April 2014

Information provided by the Office of the Mayor

April 3 – Seattle Mayor Ed Murray issued the following statement on today’s Department of Justice status conference on police reform:

“I agree with what we heard today from U.S. District Judge James Robart. Police reform has moved too slow over the course of the past year. The Department must move more quickly to improve its use of technology – both in terms of effectively collecting audio and video evidence, as well as implementing a robust data tracking and analytics system. The police disciplinary process is byzantine and neither inspires confidence nor ensures constitutional outcomes in cases of officer misconduct. We can do better and we must do better.

“I also agree with the Federal Monitor Merrick Bobb, U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan and the City Attorney Pete Holmes that considerable progress has been made over the past ninety days. We are moving in the right direction, and we are moving together. We have established a spirit of progress and a cooperative tone since January that I am confident will continue as we make progress on the Monitor’s aggressive 2014 timeline for reform.

Brian Court from The Miller Hull Partnership, LLP came before the Southwest Design Review Board on April 3 to present some options for a project proposed for 1307 Harbor Ave. S.W.

This location, former site of the Alki Tavern and for those with longer memories, of the Embers nightclub, sits between two existing condominiums (Seabird and Harbor Landing) but would likely stand much taller, depending on the final design.

Four "massing alternative" options were presented at the meeting with Option D being both the preferred option and the one that drew the most praise from both the review board and in public comments. It combines a 32 foot wide staircase breezeway through the structure that narrows and is coupled to a hill climb up to Calfornia Ave. S.W., a three story cafe, likely the best parking alternative, most residential (three floors) and even a "light industrial" section of the building that he said would most likely mean rapid prototyping of parts, not a manufacturing business.

It took five meetings, numerous cosmetic changes and the loss of an entire floor of one proposed building but the massive 134-unit, 450 foot mixed use apartment/retail building intended for 3210 California Ave. S.W. finally got approved on April 3 by the S.W. Design Review Board. The building will contain 152 parking spaces.

The current design, which will no doubt go through some further changes, is available online but it's a large file at 149 mb.

Neighbors to the project and others were in attendance at the meeting and heard from Boyd Pickerell of Nicholson Kovalchick Architects about the changes that took so long to make. It was all about height, bulk and scale.

Essentially the design team took the northern most building and removed the top floor plus set back the upper stories of the middle and southern buildings. They also reduced the size of the buildings by making the gaps between the three structures 25 feet.

With the top floor of the north building removed, it created an opportunity to establish a rooftop deck.

After nearly three months of motions and testimony (six weeks for each) the jury has begun deliberations in the trial of Lovett Chambers. This week saw jury instructions being given with closing arguments from the defense and prosecution finishing up on Thursday afternoon. Chambers is charged with second degree murder.

On Jan. 21 2012, Travis Hood and his friend Jamie Vause were leaving the Feedback Lounge in the Morgan Junction at the same time as Chambers. As the two men were leaving, words between Chambers and Hood were exchanged as Chambers was getting into his car. Seconds later Chambers allegedly had retrieved a handgun from his car and shot Hood three times as he was getting into Vause’s pickup truck. Hood died from these wounds shortly afterward.

Motive has been a major question in this case and the testimony that has been presented from witnesses and from the defendant himself has not definitively answered what actually occurred that night.

BURIEN, Wash. – Page 2 Books, known as a great place for books and the people who love to read them, will celebrate its grand reopening in downtown Burien with a full calendar of special events and activities during April.

Page 2 Books moved last November to 457 SW 152nd St., at the corner of Sixth Avenue, following the purchase of the business by Jenny Cole and Bill Virgin.

“We’ve been working since November to create a place that customers look forward to coming to,” said Jenny Cole. “We appreciate the encouragement – and patience – of our customers who have welcomed us and shopped with us, even as we were unpacking boxes of books and building shelves.

“Now that we have the store looking like it should, it’s time to say thanks to our customers and friends, old and new, and invite them in to find the right book.”

Activities for the month will include:

■ A grand-reopening reception at noon Saturday April 12. Come meet the new owners (if you haven’t already) and enjoy light refreshments.

■ A 20 percent discount on all purchases.

UPDATE April 9

Eastbound travelers on SW Charlestown will be detoured northbound on 49th Avenue SW to Admiral Way and then east to California Avenue SW.

Westbound motorists will be detoured southbound on California Avenue SW to SW Oregon Street then west on Oregon to 55th Avenue SW and then north to SW Charlestown Street.

Original Post April 8

Information from SDOT

Starting Tuesday, SW Charlestown will be closed to traffic between 46th Avenue SW and 47th Avenue SW in both directions for one week. The Seattle Department of Transportation will close the street from 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 8 through 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 15. During the closure, department crews will replace the street’s concrete panels.

Local access will be allowed via SW Spokane Street; all other traffic will follow a detour via SW Genesee Street between 55th Avenue SW and California Avenue SW. The work is weather-dependent.

At approximately 7 pm April 1, the Old Town block in Burien was the landing zone for creatures from all over the galaxy. Some carrying space guns and all looking somewhat ominous these visitors seemed to like the street in front of the Tin Room. At least that’s where they all parked their vehicles.

But as it turned out it was The Second Annual Burien UFO Festival.

The event was created to draw awareness of the so called 1947 Maury Island Incident where allegedly a hovering craft of unknown origin deposited strange material off the south tip of the island in Puget Sound.

There were several people on hand willing to explain the event and what transpired after. One of them was Charlette LeFevre of the Northwest Museum of Legends and Lore. She told me that the incident is referred to as the Roswell of the Northwest (referring to likely the most well known UFO encounter in history) but that it actually happened two weeks before Roswell in June of 1947.

By Greg McCorkle

In the wake of the recent shooting of a teenager by another teen the King County Sherriff’s Department and the Highline School District teamed up with the expressed intent of relaying to students the importance of respecting all people no matter what their ethnicity or religious beliefs are.

Now it would be easy to have a principal, police officer, or even a psychologist stand in a packed gym and tell kids how they should act as good citizens. But King County Sheriff’s Deputy BJ Barnes and Evergreen High School Principal Norma Barrineau came up with a different approach. They were able to have two local athletes, who looked so young that they could be confused for high school students, speak of their ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Mayor Ed Murray spoke before the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce on April 3 and his remarks touched on growth, density, transportation, and what he's found to be the best part of his job so far.

He talked in a brief preamble about his childhood in West Seattle and that he used to play as a child in what later became the Log Cabin museum on 61st S.W. He also said that "West Seattle gave me a larger vote margin than my own legislative district," in the November election for Mayor.

He spoke about how we might "reinvent the city's relationship with our neighbors," and said he would explore that concept and others on April 5 at the Seattle Neighborhood Summit.

During the campaign he said he talked to many people about growth, how to manage it, and how transportation infrastructure plays a role in that growth.

"We have to preserve the current transit we have," Murray said and urged a yes vote on Prop. 1 in the upcoming election on April 22, saying "It would be the revenue source that Councilmember Mcdermott or or would choose but it's the only option we have."

The Department of Planning and Development has released an update for development in the Northwest area of Seattle. There are five new projects in the Ballard area. One of these five requires a design review.

Information provided by the DPD

2216 NW 63RD ST: Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into two unit lots. The construction of residential units are under Project #6363661. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots.

Zone:LOWRISE 1, URBAN VILLAGE OVERLAY

The following approvals are required:

Short Subdivision to create two unit lots.

9715 6TH AVE N.W.: Land Use Application to subdivide one parcel into two parcels of land. Proposed parcel sizes are: A) 5,768 sq. ft. and B) 5,388 sq. ft. Existing structures to be demolished.

Zone: SINGLE FAMILY 5000, SALMON WATERSHED

The following approvals are required: