On June 29th, Seattle’s Planning Department will host a public meeting on the changes from 6:00-8:00. The meeting will be held in the Fellowship Hall of the Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, located at 7500 Greenwood Avenue.

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

6:00-6:30 Meet and Greet
6:30-6:45 Overview Presentation
6:45-8:00 Open House/Public Comment

The map shows the boundaries of the three subareas that form the rezone area.

For more information please contact:

Andrea Petzel
DPD Senior Urban Planner
(206) 615-1256
andrea.petzel@seattle.gov

“Up until this month, we have rented three separate spaces for our programs. Now we can co-locate our programs and better integrate our services,” says Lori Drabant, Vice President of Development & Communications. “This facility will allow us to increase our presence and our capacity to serve the north Seattle community.”

To kick off the grand opening, a celebration will be held at the Community Resource Center which will also be a stop on the Greenwood Community Art Walk. There will be live music, refreshments, and local art from community members and Volunteers of America clients.

“The Greenwood community has always been so supportive of our north Seattle programs,” says Drabant. “We are excited to welcome the community into our new facility to celebrate its grand opening.”

Guests are welcome to stop by anytime between 5:00pm and 8:00pm on June 11th at9041 Greenwood Ave North to hear stories of hope and take a tour of our new facility.

Volunteers of America Western Washington is one of the region’s most comprehensive human service organizations. With the help of our generous donors we are able to respond to 350,000 requests for assistance each year from families in crisis, children at risk, seniors, and adults with disabilities.
For more information, visit www.voaww.org.

The latest potential conflict between the Zoo and the neighborhood involves the naming rights to the Zoo’s new West Entrance. The Bank of America Commons, a spacious open area outside the West Gate, got its name after the bank donated approximately $1 million to the Zoo. Some neighbors at this month’s Phinney Ridge Community Council meeting were unhappy with the naming process, and that the name may even have been obtained outside of the standard process.

If any of the City’s public parks had taken on a corporate sponsor, there would have been a public comment period required by the City of Seattle. That never happened at the Zoo, because the Zoo’s Management Agreement — unlike the naming rules for other City parks– doesn’t require public comment. However, it does require the approval of the Parks Superintendent, and the Zoo states that it got that approval for the Bank of America Commons.

The PRCC also discussed the possibility that Bank of America may not have donated enough money to meet the Zoo’s threshold for naming a space. The Zoo’s policy says a gift has to represent “a significant portion” of the cost of the building or space being named, and that 50% is the desired amount for naming. PRCC president Irene Wall pointed out that $1 million doesn’t seem like it would cover 50% of the cost of the Bank of America Commons.

However, 50% is just the desired amount, not a requirement. The target donation amount is determined in the business plan for each Zoo project. According to Zoo spokesman David Schaefer, Bank of America’s donation met the donation goal set out in the plans for the West Gate. “I might note that it is for a term of 10 years, not a permanent naming,” Schaefer told PhinneyRidge.org, via email.

In fairness, the name doesn’t come with huge corporate billboards, either. The only visible Bank of America logo is in black against dark wood on one of the buildings bordering the commons. The Zoo’s Schaefer called it “pretty understated.”

But, for the neighbors who don’t approve of the Bank of America name, it’s not necessarily about visible branding. It’s about starting down a slippery slope toward further decisions made in the neighborhood without any input from the people who live there.

If you have an opinion or concern about the Zoo or any other issue affecting Phinney Ridge, tonight’s (Thursday, May 20th) annual meeting of the Phinney Ridge Community Council is a good opportunity to become more involved and make your voice heard. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Phinney Neighborhood Association building. The meeting is also your opportunity to join the Community Council, and participate in elections for Council officers.

Come out for amazing deals and secret finds at the Seventeenth annual Greenwood Garage Sale Day! It’s a great opportunity to meet your neighbors and find new deals for your home.

In addition to garage sales and rummage sales all over the neighborhood (see map), there will also be:
* A Flea Market in Phinney Neighborhood Center lower parking lot,
* A Tool Sale at the Tool Library,
* A Rummage Sale at the Greenwood Senior Center

The meeting will be held at the Phinney Neighborhood Center, starting at 6:30 p.m. with social time and pizza. The program begins at 7:00. In addition to hearing from the Seattle Office of Emergency Management’s Mark Howard, meeting participants will have the opportunity to raise issues of interest or concern that the PRCC might explore, and to elect PRCC board members.

The PRCC meets monthly to discuss neighborhood projects, events, needs, politics, and ideas. It can serve as a “community voice” in local matters and provides a great forum to get to know your neighbors.

Greenwood Rezone

Some neighbors expressed concerns that an upzone could also mean increased property taxes for residents who chose not to sell their lots to developers. Barbara L. Shale, of the King County Tax Advisory Office, addresse the issue by explaining that a jump from single-family to L3 zoning — L3 is the low-rise zone most commonly occupied by clusters of townhomes — wouldn’t increase anyone’s taxes overnight. She said that the value of a house often goes down when the value of the land itself goes up, and that taxes would likely stay about the same until the next physical property inspection of the area, in 2015 or 2016.

Although most of the debate was about the “buffer” of single-family homes, neighbors were also concerned about upzoning the commercial lots at the core of the Fred Meyer development. Proposed changes would allow buildings that currently top out at 40 feet to be raised to 65 feet. Although this is obviously attractive to developers, Stanley made it clear that the Advisory Group behind the zoning proposal was thinking about the future growth of Greenwood, not about Fred Meyer.

Fred Meyer’s plans for a new shopping center don’t actually include or require any zoning changes.
“I’m going to sorely miss Greenwood Market,” Stanley said, “but that’s not something [the GCC] have any control over. That’s not something we’re trying to have control over.”

The neighbors at the meeting felt they hadn’t been given enough time or information to make a decision about the new changes, so they unanimously passed Resolution 2. That resolution opposes the changes “at this time,” and urges the City Council to “demonstrate community support for [future changes] and the notify those impacted by the change.”

PhinneyRidge thanks our sponsors who make our community reporting possible on an ongoing basis — Seattle Limousines and Airport Shuttles

Seattle Zoo Tree

Oxman has been keeping an eye on the project, and he’s concerned about the health and safety of the remaining trees. Construction may pose a threat to some of the Zoo’s old trees, and Oxman says he noticed trees that had not been properly fenced and mulched.

He filed a complaint with the City on December 31st, complete with photos of rebar and other construction material stacked against one tree, but he says inspectors didn’t find anything when they visited the site. The complaint is online, but still listed as “not resolved.”

The Zoo says their treatment of the trees has followed the tree protection plan they have in place, , although they did find and move the rebar after Oxman brought it to their attention. The Zoo has an arborist on site to make sure that its trees — some of which are over a century old — are properly cared for.

Although some trees were removed as part of the West Entry construction, Zoo spokesman David Schaefer said that the plans were drawn up with trees in mind. “We actually moved one building to protect a tree, so it didn’t come down,” he said

It’s on. The two top homes for holiday lights in Greenwood Phinney are dominating the votes at the annual Wacktastic Light Show contest. Unless you make your voice heard – these homes will battle for the top prize. Check out what they have to offer – and contribute to our country’s democracy.

731 North 88th Street

6819 Phinney

Awards Party

There will be a party at the Greenwood Collective (8537 Greenwood Avenue North) on December 20th 4p to 8p to honor the residents who won the community poll for favoritest lights!

4-6pm: Food and drink provided by lovely local Greenwood restauranteurs

Hot chai from Morning Glory Chai
a keg o’ beer from Naked City (we’ll have to make sure you’re over 21 for this goody)
… plus an ongoing slide show of entries and (if we’re really, really good) a roving Santa

… plus any donations to the Greenwood Food Bank collected

6-6:45pm: The Christmas musical stylings of band, Green Handshake

7 to 8p: Awards Ceremony and Prizes emceed by Rat City Rollergirl Mascot, Rocketman Houllahan. The results of the community vote revealed! The wackiest store display as determined by Esteemed Wacktastic Judges!

In preparation for the big day, Couth Buzzard is actively soliciting volunteer help for sorting and shelving thousands of books. This Saturday and Sunday, (December 12-13) the owners will be hosting all-day work parties, so stop by if you have a chance and lend a hand!

Contact Couth Buzzard directly at 206 436-2960 or call Theo Dzielak (206 418-9522, melodyplay@earthlink.net) for more information.

By: Alicia Craven

Greenwood Arson Community Meetings

Greenwood Arson Community Meeting

Concerned Greenwood neighborhood residents packed the Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church this evening for a community meeting with city fire and police officials on the string of arson fires plaguing the community. The latest of these fires occurred late Sunday night, and early Monday morning, bringing the total to 14 since last June.

Assistant Fire Chief A.D. Vickery and representatives of the Seattle police department briefed the crowded room about the status of the investigation and answered community members’ questions about how to protect their homes and businesses.

A cooperative task force—the joint effort of police, fire, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) officials are conducting nightly patrols in the neighborhood, looking for suspicious activity. They’re encouraging local residents to help in the investigation and report any out of the ordinary behavior by calling 911, the Crime Stopper phone line (1-800-222-TIPS), or the Arson hotline (1-800-55-ARSON). The city is also in the midst of constructing a new webpage to coordinate the arson investigation between the Seattle Fire and Police Departments.

There is currently a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arsonist’s capture. The Greenwood neighborhood Taproot theater, itself a recent victim of one of the fires, donated $15,000 of its insurance money towards the fund.

Chief Vickery had a number of concrete recommendations for residents to decrease their fire risk such as removing combustible materials from outdoor recycling bins, and making sure all fire alarms and extinguishers were in working order. People can contact the fire department for additional fire alarm instillation if needed, he reminded the audience.

People should also contact the city to report potential fire hazards such as abandoned buildings, or overflowing dumpsters (206-386-1450), or to get streetlights replaced in darkened areas (206-684-CITY).

Vickery cautioned local business owners against sleeping in their businesses. He warned that many fire-related deaths result from smoke inhalation, which would be an increased risk to someone sleeping in a building an arsonist targeted.

During the question and answer period, the Seattle police department said they did not have a working profile of the individual or group of individuals perpetrating the fires. Chillingly, one audience member raised his hand to suggest that the arsonist was likely in the audience. Vickery responded by encouraging community members to adopt an attitude of trust towards one another, while remaining vigilant.

Another audience member announced that people looking to make donations to businesses impacted by the fires could contact the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce, or make donations directly through a relief fund at the Chase Bank on 8500 Greenwood Ave.

When the meeting ended, officials headed upstairs to the church sanctuary where an additional 100-150 community members who could not fit in the downstairs briefing room were waiting for information.

By: Alicia Craven