Ravenna-Bryant Community Association

Seattle University is administering the citywide Seattle Public Safety Survey. The purpose of the survey is to solicit feedback on public safety and security concerns from those who live and/or work in Seattle. From October 15th through November 30th it is accessible at publicsafetysurvey.org  and is available in Amharic, Chinese, English, Korean, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese.

A report on the survey results will be provided to the Seattle Police Department to assist them with making your neighborhood safer and more secure.

Engage with City Hall without going downtown:

By Jorgen Bader, RBCA Vice President

With regret, the RBCA Board accepted the resignation of the long-serving chair of our Transportation Committee. Virginia Gunby accepted the position of Transportation Committee chair in order to assist our community in opposing a design proposed by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) in July 2006 for rebuilding State Route 520.

The design proposed was a massive concrete interchange, like those in industrial areas. It included tall stilts over Union Bay with ramps taking up the south Husky Stadium parking lot and the widening of Montlake Blvd NE. As a result of the public outcry, the 2007 legislature required WSDOT to go through a mediation process with a panel of representatives from the affected communities. The process lasted through December 2008 and Virginia spoke for RBCA.

Virginia led the coalition that developed the design which became the basis for the current plan. Throughout the many meetings, some very contentious, Virginia had the persuasive skills, patience, and diplomatic ability to bring others around on many key issues.  The mediation process was followed by the environmental reviews procedures, follow-up WSDOT consultations, and then lengthy City Council review and revisions that continued for years. Virginia advocated for lanes for transit and high occupancy vehicles, lids and other measures to mitigate environmental damage, and coordination with Sound Transit.

Back in the 1960’s, Governor Dan Evans appointed Virginia to the then State Highway Commission. As a commissioner, she pushed for the design of I-90 to consider environmental values and for special lanes for transit. She is co-founder and was president of 1000 Friends of Washington, now called Futurewise. Virginia served as a freeholder in framing the 1968 King County Charter and served on two of its review commissions. She chaired a Growth Management Committee for the Puget Sound Regional Council and held important positions on the King County legislative and executive staffs. Virginia has also been a senior official in the League of Women Voters. Her views always carry clout.

Over the years, Virginia was also in the forefront for locating the Sound Transit Station in the Roosevelt business district (rather than next to I-5); against cutting Metro bus service to our neighborhood; and for roadway improvement measures.

Virginia retired from the RBCA board to dedicate her time curating the records of Margaret Tunks, founder of Citizens Against Freeways, for the UW. We will greatly miss her contributions to RBCA.

If you had to guess, how many places to eat or drink do you think are in the Ravenna-Bryant neighborhood?  If someone said 35, would you be surprised?

1. Third Place Pub
2. Vios
3. Zeeks
4. Bagel Oasis
5. Sod House Bakery
6. Crepe Café
7. Heidelberg Haus
8. Ravenna Alehouse
9. Muddy Waters Coffee
10. Varsity
11. Bai Pai
12. Sushi Wataru (coming soon)
13. Salare
14. Zouave
15. Harissa
16. daPino
17. Bryant Corner

18. Kidd Valley
19. Krua Thai
20. Frank’s Oyster House
21. Queen Mary Tea
22. Duchess Tavern
23. Pair
24. Ventoux
25. Gaudi
26. Mioposto
27. Zoka
28. Mamma Melina
29. Plume
30. Pinkaew
31. McDonald’s
32. Subway
33. Papa John’s
34. Top Pot Doughnuts
35. Grateful Bread

Coming soon: Ravenna Brewing Company and two new restaurants at the very south end of our community next to the Burke-Gilman Trail.

The abundance of places to eat and drink contributes to Ravenna and Bryant being considered very walkable and bikeable by Walk Score. Not to mention University Village, with its plethora of restaurants, is within easy walking and biking distance from a large portion of the neighborhood. Who needs to leave Ravenna-Bryant and be part of our city’s notorious traffic when you can walk or bike to a nearby restaurant?

Is this list missing a place to eat or drink in our neighborhood? Leave a comment below!

Seattle School Board Candidate Forum

Monday, October 12, 2015
Eckstein Middle School Auditorium
3003 NE 75th Street
7:30pm – 9:00pm

Learn more about the eight Seattle School Board candidates and what they think about the issues that matter – from school funding to standardized testing. The Eckstein Middle School PTSA, in collaboration with Eckstein students, is pleased to welcome parents, teachers, kids and community members to a moderated forum with Seattle’s candidates for School Board. Everyone is welcome!

On Saturday, September 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Seattle Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its tenth opportunity in five years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to any police precinct. The North Precinct is located at 10049 College Way North.

The DEA cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet. In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines—flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash—both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Save the date!

City Council District 4
NEIGHBORHOOD ISSUES DEBATE
with Candidates Rob Johnson and Michael Maddux

Wednesday, October 14, 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Chapel (4th Floor) at the Good Shepherd Center
4649 Sunnyside Ave. N (Wallingford)

Do you have neighborhood-specific questions that you would like the candidates to address? Submit questions for both candidates about your District 4 neighborhood by October 9 by writing it in the comments section below.

A recent Seattle Times article, SPD report: Minimal force used in contacts with mentally ill, highlights the large number of crisis calls police respond to. During a 90-day period, the North Precinct reported responding to 699 crisis calls out of a City total of 2,464. The North Precinct is second only to the West Precinct (reporting 719 crisis calls), which includes downtown, when it comes to responding to crisis calls.

The article echoes a letter the North Precinct Advisory Council’s (NPAC) Social Services Committee sent to King County Councilmember Dembowski this summer requesting additional funding for the Mobile Crisis Team. Following is an excerpt:

This year, members of the Seattle Police North Precinct Advisory Council (NPAC) formed committees to focus on public safety issues of particular concern to north Seattle residents. We are members of the Social Services Committee and one of our goals is to increase services in north Seattle to address social and health-related problems that police are often called to address. We are particularly interested in increasing mental health services to help police when they receive calls from community members to address crisis issues like suicidality and drug abuse.

 We are writing to you today to thank you for your continued support of the Mental Illness and Drug Dependency (MIDD) program and to urge you to increase funding in the next budget for the Crisis Solution’s Center’s Mobile Crisis Team. The expansion of the Mobile Crisis Team’s services would allow police to link more people with needed support.

 In a 90-day period, more than 700 north Seattle calls to 911 are deemed crisis calls. Of those calls, more than a quarter are related to suicide. In most cases, people facing these types of crises can be served better by the Mobile Crisis Team instead of police.

Right now, when police call the Mobile Crisis Team, it can take them anywhere from about 30 minutes to four hours to respond to the crisis. The longer the response time, the more missed opportunities to serve our neighbors in need. To gain more service with faster response times, police need to call the Mobile Crisis Team more often so that their statistics reflect the need. However, if response times are up to four hours, police are less likely to call. This, in turn, means that call data kept by the Mobile Crisis Team may not reflect the true need in the north end. Increased availability of the Mobile Crisis Team would increase use of the program by police and would better serve people in crisis.

The North Precinct Advisory Council is a community organization devoted to promoting partnership between residents, schools, businesses, and the Seattle Police Department to effectively address public safety issues. NPAC members represent community associations and other groups located in the North Precinct. NPAC meets the first Wednesday of every month at North Seattle Community College. All meetings are open to the public.

One of the most common public safety complaints made by Ravenna-Bryant neighbors is about pedestrian, bike, and traffic safety. With the start of a new school year upon us and less daylight, now is a good time to remember safety tips. Here are a few from SPD North Precinct Captain Sean O’Donnell, who attended schools in the Ravenna-Bryant area during his childhood.

For drivers

• Abide by speed limits, especially when entering a school zone. Speeding in a school zone can result in a $214 ticket.
• Watch for children entering the street from behind buses or running to catch a bus.
• Drive slowly when approaching children riding bicycles and walking near the street.
• Never pass or overtake a vehicle that is stopped at a crosswalk. A pedestrian is probably in the crosswalk. Doing so can result in a $136 ticket.
• Pedestrians have the right of way at ALL intersections, whether in a marked crosswalk or not. On a two-lane road, the pedestrian must be completely across the roadway before drivers begin moving again.
• Do not drive distracted (cell phone, eating, etc.)
• NEVER DRINK AND DRIVE or drive under the influence of drugs.

For pedestrians

• Pay close attention to surroundings, avoid being on “automatic pilot.”
• Pick routes with good lighting, clear visibility, and sidewalks. If there is no sidewalk and you must walk in the road, always walk facing traffic. See and be seen – drivers need to see you to avoid you.
• Plan a safe walking route to school that is direct with the fewest street crossing and, if possible, with intersections that have traffic controls.
• Pedestrians do not have the right of way when crossing mid-block. Cross streets only at corners, marked crosswalks, or intersections.
• Avoid walking while listening to an iPod, cell phone, or other device with ear buds or headphones. Like with drivers, these cut down on your awareness of what’s happening around you.

By Inga Manskopf, RBCA President

As I wrote in a previous post, so much of our local civic conversation is around land use these days. As we discuss how the use of land in our communities may or may not change within the next twenty years, it’s important to know where we are now.

Zoning in Ravenna-Bryant

I recently took a look at a zoning map for my immediate neighborhood (surrounding Bryant Elementary, area 62 on the zoning map). While the vast majority of the area is zoned Single Family, land along NE 55th and NE 65th are zoned differently. A zoning map of NE 55th between 25th and 35th Avenues shows multiple designations and that much of the area is ripe for increased development.

The northwest corner of NE 55th and 35th Avenue NE is zoned NC1-40. The previous post describes NC1-30 zones. Add 10 more feet and you have NC1-40.

What is NC2-40?

Further west on NE 55th Street, starting at 30th Avenue NE (where Pair is located) all the way down the hill through 25th Avenue NE, zoning on both sides of the street changes to NC2P-40 or Neighborhood Commercial 2 Pedestrian, 40 feet high. (The pedestrian designation was added earlier this year.)

Typical land uses in NC2 zones include medium-sized grocery stores, drug stores, coffee shops, customer service offices, medical facilities, and apartments.  Non-residential uses typically occupy the street front.

City code defines NC2 as meeting the following function and location criteria.

Function: To support or encourage a pedestrian-oriented shopping area that provides a full range of household and personal goods and services, including convenience and specialty goods, to the surrounding neighborhoods, and that accommodates other uses that are compatible with the retail character of the area such as housing or offices, where the following characteristics can be achieved:

• A variety of small to medium-sized neighborhood-serving businesses;
• Continuous storefronts built to the front lot line;
• An atmosphere attractive to pedestrians;
• Shoppers can drive to the area, but walk from store to store.

Location: A Neighborhood Commercial 2 zone designation is most appropriate on land that is generally characterized by the following conditions:

• Primary business districts in residential urban villages, secondary business districts in urban centers or hub urban villages, or business districts, outside of urban villages, that extend for more than approximately two blocks;
• Located on streets with good capacity, such as principal and minor arterials, but generally not on major transportation corridors;
• Lack of strong edges to buffer the residential areas;
• A mix of small and medium sized parcels;
• Limited or moderate transit service.

Adding the designation of a pedestrian retail area to the NC zone:

• Preserves areas that offer a mix of street-level, pedestrian-oriented destinations accessible by foot, bike, and transit;
• Identifies and encourages areas that have potential to transition to a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood business district;
• Encourages more walking, biking, and transit use to and within neighborhood business districts by preserving and promoting active destinations.

In pedestrian zones:

• Residential uses may occupy no more than 20% of the street-level street-facing building facade.
• Buildings cannot have large blank facades on the street-facing pedestrian level.
• A parking lot on the building site cannot be in front of the building or abut the street. Parking must be under the building or behind it.

Ravenna-Bryant Community Association Board Meeting

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Location changed to: Harissa, 2255 NE 65th Street

Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center

All RBCA meetings are open to the public. All are welcome!

By Inga Manskopf, RBCA President

HALA! City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan! Urban villages and urban centers! So much of our local civic conversation is around land use these days. As we discuss how the use of land in our communities may or may not change within the next twenty years, it’s important to know where we are now.

Zoning in Ravenna-Bryant

I recently took a look at a zoning map for my immediate neighborhood (surrounding Bryant Elementary, area 62 on the zoning map). As expected, most of the area is zoned Single Family 5000, meaning most homes need to be on 5000 square foot lots. However, land along NE 55th and NE 65th is zoned differently.

For example, the land on NE 65th Street between 31st and 35th is zoned NC1-30, or Neighborhood Commercial 1, 30 feet high.

What is NC1-30?

According to City Land Use Code, Neighborhood Commercial 1 (NC1) zones have the following function and location criteria.

• Function: To support or encourage a small shopping area that provides primarily convenience retail sales and services to the adjoining residential neighborhood, where the following characteristics can be achieved:
  1. A variety of small neighborhood-serving businesses;
  2. Continuous storefronts built to the front lot line;
  3. An atmosphere attractive to pedestrians;
  4. Shoppers walk from store to store.

• Location: A Neighborhood Commercial 1 zone designation is most appropriate on land that is generally characterized by the following conditions:
  1. Outside of urban centers and urban villages, or within urban centers or urban villages where isolated or peripheral to the primary business district and adjacent to low-density residential areas;
  2. Located on streets with limited capacity, such as collector arterials;
  3. No physical edges to buffer the residential areas;
  4. Small parcel sizes;
  5. Limited transit service.

The 30 in NC1-30 means that building cannot be taller than 30 feet, generally up to three stories.

Next up: I will take a look at NE 55th Street, which has multiple zoning designations.

Do you know how your immediate neighborhood is zoned?

Find out how the land in your part of the neighborhood is zoned. The Department of Planning and Development has maps easily accessed online at: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/toolsresources/zoningmapbooks/default.htm.

Definitions may be found in the Seattle Land Use Code: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/codesrules/codes/landuse/default.htm. Definition summaries are located online, too: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/codesrules/codes/zoning/default.htm.

A new project on Union Bay Place across from Tully’s at the “Five Corners” will create 60 residential units right along the Burke Gilman Trail, parking for roughly 115 cars, and add 4,000 square feet of commercial space along Union Bay Place.  You can read the complete Early Design Guidance package here .

The impetus for this project was to improve the parking and circulation for both the Lake View Medical Dental building and the Union Bay Place Medical Offices, all owned by affiliates of ICP Capital.

This project is next to the Burke Gilman Trail but it is unclear if a connection to the trail will occur given several challenges facing the site.  In addition to a steep slope between the building site and the trail presenting elevation issues, there is a City right of way that runs between the site and the trail that would require an easement.  Access approval from Seattle Parks would also be required to connect to the Burke.

This is not the first time a developer has applied to build along the Burke Gilman in our neighborhood.  In 2013, developer Ron Sher explored building a “bike hotel” on 45th in the old “Bill the Butcher” site.  He eventually opted to put two new restaurants on his property, set to open in July/August 2015.

Union Bay Place recently got some pedestrian safety upgrades, but this new development will also be required to put new sidewalks in front of its project.

Union Bay Place is zoned NC2-40 (neighborhood commercial with 40 foot heights) on the Burke Gilman side of the street, but it is zoned C2-65 (commercial with 65 foot heights) across the street.  It seems likely that this entire street will soon be redeveloped as the new Sound Transit Station soon opens at Husky Stadium.

There is an Early Design Review Board meeting Monday July 6th, 2015 at 6:30 at University Heights, room 209.