Friday, July 23, 2010
City's new tree regulations now available for comment
The Department of Planning and Development is undertaking a comprehensive update of private property tree regulations for the first time since the creation of the Tree Protection code (SMC 25.11) in 2001. This update is part of a city-wide effort to reevaluate existing goals, policies, and regulations to implement the Urban Forest Management Plan, released in April 2007.
More information...
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Would you like one or two scoops with your Vision Plan?
Mary Beth O'Neill, a Wedgwood Vision Project steering committee member, kicked off the meeting and read a statement from Kurt Westman, the community council president. WVP chair Randy Barnett gave an overview of the process that led to the plan, and then consultant John Owen from MAKERS facilitated a Q&A session. Randy closed the meeting with a discussion of next steps, emphasizing that the plan is only a beginning and encouraging attendees to dig into projects they are passionate about.
Thanks to all who attended and offered their support and insights as we move into the implementation phase. See you at the Wedgwood Art Festival -- also at 80th & 35th -- this Saturday, July 17!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Wedgwood Vision Plan now available online
All,
The Wedgwood Vision Plan is complete and is now available online as a PDF:
http://www.wedgwoodcc.org/vision/WVP_vision_plan_0710_sm.pdf (3.3 MB)
Hope to see you Wednesday 7 p.m. at the Wedgwood Presbyterian "south lot" lawn at 35th Ave NE & NE 80th St. We'll have some hard copies of the plan available there too.
And did we mention we're starting the meeting with ice-cream social time?
The plan may be complete but making the vision reality moves ahead. Come help prioritize some near-term projects!
- The WVP steering committee
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The official release of the Wedgwood Vision Plan on 7/14
3rd and Final Community Meeting
(plus ice cream social!)
Wednesday July 14, 7:00pm-8:30pm
Come help celebrate the completion of the Wedgwood Vision Plan!
As a result of hosting several successful community meetings and conducting a neighborhood-wide survey, the Wedgwood Vision Plan is now ready to be presented to the community.
Copies of the Vision Plan will be available to attendees and the event will begin with an ice cream social at 7 pm. We will present a project overview and field questions, along with discussing "what's next" for the future of the Wedgwood neighborhood.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
July 1 at Town Hall Seattle -- Our Future: Walkable Urbanism
Monday, June 21, 2010
Aging in Place -- NEST gets coverage in the Seattle Times
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Dominos space on 35th NE now for lease
Monday, June 14, 2010
Wedgwood Vision Plan almost finished
Ingredients
- Input from scores of community members at community meetings.
- Over 800 responses to a community survey.
- Hundreds of volunteer hours.
- Professional consulting by an experienced urban design firm.
Directions
- Form steering committee advised by consultant to synthesize community input.
- Create vision plan draft and let rise.
- Knead, rework, and let rise again.
- Repeat step 3.
- Release final plan to the community and celebrate!
The Vision Project steering committee and Makers Architecture & Urban Design are in the process of editing a final draft of the Wedgwood Vision Plan. In the long delay since our last post, we have been following the recipe above with promising results.
Save the date: July 14, 7-8:30 p.m. outside at 35th Ave NE & NE 80th St. The public release and celebration of the Wedgwood Vision Plan! More details to come.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Results from first two public meetings now available
We have posted the results of our first two community meetings for the Wedgwood Vision Project on the community council web site. These are documents prepared by our project consultant, Makers architecture+urban design.
Several community members said they would like to review the feedback gathered from these meetings, which, together with the survey results, will feed into the Wedgwood Vision Plan to be shared at the final community meeting in July.
All the documents are PDF files. Here are two summary documents:
January 14 Mapping Exercise Results Summary
April 10 Overall Results Summary
Get the full list of all the available documents at http://www.wedgwoodcc.org/vision/.
For the steering committee,
- David Atcheson
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Typed survey responses now available
The link is the same: summary of results.
Take a look at some of the very creative responses! We will also be doing some tallying of answers for more at-a-glance review of responses with common themes.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Summary of Survey Results Now Available!
At this point, results are available only for the multiple choice questions/responses. Typed comments and responses to open-ended questions are not currently available.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Excellent meeting! 60 attend on Saturday a.m.
Yes! More than half of the 60 or so attendees on Saturday raised their hands to indicate that they had not been to the first meeting in February.
Fortified by coffee and Grateful Bread bagels, participants got an orientation to where we are in the process and a preview of survey results. (Quick summary: this was the 2nd of 3 community meetings; the last will be in July at which the vision will be presented. The survey has over 700 respondents and will be open through April 17.)
Then, we broke into nine small groups and reviewed "alternative futures" in various categories (commercial development, transportation, residential areas), snipping out and editing statements and photos that resonated with the groups' thinking. Each group pasted items on a big sheet to create a "storyboard" of their draft vision to share with the entire group of participants, along with a brief vision statement.
Participants were constructive, creative, and enthusiastic and the groups clearly shared many common elements in their visions and storyboards.
Working together with the Vision Project steering committee, Makers architecture+urban planning will now pull together a cohesive document reflecting the input from the meetings and the survey, to be shared in July with the community at large.
We will post interim results of the meetings on this blog soon.
Thank you for your participation!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Vision Project meeting is this Saturday a.m.
The meeting will once again be facilitated by our consultant, Makers architecture + urban design, with the help of Vision Project steering committee members. We'll also share a preview of the survey results.
This kind of opportunity doesn't often come along. Hope to see you there!
PS. If you haven't already done so, please fill out the online community survey.
Friday, March 19, 2010
City meeting on Row Houses, Apartments, and Town Homes
- Row Houses, Apartments and Town Homes: New Rules for the Road
- Saturday, March 20
- 10 a.m. to noon
- Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St., Seattle.
His column begins:
OVER the past two decades, Seattle has been inundated by a wave of poorly designed cookie-cutter town-house development. Known commonly as "Four Packs," these buildings have been a blight on our city.
In addition to being unattractive, they have also failed to fulfill the basic function of starter housing, since they are too expensive for the average citizen to afford. Thanks to a new zoning code working its way through the Seattle City Council, the era of the Four Pack may soon be coming to an end.
go to full column...
Monday, March 1, 2010
Wedgwood Community Survey is Now Online
Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey! And be sure to join us the morning of April 10 for our second community meeting.
Get started here...
Friday, February 26, 2010
2010: Seattle's "Year of Urban Agriculture"
This reinforces the 2008 Local Food Action Initiative adopted by the city council to promote local and regional food sustainability and security. Look for the city to make growing food on planting strips and city land easier. Here are some places to find out more:
- The 2010: Year of Urban Agriculture website
- Councilmember Richard Conlin's page about the Local Food Action Initiative
- The text of the 2008 Local Food Action resolution (#31019)
I know a lot of Wedgwoodians who will be doing their part to give this effort a boost!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Citywide Design Guidelines - public mtg Feb. 23
DPD is hosting a public meeting at which staff will present the updated guidelines and offer opportunities for public comment. Details:
* Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
* 5:30pm Open House/6:00-7:30pm Presentation and public comment
* Bertha Landes room, City Hall
* 600 4th Ave., 5th Avenue entrance
For more information, see http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/CitywideDesignGuidelinesUpdate/Overview/.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
2nd COMMUNITY MEETING APRIL 10th
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Pinehurst Safeway Rebuild to be LEED Silver
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Community Meeting on Parks Acquisition in Wedgwood
The March 11 general meeting of the Wedgwood Community Council is all about potential park acquisition in Wedgwood. Chip Nevins, Seattle Parks and Recreation Acquisition Planner, will be there. Come prepared to listen to your neighbors and discuss:
- What kind of park should we have?
- What do you want in our park?
- Where should our park be (general area and/or specific site)?
The meeting is March 11th, 7 p.m. at Wedgwood Presbyterian Church (35th Ave NE & NE 80th St). Please email WedgwoodParks@gmail.com for more information.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Northeast Seattle Trails map is out
Maps are available at HomeStreet Bank (82nd & 35th NE), the Community Council news box outside Rite-Aid (85th & 35th NE), and soon to be at the Northeast Library, Meadowbrook Community Center, and other locations throughout Wedgwood and NE Seattle.
The map was put together by Feet First with input from area residents and guidance from a steering committee of volunteers. Pick up a map and plan an interesting route to Northgate, Magnuson Park, Ravenna Park, or just find a secret pedestrian-only cut-through you didn't know existed.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
35th Ave NE zoning classifications in Wedgwood
For more on what the classifications mean, see:
See the earlier post on multi-family building code changes in the works... some aspects of the lowrise codes may be changing soon.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Safeway at 35th & 75th - planning in the works for demolition and reconstruction
To see the project files, visit DPD's Permit Status and Complaint pages and search by address or by project numbers 3007731, 3009877, 6203804, 6147344, and 6237436.
CORA NW study on new, proposed multi-family building codes
CORA NW is the Congress on Residential Architecture, NW chapter. Architect David Neiman is a member and has kept us in the loop on their feedback to the city on proposed changes to multi-family housing codes.
Their September 2009 of how the proposed codes may be expressed is online:
White Hat / Black Hat: An Analysis of the Multi-Family Update (13 MB PDF document)
Timeline: David reports that we can expect hearings as early as March 2010 on the proposed changes. Then the Department of Planning and Development will incorporate changes and do a SEPA review, with a final vote expected sometime in June. Something to keep up on!
See also the CORA NW blog.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Skatespot at Dahl is open
A few years back, the Wedgwood Community Council helped facilitate dialogue between skatespot proponents and others who were concerned/opposed.
Today there were about 20 skaters with about a 25-year age range enjoying the new facility.