David Neiman, of Neiman Architects, provides this context for the presentations:

This fall I signed a contract with the city of Seattle to lead a group of local architects to produce a study of the proposed multi-family code update. We were asked to take some small infill sites & use the new proposed code to show examples of both the best the worst outcomes. Thursday night I presented our study “White Hat / Black Hat” to the Council. For land-use junkies, insomniacs and the merely curious, the meeting can be seen on the Seattle Channel at http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=2280942. My portion of the presentation begins at 31:30.

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Probably the only Mastro property the bank can’t seize.(DJC photo)

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The big news is that the Seattle’s Hearing Examiner, Sue Tanner, ruled against Seattle Children’s Hospital’s planned expansion in Laurelhurst today. This is a pretty big surprise considering most every other proposed development (and many that were much more questionable than this one) in Seattle during the past 8 years has made it’s way through the hearing examiner.

What this does now is set up a showdown with the city council who will probably vote for allowing Children’s to expand for the following reasons:

1) It will bring in many construction jobs. These weren’t as valuable a few years ago, but they sure are now.
2) Do you really think any councilperson wants to be known as the one who lost Children’s Hospital for the city?
3) And most importantly of all - this project will bring in tax revenue for the city, which is hurting for any money it can get.

Anyway, it should be interesting to see what happens next. Not only to see what kind of action the city council takes, but what candidates for city council have to say about what they think should happen in Laurelhurst.

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But seriously, what we have here is a pretty bad example of a developer leaving a building unsecured and half-finished, and the city’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) being aware of the violations taking place yet doing nothing to resolve them.

In fact, the screen shot below shows the ‘monitoring’ status the city has given to a complaint made about this property on April 27th, 2009. I’m not sure what monitoring means, but since it’s already 3 months later, I’ve got to think that ‘monitoring’ is code for ‘ignoring it’.

This incomplete triplex is already tagged with graffiti (even though the messaging is pretty funny), but the really scary thing here is that it’s an exposed construction site with absolutely no warning or fencing to keep people out. And what kind of people might one want to keep out? I don’t know, how about the children in the school located right next door?

It’s too bad the city doesn’t take enforcing land use violations seriously (like how they are all over parking meter violations) because not only would it help enhance public safety by closing off construction sites, but enforcing our code might even help generate some much needed revenue for the city.

If you visit this property’s records on the DPD’s site, you’ll see two complaints, the one I screenshot above and one from 2008 which apparently was voluntarily resolved.

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AIA Seattle Presents FUTURE SHACK: Housing the 21st Century

Live Event September 13 at Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion

SEATTLE– What does ‘neighborhood character’ mean to you? Why is it important and what is the role of architecture? Join AIA Seattle as our own local characters Steve Scher of KUOW’s “Weekday”, author Knute Berger, activist Kent Kammerer, and real estate maven Bob Melvey debate and discuss specific projects shaping the future of residential architecture in our region.

Joining them will be design and development professionals, Angela Brooks AIA, Pugh + Scarpa Architects, Larry Beasley, Former Director of Planning, City of Vancouver, BC, and Kevin Cavenaugh, Architect and Developer, Portland and Gil Kelley, Former Director of Portland Planning Bureau, Portland, who were also asked to determine which projects they thought worthy of celebration. Invite your friends, your neighbors, (and for you architects, your clients!) for this timely discussion.

FUTURE SHACK: Housing the 21st Century

Sunday, September 13, 2009

5pm – 7:30pm

Seattle Center, Fisher Pavilion, 305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA?

Cost: $12 General Public/$5 Students & Seniors

FOR INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE, VISIT: www.aiaseattle.org/futureshack

View Online Gallery of FUTURE SHACK submitted projects here: http://futureshack.aiaseattle.org/

A new residential architecture program for our times, FUTURE SHACK celebrates progressive solutions for urban living across a wide range of building types, budgets, constraints, and social agendas. Architects from around the region have submitted projects to the program which will be selected separately by two juries - one comprised of outspoken members of the public and another comprised of design professionals. FUTURE SHACK is developed in partnership with the SeattleTimes, which will publish selected projects in the September 13 issue of the Pacific Northwest Magazine.

FUTURE SHACK is held in conjunction with residential architect magazine’s Reinvention Symposium, in Seattle Sept 14-16.

FUTURE SHACK Co-Chairs are: Rick Mohler AIA of Adams Mohler Ghillino Architects and Tom Maul of Hutchison Maul Architecture.

Many thanks to our generous FUTURE SHACK sponsors.

About the Seattle Chapter of the American Institute of Architects

Founded in 1894, AIA Seattle is a not-for-profit professional association of architects, allied professionals, and laypeople. AIA Seattle provides the architecture community with resources and relationships to make a difference through design. We open doors, provide connections, keep our members and the public informed, and demonstrate our commitment to great design as the key ingredient for livable, sustainable places.

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The problem I have with the bag tax is that it adds complexity and oversight requirements to a Seattle City Government that, pardon the pun, can barely manage itself out of a paper bag as it is. The last thing we need in Seattle is to grow the scope of our city government. This is a city that should be focused on fixing all of its problems with SDOT and start policing and going after land use policy violators way before it starts adding to its size.

Personally, my recommendation is to follow how Edmonds is dealing with the issue - they’re just banning plastic bags outright. There, what a simple and easy solution. No extra city staffers required to manage some kind of byzantine set of bag taxes.

So vote ‘no’ on the bag tax, and then ask the city council to pass an outright ban.

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Anyway, if anyone has one of these installed, let me know!

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You may have heard (http://seattlepostglobe.org/2009/07/07/removing-citys-head-tax-more-complicated-than-it-seems) about discussions that are happening in Seattle regarding the possible repeal of the Employee Hours Tax that is also known as the “Head Tax”. This is a $25 per employee per year tax to employers for each employee who drive alone to work. The “Head Tax” does not apply for employees who ride transit, bike, walk, car pool or ride share to work. Also, businesses with two or fewer employees and those with under $80,000 in revenues per year are also exempt.

Funds from the “Head Tax” support transportation projects in Seattle, including pedestrian and bicycle programs.

The Downtown Seattle Association and the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce have been lobbying Seattle City Council and candidates for Council and mayoral office to eliminate the “Head Tax”.

Recently, City Councilmembers Tim Burgess and Richard Conlin and Mayor Greg Nickels announced their plans to rescind the “Head Tax” without a guarantee of replacement funds for pedestrian and bicycle. Last week in the Council Transportation Committee meeting (watch it: http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=2130913), Jan Drago and Nick Licata expressed their commitment to pedestrian and bicycle programs and recommended that Council wait until budget sessions to discuss the “Head Tax” issue. Their leadership on this was greatly appreciated but may not be enough to hold off the pressure from the Downtown Seattle Association and the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce to remove the tax ASAP.

Neighborhood, pedestrian, bicycle and sustainability advocates are uniting in an effort to ask Council and the Mayor to retain the “Head Tax”. And, we are asking that if Council and the Mayor eliminate this tax, that replacement funds be bindingly committed for bike and pedestrian projects and that a similar incentive for reducing vehicle miles traveled be found. Most of the bike and pedestrian projects are capital in nature and bring much-needed jobs to our city in this challenging economic time. And, they help our community to do the right thing in biking and using transit and reduce vehicle miles traveled.

If funding for neighborhood pedestrian and bicycle programs are important to you, please contact Council and the Mayor this week before they make a decision to repeal the “Head Tax” without replacing funding for pedestrian and bicycle programs.

Councilmember’s and Mayor’s e-mail addresses

Citizens are directed to the following website to complete a form to
send an email to the Mayor’s Office.
http://www.cityofseattle.net/mayor/citizen_response.htm

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So what this means is that the real beneficiaries of this kind of permit are going to be the few people who live on your block - you know, the people who live so close you walk over to their houses to say ‘hi’.

Anyway, I then went to check out some of the related info that the city created to help drum up ideas for the block party and checked out some party ideas and invites to the block party they created..and this is where things start getting creepy.

You see, the city doesn’t want neighbors getting together just for the hell of it to grill and listen to music in the street - no, there needs to be some educational social-moral lesson underlying the event. And the lesson the city wants you to leave with isn’t how many hot dogs you can cram into your mouth, but how important it is for you neighbors to go car-free. And they want you to know how especially critical it is to go car-free in situations like this one - where the city is concerned about neighbors on residential streets driving over to their next door neighbor’s house. 

But what’s even weirder than that is how the purpose of these block parties have changed in eyes of the city. These annual get togethers used to be associated with block watches and making sure neighbors got to know one another so that they’d be more likely help keep an eye out for any crime in the neighborhood. And this makes sense, the better you get to know your neighbors, the more willing they are to care about you.

But that’s probably not a priority anymore, since it is not as important as making sure everyone knows about Mayor Nickels’ “Climate Action Now” program and how he has singlehandedly brought environmental awareness to Seattle. Remember that during an election year, it is more critical than ever that you realize that anything the mayor does for the city benefits the environment. 

So what if these permits aren’t shutting down ‘major arterials’ where the real traffic is, no, it’s the city cracking down on the practice of next door neighbors driving a house or two over to visit one another that is the real prize the city is after. 

Anyway, don’t let me bum you out, just ignore all of the lessons the city is trying to pass off here and have fun bbq’ing with your neighbors.

Get your own permit here.

(Here’s a copy of the invite, comments added by me)

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And if rejecting the environmental assessment that the city approved wasn’t enough news, the Maple Leaf Community Council also announced that this Campfire property is back up for sale. I’m not sure if Prescott ever closed the deal on this property, but if not, it would seem that the Campfire Northwest’s board really hurt the organization by; 1) choosing to create an adversarial relationship with the neighborhood instead of working together with them on a workable solution for this property, 2) pricing the land for way more than it would be worth and 3) moving Campfire offices out of their Waldo Woods and into another location where they’re now paying lease fees.

Here’s a copy of the press release, and just so you all know, Seattle city council candidate David Miller was a huge driving force behind holding the city accountable for not conducting a proper environmental review of this project.

Location of the Maple Leaf Waldo Woods project (swiped from The Stranger)

June 2, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Maple Leaf Community Council Executive Board, an elected body representing over 3,400 homes and businesses in north Seattle’s Maple Leaf neighborhood, announces today a successful outcome for their King County Superior Court case filed as part of an ongoing effort to positively affect development at the site of historic Waldo Hospital.

On May 29, King County Superior Court Judge Timothy A. Bradshaw remanded the decision of the Seattle Hearing Examiner, directing the Hearing Examiner to ‘fully consider the additional condition’ of a tent-like enclosure to protect the Maple Leaf Reservoir and surrounding community from lead-bearing dust during any demolition of Waldo Hospital. The lack of any meaningful mitigation for the spread of toxic lead dust during demolition was the primary focus of Maple Leaf’s appeal to King County Superior Court and the appeal to the Hearing Examiner.

‘We are happy the judge agreed with evidence presented by our experts that lead dust resulting from demolition was a significant health risk to the community requiring certain mitigation,’ stated Maple Leaf Community Council President Marc Phillips. ‘Our efforts to save the trees on the site were the most visible part of what the community was working on, but winning this point was very important to families in our community who drink water from the reservoir, have their kids play at the adjacent ball fields, or have their kids picked up at one of three school bus stops in the immediate area’.’

Among the several reports submitted by the developer that contained false or incomplete information, an initial toxins survey claimed there was “no lead detected” in the 1920s-era Waldo Hospital. Only after repeated urging by the Maple Leaf community did the city require sufficient testing, revealing the presence of lead in the walls and in surrounding soil. It is important to note that the lead in the walls of the building only becomes dangerous during demolition. If the building is left intact, lead-based paint on the walls is easily sealed and poses no danger to the community or users of the building.

‘We want to express our thanks to the hundreds of people from our community and across Seattle who supported our efforts to positively affect development at this site,’ stated David Miller, who headed up the Maple Leaf Community Council’s effort on Waldo Hospital. ‘This was never about stopping development, it was about making sure the development was environmentally sound. Having the judge recognize the danger of lead contamination from demolition is critical since there are no federal, state, county, or city rules protecting communities from the spread of lead dust.’

‘The EPA has said there is no safe level of lead for children,’ stated industrial hygienist and toxics expert Janice Camp, who lives in Maple Leaf and provided expert testimony during the hearings. ‘Even the City admitted under oath they don’t do a good job on this issue, and this court decision is a step towards fixing the problem,’ added Ms. Camp.

The Maple Leaf Community Council has learned the Waldo Hospital property is again for sale. ‘As we did back in 2006 when we learned through a news article the property was for sale,’ stated Mr. Miller, ‘we immediately reached out to the property owners. This time, we were able to provide names and contact information of qualified, interested buyers to the owners and their real estate agent. We have already been contacted by multiple bidders who are interested in preserving the building and the grove of trees.’

‘It is not well known that we expended considerable effort trying to work with the original bidders suggesting land swaps and other alternatives to reduce the environmental impact of the proposal,’ stated Mr. Miller. ?Under our own initiative, we even secured a sizable King County Conservation Futures Grant to help preserve the grove. We look forward to working with all parties to return Waldo Hospital to a working, vibrant part of our business community.’

Background

In addition to this legal victory, the publicity about urban forest issues created by the effort to save Waldo Woods has resulted in new Council resolutions, ordinances, and proposals to improve Seattle’s ability to save our urban forest canopy.

Waldo Hospital is located in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of North Seattle, near the intersection of 15th NE and 85th NE. Built in 1924, it was one of the first osteopathic hospitals in the state. It was designed specifically as a teaching institution and located just outside Seattle’s city limits because teaching osteopathy was not allowed in Seattle at the time it was built. Hundreds of osteopaths were trained at Waldo Hospital, and it was the first hospital in the area to allow naturopaths from the fledgling Bastyr School to complete the residency requirements to get their medical degrees.

The hospital was named for its founder, Dr. William ?Bill? Waldo, who was very active in osteopathy on the local, state, and national level. He was a three-time President of the Washington Osteopathic Medical Association, president of the King County Osteopaths, and the President of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) 1921-22. Elected to the AOA Board of Trustees in 1913, he spent the next ten years intimately involved in significant decisions that helped shape the path of osteopathy on a national level. He helped author medical school standards, formulate model legislation for state licensure of osteopaths based on Washington State law, and personally lectured about osteopathy to tens of thousands of Americans in the 1920s and 1930s.

Dr. Waldo was also active locally. His hospital offered free surgical care to patients who couldn’t afford it. During the Great Depression, his affordable flat-rate prices for delivering babies made Waldo Hospital a first choice for Seattle mothers. Dr. Waldo personally delivered over 2,400 babies. He provided free medical care to student athletes of three local high schools, was the team physician for the University of Washington Husky football team, and was the team physician for the Seattle Indians Baseball Club.

Washington Historic Trust placed Waldo Hospital on its Most Endangered Historic Properties list in May of 2007.

In addition to the historic building, the Waldo Hospital site contains a rare urban forest habitat of over 80 trees. The intact grove on the eastern 1/3 of the site has become known as Waldo Woods. It was identified in a King County process to be an environmental area/habitat worth conservation.

More information can be found on the Maple Leaf Community Council web site at http://www.MapleLeafCommunity.org

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