Our web site has moved. More updates to come as we complete moving important content from our old host to our new. Thanks for your patience while we make these changes!
Roosevelt Neighborhood Seattle by the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association
New web presence planned for RNA
February 12, 2012 — Randall WeersThe Roosevelt Neighborhood Association (RNA) will be discontinuing the web site hosted on Office Live Small Business (OLSB). This isn’t by choice. Rather Microsoft has decided they will discontinue the service. While their proposal is to transfer from OLSB to Office 365, I’ve found that O365 doesn’t support some of the functionality that we use on our present site. Additionally, the other features of O365 are overkill for the RNA.
I’m still waiting on a Board decision to move forward with this new design. But if I do get the go ahead, in order to preserve some of the content from our old site we (mostly I) will be publishing a number of posts. Ideally as I do this I’ll remember not to overload Twitter with a lots of tweets about these articles… they’re not new.
Hopefully you’ll like the new format. Hopefully you’ll “Like” the the new Roosevelt Seattle Facebook Page so you will be kept abreast of upcoming events for Roosevelt… we will no longer maintain calendars in multiple locations.
I look forward to hearing what you think.
Randy Weers – RNA Communications Officer
City Approves Legislative Rezone
January 30, 2012 — RNA Communications OfficerThis afternoon at City Hall, the full Seattle City Council voted 7-2 to approve the Roosevelt legislative rezone. Whatever your opinion about the details of the proposal, this step culminates a process which began in July 2006 when we submitted our detailed recommendations for the rezone. What a long strange trip it’s been.
The final stages of the process have been rather dramatic, even by City Hall standards. Last week Councilmember Nick Licata responded to a request from the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association (RBCA) and the RNA to propose an amendment to the legislation which would have provided a two week delay for the purpose of reaching a more detailed agreement with the Roosevelt Development Group (RDG), the developer for the fruit stand block. Over the weekend, RDG signaled that they could not execute any type of written agreement, for fear of potential lawsuits. On the Council floor this afternoon, Licata advanced his amendment and it was supported by Councilmembers Bruce Harrell and Jean Godden. But the other six rejected it, and so there would be no delay. On the vote for the overall rezone, Licata took an affirmative stance because he said that he wanted to remain engaged in the process. Harrell and Godden rejected the rezone package, stating that they felt that their votes needed to reflect broad community sentiment, in opposition to 65 ft. heights on the high school blocks. Several councilmembers made short speeches to explain the thinking behind their votes. I’ll have more to say about how things turned out and why, but there is the bottom line. You can watch the entire meeting online from the City Council website if you are so inclined.
What happens next is continued informal design meetings between a group of building design professionals who live in our community, the Ravenna-Bryant community and RDG with their architect, GGLO. These discussions are important and afford the neighborhood an opportunity to have input into the design of buildings on the high school blocks. What we’re trying to do is to optimize the outcome of buildings taller than what we would have preferred, if that can be done. I am hopeful for this process as we have some very skilled neighbors working on this effort, led by RNA Vice President John Adams.
There will be other efforts to implement the provisions of the Roosevelt Legislative Rezone, including an update to the neighborhood design guidelines and concept plans for a network of newly designated “greenstreets”. You’ll be hearing more about these projects, and I encourage you to get involved.
Approval of the rezone is a major milestone for the Roosevelt and Ravenna communities, as it sets the stage for redevelopment of many parcels throughout the neighborhood. Chief among these is the fruit stand block, at the Northwest corner of NE 65th St. and 15th Ave. NE. After decades of degradation, you can expect to see improvements on this site in 2012. And that is a good thing, I feel.
Jim O’Halloran
Chair, Land Use Committee
Roosevelt Neighborhood Association
jim@ohalloran.cc
I won $50,000 for setting out my trash on Tuesday
January 10, 2012 — RNA Communications OfficerI won. And so did several thousand of my Seattle North neighbors who also set their trash out on Tuesday. All of us have the opportunity to spend up to $50,000 on a capital improvement project in our neighborhoods. Any project. Anywhere in the area where we set out our recycle, yard waste or tiny bit of trash on Tuesday.
The deal is that the Cleanscapes project was set up to encourage all Seattleites to reduce the amount of waste we produce. Read the whole story at the Cleanscapes web site. http://www.cleanscapes.com/news/cleanscapes_announces_seattles_2011_waste_reduction_competition_winner
I can think of a lot of projects that would improve the Roosevelt neighborhood. For example, our Roosevelt Neighborhood plan calls for establishing a “neighborhood identity”. We’ve gone so far as to design the signs. Now all we need is a bit of money to get those signs made and installed.
Here are some others:
- Install plantings, probably large pots, in the core of Roosevelt.
- Replant the hillside south of the Roosevelt High School.
- Plant trees on 66th Avenue NE south of the high school; the street that we expect to become part of the green streets project the neighborhood will have.
- Repair sidewalks that have buckled from tree roots.
- Temporarily create a park or natural habitat garden on the lot north of the QFC that will be overtaken by the Light Rail project soon to happen in our neighborhood.
- Build an enclosure that stores the trashcans on the north side of 65th street by East West Books.
- Repaint the mural on the north side of Cloud 9.
- Build community kiosks in the Roosevelt core.
If live in the Tuesday North pickup area and you have an idea for a project or if you want to support one of the above projects, visit http://www.cleanscapes.com/seattle/community/neighborhood_waste_reduction_rewards to learn more.
The deadline for submitting your project is January 31, 2012.
If you need additional information about the above project ideas, please contact me at rna@rooseveltseattle.org.
The Roosevelt Neighborhood Association has been asked to provide one of its members for the project selection committee. If you’d like to participate on the selection committee, please contact Peter James or me at rnapeter@gmail.com or rna@rooseveltseattle.org.
This is a great opportunity for you to keep that New Year’s Resolution to participate more in your community. Let’s not let this opportunity slip away.
Roosevelt Land Use Update 2 Dec 2011
December 6, 2011 — RNA Communications OfficerThe neighborhood rezone saga is rapidly coming to a close. City Council’s land use committee (“COBE”) has been discussing this topic since the public hearing on September 19th. I expect for the committee to vote by December 14th and for full Council to finalize new zoning legislation on December 19th.
At this point, COBE’s position differs somewhat from the latest recommendations of the RNA: the Sustainable, Liveable Roosevelt Plan (SLRP). COBE appears to accept SLRP’s higher midrise zoning South of Calvary Christian Assembly, and the reconfigured 85 ft. zone centered at Roosevelt Way and NE 65th. But a majority of Councilmembers have indicated their intention to also allow 65 ft. building heights on the three blocks South of Roosevelt High School, instead of the 40 ft. limits preferred by most neighbors. This contentious topic was on the COBE meeting agenda on November 30th which you can watch here: http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=2311180 Illustrations of zoning alternatives for the high school blocks may be found at: http://clerk.seattle.gov/~public/meetingrecords/2011/cobe20111130_3.pdf “Option 2” is currently in favor by Council in part because it “maximizes” ground-level open space around the buildings.
However you may feel about the status of these matters, there is still an opportunity to influence the final outcome. City Council is carefully listening to us right now, and appears to be weighing many factors including, but not limited to, community sentiment. I encourage you to contact Councilmembers directly.
P.S. I would really like to know how a wide range of community members feel about the rezone, overall. Are you livid? Are you thrilled? Are you generally OK with how this is playing out? Waiting on the details? Send me a quick note with your sentiments, if you please. Thanks!
Jim O’Halloran
Chair, Land Use Committee
Roosevelt Neighborhood Association
jim@ohalloran.cc
Climate Change and Your Carbon Footprint
October 30, 2011 — RNA Communications OfficerI’ve read many articles on how our planet is warming and how climate extremes are happening now and will increase, such as; more flooding, drought, heat waves and intense storms. If we don’t all cut back on fossil fuels, our climate will heat up and we will not be able to reverse it. Scary stuff! In doing my part, I’ve cut back on my driving, increased my bike and bus riding, lowered the house winter temperature, buy more local, dry my clothes outside in summer and got rid of my power mower, but I wonder if this enough.
Where do I stand on my personal Kyoto protocol? The Kyoto protocols are an international treaty that lays out the amount of carbon emissions countries are allowed to emit, so that world climates remain stable. For the US this amount is 7% below our 1990 carbon emissions and we need to meet this by 2008-2012, the next target is 30% by 2024 and 80% by 2050. That is a daunting task! Global fossil fuel emissions have gone up 2.5% per year over the last 15 years. The treaty is voluntary and not all countries have signed, under Bush the US did not sign, but many states and cities in the US did. Under Mayor Nickels, Seattle was the first city to sign and with this the city pushed for more mass transit, energy conservation, more green buildings and green energy, more walkable neighborhoods and many other initiatives.
The City of Seattle met their Kyoto goals in 2008 for step 1, but as the population grows it will be a challenge to keep the number down. The top three carbon emitters in the US are; transportation at 28%, electricity generation at 33% and industry at 20%. For the City of Seattle the numbers are transportation the most at 62%, of that, cars represents 20%, air travel is 20% and rail and marine is 40%. The second top emitter is buildings at 21% and industry at 17%. This is why the city is pushing mass transit, green energy and energy conservation and why the Roosevelt Neighborhood is supporting a walkable neighborhood, light rail, good bus access, bikeable streets, denser living and green buildings. Every article I have read always says that energy conservation is the biggest bang for our buck and that technology can’t get us out of this and there is no one solution.
I figured out my personnel Kyoto protocol or any persons in the US to be 20 tons per year, for step one. This sounds like a lot, so let’s run some personal carbon footprint calculators to see what I emit now. There are many online, just Bing personal carbon footprint calculator. I am amazed on how questionable many of them are. The best one I found is called carbon footprint calculator. I got 9 tons per year, so I am below the Kyoto number for step 1 and that included one plane flight for the year.
Find out your personal carbon footprint and then you will know how much you emit and what actions of yours use the most carbon and then you can start cutting back. There are so many ways we can all cut back and do our part.
Good reading on climate issue severity by Jim Hansen of NASA: The Case for Young People and Nature and The White House and Tar Sands
Linda Cox
Roosevelt Neighbor
Roosevelt Land Use Update – City Council Public Hearing
September 21, 2011 — RNA Communications OfficerLast night’s public hearing by the City Council land use committee was remarkable in many ways; indeed there are many remarks on various blogs I have been told. But what struck me most was the incredible attendance – over 500 people showed up for this meeting, which makes it the largest community meeting of the last 10 years, and quite possibly the largest ever. What’s more, the entire Seattle City Council – all nine members – were sitting on stage in the beautiful Roosevelt High School theatre which was practically full. A City Council aide told me that it is virtually unprecedented for the entire City Council to attend a non-budget meeting outside of City Hall. It felt very significant to me, all of the interest and attendance.
If you were able to be there last night, even for a while, thank you very much. The huge turnout made a strong impression on City
Council, as expected. It was a long meeting – over three hours with about 80 different speakers. The Seattle Channel recorded the entire proceedings for online video playback at http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/watchVideos.asp?program=be and for rebroadcast on TV Channel 21 on Wednesday, September 21 at 2PM and on Thursday, September 22 at 5 AM (thank you Ravenna Blog www.ravennablog.com for rebroadcast information).
At the hearing I had the opportunity to outline the work of the Consensus Group which responded to the rezoning changes proposed by Mayor McGinn and DPD in June. If you haven’t seen the work of the Consensus Group you can find it posted here on the RNA website: http://rooseveltseattle.org/LandUseLegislativeRezone.aspx We published a report called Sustainable, Livable Roosevelt but which came to be known as “SLuRP” last night and with various speakers identifying themselves as “SLuRPies”. Who says you can’t have fun at community meetings?
I think it’s fair to say that the verbal comments ran heavily in favor of support for the neighborhood’s rezoning recommendations. Many people explicitly endorsed the Sustainable, Livable Roosevelt plan but most simply made the point that City Council had better respect the substantial volunteer effort of community members. Representatives from several other neighborhood groups from Ravenna, Green Lake, Maple Leaf, RNA-South, Northgate and the Central District pressed the point saying, in effect, to City Council: “If you reject the work of the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association why should we invest time in our own neighborhood plan?” Clearly, station area land use planning in Roosevelt is shaping up to be an important test case and/or model for similar discussions around the City.
Of course there were other speakers, more than a few, who spoke in favor of the Mayor/DPD plan as currently proposed with building height limits of 65 feet in front of Roosevelt High School. The Roosevelt Development Group had their PR folks at the meeting and it is clear that they had some kind of strategy with people wearing green stickers and certain speakers who seemed to have been coached. But other pro-density speakers seemed altogether sincere as they spoke about affordable housing and appealing station-area communities. The City Councilmembers politely listened to one speaker after another, with committee chair Sally Clark trying to keep everything on track.
While there were differences of opinion and flashes of emotion during the public hearing last night, the actual range of opinion was more narrow than it might seem. Virtually every speaker was in favor of increased density in the future light rail station area, and seemed to share many of same values for sustainability and livability. The question seems to be, what degree of density is appropriate and where? Clearly the high school blocks are most contentious but even there the debate has narrowed substantially to focus on 4 or 6 story buildings. Going forward, I’d like to focus more on actual objectives for the neighborhood and less on who are the “good guys” and who are the “bad guys”. It’s time to move on, somehow.
From this point the deliberations will be more quiet with City Councilmembers weighing input from last night and continued, informal interaction with the RNA and other interested parties. We’ll continue the conversation here in the neighborhood with meetings in October and November; please watch for dates and times. No decision will be made by City Council on the details of the Roosevelt Rezone until early December at the earliest; it’s more likely that this will slip into the new year. But there is momentum now and great interest in the outcome.
I’m so proud of this community and our ability to rally around shared interests in an effective way. There used to be a saying
heard around town; something like “Don’t mess with Montlake”. But I wonder if some new expression might take hold. Thank you for your continued interest and support.
Sincerely,
Jim O’Halloran
Chair, Land Use Committee
Roosevelt Neighborhood Association
jim@ohalloran.cc
RNA Land Use Briefing & Discussion
September 9, 2011 — RNA Communications OfficerThe Roosevelt Legislative Rezone is now on the “front burner”. This is the process by which Seattle City Council will consider rezoning of blocks around the future light rail station area. Discussion of building heights for specific blocks is under great scrutiny at this time.
On Monday, September 19th at 6:00 PM, the Seattle City Council’s land use committee (“COBE”) will conduct a public hearing at the Roosevelt High School auditorium. It is very important to have large attendance at this meeting, if only to show Council how seriously we consider their decision about land use in our neighborhood. Everyone will have an opportunity to speak at the hearing, to provide written comments, or simply to observe and understand these important developments in our community.
To inform and prepare you for the public hearing on Sept. 19th, the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association will conduct a “land use briefing” on Tuesday, September 13th at 7:00 PM at Calvary Christian Assembly. At this meeting you will learn about the work of the “Consensus Group”, which is a handful of Roosevelt and Ravenna neighbors who have been working to refine the original zoning proposals put forth by the RNA in 2006. More specifically, the Consensus Group has been evaluating the latest rezoning recommendations from Mayor McGinn and the Department of Planning and Development and preparing our response which we will deliver to City Council at the public hearing on Sept. 19th. At the briefing on Sept. 13th, the RNA Board wants to share with the broader community specific ideas and proposals for discussion and support. With a better understanding of the issues gained at the Sept. 13th meeting, you’ll be well prepared to make your own comments at the Sept. 19th public hearing, should you choose to do so.
Please mark your calendars for these two important meetings. The Sept. 19th date is clearly most important, but come to both meetings if you can.
Tuesday, September 13th, 7:00 PM, Calvary Christian Assembly – RNA Land Use Briefing & Discussion
Monday, September 19th, 6:00 PM, Roosevelt High School – Seattle City Council Public Hearing
The Roosevelt Legislative Rezone is the culmination of many years of work by Roosevelt and Ravenna neighbors. This is the most important time for you to engage in community affairs. Thanks for your support!
Jim O’Halloran
Chair, Land Use Committee
Roosevelt Neighborhood Association
jim@ohalloran.cc
The Mayor Responds
June 19, 2011 — RNA Communications OfficerThis past week over 100 of you wrote to Mayor McGinn and other City officials to request action on the Roosevelt Legislative Rezone process, and on Friday, he wrote back. If you didn’t receive a direct
response, you can find the letter at this link: http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/621526/340d194bc1/317587849/8d4df55024/. Thank you again for your efforts to contact the Mayor; you are directly engaged in community affairs and making an important difference.
The good news is that the Mayor agrees that the Legislative Rezone process should move forward. This is important because other options on the table last week could have delayed the process even further, by another year or more. There is clear acknowledgment of the work we’ve done and the need to bring some closure. It’s also worth noting the Mayor’s crisp assertion that “towers” – anything over 85 feet – are clearly not appropriate anywhere in Roosevelt. But the Mayor was devilishly vague about just where 65 and 85 foot high buildings could be built. Actually, his letter expressly leaves open the possibility that the high school blocks – between 12th and 15th, 65th and 66th, could be rezoned to 65 or 85 feet. And that scenario is squarely at odds with the Neighborhood Plan which calls for 40 ft. limits in that area. So at the end of the week, we’re kind of looking at a glass that’s half-full of cloudy water.
Where We’re At Now
At the Mayor’s direction DPD will now change some of the recommendations in the draft Legislative Rezone documents issued on April 21 (find these docs at RNA website: http://rooseveltseattle.org/LandUseLegislativeRezone.aspx) I’m pressing DPD for these details; they should be available soon if the process is to keep on schedule. I am expecting that we *will* see
recommendations over 40 ft. on the high school blocks, and this will mean that we have more work to do. Actually, whatever the Mayor ultimately sends to Council, we have our work cut out for us with those nine elected officials. They can, and may very likely rework the proposal from the Mayor and DPD; that is their prerogative, and their history.
Moreover, the Council is getting political pressure from the same folks that were leaning on the Mayor; the ardent environmentalists, the transit enthusiasts and the Roosevelt Development Group, in addition to all of us. These politicians are trying to find a careful balance in an election year; that means they’ll be looking for some kind of compromise before this is all done. That’s worth thinking about. Once the Legislative Rezone package gets to City Council, there must be our primary focus.
What’s Next
As outlined above, DPD will be working to complete the Legislative Rezone and send it to Council’s “Central Staff” for careful evaluation. This should happen before July 1. At about the same time City Councilmember Sally Clark’s land use committee (the Committee on the Built Environment, or “COBE”) will schedule an initial discussion at a COBE meeting, potentially on Wednesday, July 13. COBE meetings are held at City Hall in Council Chambers; they typically start at 9:30 AM and are open to the public with a public comment period. If things are still on track, a dedicated public hearing will be held by COBE, hopefully here in the neighborhood; Roosevelt High School has offered to host. The timing for that is highly uncertain at this moment but will probably be during the last half of July or the first half of August. This public hearing will be the key event in the entire Legislative Rezone process; we’ll want to have a large turnout that evening.
What You Can Do
Watch for additional “Land Use Updates” like this one. Things can change and new information becomes available. Consider writing back to the Mayor if you feel moved to do so; a message like “Mr. Mayor, thank you for advancing the Legislative Rezone but please understand that we feel strongly that certain parts of the neighborhood are appropriate for greater heights, and that others are not, no matter how close they’ll be to the station.” It can’t hurt to contact City Councilmembers at any time, but save most of your energy for a little later when this issue comes into sharper focus for Council. Above all, plan if you can to attend the COBE public hearing in the neighborhood when that date is announced.
There will be a meeting of the RNA Land Use Committee on Tuesday, June 21 at 7:00 PM at Calvary Christian Assembly, where we’ll discuss some of these matters further. Perhaps I’ll see you there.
Jim O’Halloran
Chair, Land Use Committee
Roosevelt Neighborhood Association
jim@ohalloran.cc
Rezone: We’re making ourselves heard
June 15, 2011 — RNA Communications OfficerThank you very much to all who have contacted City officials to press for completion of the Roosevelt Legislative Rezone. I’ve received copies of some of the great e-mails you’ve written. I know that they will have an effect. The good reputation of the Roosevelt/Ravenna community is burnished with each one of your messages.
Not to be too dramatic, but this is an important moment for the neighborhood. I expect that tomorrow, on Thursday, that Mayor McGinn and DPD Director Diane Sugimura will decide whether to continue the Legislative Rezone process on which we’ve worked so hard, or to shelve it in favor of some other process driven by interests from outside the community. We want for DPD to complete their work on the Legislative Rezone package, for the Mayor to sign off, and for the whole thing to be sent to City Council without further delay. Councilmembers Clark and Burgess, at least, are ready to receive it and to do their work in committee to address our critical land use issues.
So, thanks again to those who have written already, and if you have not, please consider dashing off a quick e-mail today to the Mayor, DPD and City Council as outlined in my earlier e-mail below. It doesn’t have to be long; it’s the contact that counts.
For those of you with an appetite for coverage of our issue in the blogs, have a look at the latest on Publicola, Citytank and another land use site from just this morning (links below). Wow, here’s another one I’ve just found on Crosscut which references us. Today, all eyes are on Roosevelt. Please have your say, too. (read my previous post for who to contact)
http://publicola.com/2011/06/14/seattle-transit-blog-85-feet-is-enough-for-roosevelt/
http://citytank.org/2011/06/12/the-roosevelt-rezone-dustup-simple-issue-uncovers-complex-questions/
http://seattleslandusecode.wordpress.com/
http://crosscut.com/2011/06/15/transportation/20990/Local-leaders-blunder-on-three-big-issues/
Jim O’Halloran
Chair, Land Use Committee
Roosevelt Neighborhood Association
jim@ohalloran.cc