering place to Wedgwood, this does not detract from the WCC’s efforts to bring a public neighborhood park to the Wedgwood at Morningside Substation. Currently, the Parks Department is working to acquire Morningside Substation and there’s lots of excitement about the Wedgwood Park acquisition process which you can read about HERE and HERE! To stay in touch with the Wedgwood Park acquisition process at the Morningside Substation, email » here.
By Johnson, on April 15th, 2011
As most people familiar with the WCC knows the Wedgwood Parks Committee has been actively and diligently working towards the acquisition and development of a new park for Wedgwood to address a usable open space gap identified in our neighborhood by the City. Levy funds have been appropriated for such a task as part of the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy. In fact, on January 12th, we had an extremely successful public meeting about the site the Parks Committee identified for acquisition, which is the Morningside Substation at the NW corner of 86th Street NE and 35th Ave NE. The Parks Department is now working with Seattle City Light to acquire this site for a new Wedgwood Park (read here for an update on the park acquisition process).
At the January 12th meeting on the Wedgwood park acquisition process, the Parks Committee described why a popular site identified by some for acquisition, the Hunter’s Christmas tree lot, was not appropriate for park acquisition. These reasons included that the family has graciously allowed community events to occur on their site despite the public ownership AND the Hunter Family was not willing to sell. The Parks Committee explained that in fact the Hunter family was interested in having more community events hosted on their property including such things as a farmers market, something the Parks Committee said it would continue to work on.
Last month (March), the Pomegranate Center and Tully’s Coffee released exciting news about their partnership to bring up to 3 new “gathering places” to the greater Seattle area. Under this partnership, the Pomegranate Center donates their time and expertise to assist with design and implementation of the project while Tully’s Coffee is providing a large chunk of money for construction. Shortly after, they released a request for proposals (RFP) to the public soliciting conceptual ideas for gathering places from community/civic groups that can demonstrate a commitment to completing the project. One challenge of the grant is that the project needs to be completed by the end of 2011.
Very shortly after this exciting grant was announced, the WCC thought it would be an excellent opportunity to pursue the funds necessary to bring much needed improvements to the Hunter farm site to allow for the expanded public use that the WCC, the Hunter family, and the greater Wedgwood community have hoped for. Additionally, the community events that currently take place on the site could see great benefits from this too. Fortunately, the Hunter family was equally excited about the grant as the WCC was. As a result, we are very please to present the Hunter Farms Gathering Place proposal that was submitted to the Pomegranate Center earlier today in response to the Gathering Place Project RFP.
Due to the short time line associated with the grant, which is further shortened by the need to have construction completed by the end of November to avoid interrupting the family’s Christmas tree business, the Pomegranate Center expects to announce those lucky enough to be awarded by the end of April or early May. Hopefully we’ll have good news to report back in about 2 weeks!
DOWNLOAD THE PROPOSAL HERE: Hunter Farms Gathering Place Proposal (4-15-11)
Leave a comment and tell us what you think of the proposal? If we are ultimately successful, would you like to help out?
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