Minutes for April 8, 2002

ATTENDANCE:
Trustees and Committee Members: John Burge, Todd Cahill, Jeannie Hale, Shahina Piyarali, Stan Sorscher, Jim Strunk, Mark Trumbauer, Don Torrie, Maggie Weissman, Karl Weyrauch, Pat Wright.

Guests: Dick Rose, Northshore Project; Karen Ko, Department of Neighborhoods; Neighbor Mark Holden

CALL TO ORDER: Hale called the meeting to order at 7.05 p.m. Trustees and guests introduced themselves.

Northshore Project: Dick Rose briefed the board about the North Shore Recreation project at Magnuson Park. The project covers 27 acres north of the Naval Station, acres of pavement to the waterfront and then a drop-off at the water's edge. The challenge was to figure out how to use the space. The idea for the current plans came from the Jerico Sailing Center in Vancouver. There will be a large compound for boat storage, tie-ins with the Burke-Gilman Trail, picnic areas and other parks of the Park and boating activities.

The mission of the Sand Point Boating Center is to provide a facility and programs where people of all ages, particularly youth, can experience the magic, quiet, peace and challenges of sailing, windsurfing, paddling or open-water rowing and can then continue to participate in these sports for a modest cost throughout their lives. The project will cost $25 million. The City so far has put in $1.1 or $1.2 million. The buildings that are part of the project that will be retained are Building 11 (60,000 square feet) and Building 27 (King Dome size). These buildings were built in the 40's and will be costly to upgrade. Building 11 has commercial aspects and they would like to find a corporation to lease it for up to 30 years and pay for the up front cost of renovation.

Phase 1 of the project is to improve the paved area with a ramp to wheel boats in and out. Several groups have expressed interest in providing lessons, services to the disabled and other services and activities. To develop the project will require a cooperative effort between many groups.

The City has said that it wants one group to manage the boating activities and facilities at the North Shore. The project continues to move forward, but very slowly.

It is expected that by summer 2002 the Sand Point Boating Center will rent to individuals and boating groups at reasonable rates water-accessible storage space for hand-launchable, non-motorized boats of all types. Partner non-profits will provide instruction in sailing and kayaking. The Boating Center will provide changing facilities, lockers and eventually offices, meeting rooms and a cafˇ.

Volunteers are need to help with the project. A board of directors will be formed soon and they are especially looking for someone with fundraising skills.

ADMINISTRATION:

1. Changes to the agenda: Add Nominating Committee report.

2. Minutes: Weissman moved to approve the March minutes. MOTION: Minutes were approved unanimously.

3. Nominating Committee Report: This year, the following trustees terms are up: Cahill, Colley, Gavin, Hale, Piyarali, Strunk, Torrie, Trumbauer and Weissman. Piyarali is contacting those whose terms are expiring to see if they would like to continue. Gavin will not be continuing. LCC is looking for a new treasurer and secretary. Piyarali introduced neighbor Mark Holden who has expressed an interest in joining the Board. Holden lives near the Battelle site and is interested in issues relating to parks and open spaces. Piyarali mentioned that Bonnie Zinn might be interested in joining the Board.

CALLS AND CONCERNS FROM NEIGHBORS:

1. Traffic Circles: Berta Cohen from the Town of Yesler emailed on 3/14/02 to inquire whether more traffic circles are planned for her part of the neighborhood. Hale responded in the negative and put Cohen in touch with Paul Klemond. The two neighbors have since been communicating about traffic circles and pedestrian safety issues.

2. Neighborhood Remodels: Emily Wilson emailed again on 3/26/02 suggesting an article in the newsletter to assist neighbors with how to deal with remodels, including city phone numbers of who to call when streets are blocked, construction is happening at odd hours, permit questions, etc.

3. Four-Way Stop: Ric Anderson emailed on 3/26/02 to ask how to get a four-way stop installed at 46th Avenue NE and NE 47th, at the northwest corner of Laurelhurst Elementary School. Hale put Anderson in touch with Liz Ogden.

4. Responses to Letter to Neighbors in March Newsletter:
   • Claudia Sanders emailed on 4/02/02 to take issue with LCC's position requesting further traffic impact review of the Sand Point/Magnuson Park field projects. She doesn't think we will notice the additional 330 cars/hour. She thought we were requesting a delay of the project. Hale responded thanking Sanders for her message and stating that LCC is not requesting any delays, just further study of the traffic impacts and that this is part of the EIS process. Hale explained that the fields will be built because voters approved $9,279,000 in the ProParks Levy for this purpose and that LCC supported the levy and worked for its passage.

   • Aggie Coates emailed on 4/04/02 to say, "I read the "Letter to LCC members from the club president" column yesterday and simply want to let you know that I very much appreciate the well-researched and thoughtful stands LCC consistently takes on behalf of our larger community. I do not at all agree that you are FOR nothing and AGAINST everything. My belief is that more and more challenges to the life of the community are coming from a variety of sources (both private and public). LCC has stepped forward to raise legitimate questions about proposals that impact both Laurelhurst and the surrounding communities. I for one am enormously grateful to LCC for taking on that time consuming and difficult role." Hale responded.

   • Pam Center emailed on 4/5/02 to say, " In response to your column in the March newsletter, I wish to comment that my husband and I strongly support the concerns that have been presented by the LCC both as regards the Magnuson Park athletic fields and the expansion of the UW driving range. In fact, because of our appreciation of the LCC's active representation of the Laurelhurst community's concerns in these and other matters, we have decided that we wont ignore the annual dues invoice any more! Thanks for the time and energy that you and your fellow trustees invest for the benefit of us all."

   • Alison O'Carroll emailed on 4/07/02 to say, "I was dismayed to read in the current newsletter that there are folks unhappy with the LCC's "no" stands. I want to tell you that I am very happy that you all are there and fighting for our quality of neighborhood and life. The LCC always have reasoned positions and is never capricious. It is clear that all the development interests (including my emplyoyer, the UW) would run WILD with everything if there weren't some bulwarks to slow them down such as the LCC. Even then everything seems to be a real battle and struggle. I can't imagine the UW building a 100+ foot fence by the driving range - are they insane??? Apparently yes as they would have done this if not for the outcry of certain groups like the LCC. Let me repeat, I am very glad the LCC is in there and fighting for all of us. Don't let the detractors get you down!!"

   • Jeff Douthwait called on 4/3/02 to express support for LCC's position on the fields at Sand Point/Magnuson Park. He follows LCC's work and suggested that we include articles about all of the positive things LCC is doing in the newsletter, in addition to information about the issues.

5. NE 31st Street Shoreline Street End: Neighbors who live in the vicinity of the NE 31st Street Shoreline Street End wrote to LCC and included minutes from a meeting held about the street end and a copy of a letter written to Seattle Transportation. LCC followed up with a letter that was sent to all neighbors attending the meeting. Seattle Transportation subsequently wrote to the neighbors about issues raised. All of this correspondence is included in the trustee packets. Larry Bailey emailed on 3/14/02 thanking LCC for the detailed response.

6. Junk Pile at the Union 76: In response to neighbor complaints, DCLU is investigating the junk pile behind the Union 76 station on Sand Point Way and Ivanhoe. According to DCLU the storage area is not allowed because it was not part of the original proposal and the owner has no status to "grandfather" the storage area. The owner is worried that getting rid of the storage area could affect his ability to do business. He said he has to keep so many old tires because the pickup service won't make pickups unless there are at least 100 tires, whereas it used to be 30. The owner fenced the garbage pile because kids were taking the tires and rolling them down the big hill. DCLU would like to propose that the owner screened the area to the satisfaction of complainants, and then DCLU would agree not to pursue the matter at this time. The owner would be informed however that if we get additional complaints we reserve the right to enforce the zoning code and require the area removed. Weissman is going to follow up on this and will encourage owner to at least remove old engines from the area.

7. Rogue Truck Driver: Paul Klemond has been keeping track of garbage pickup times in the Laurelhurst business district. On 2/14 the Rabanco truck made pickup at 4:48 a.m. and again at 5:14 a.m. On 3/27 the pickup was at 3:45 a.m. and on 4/4/ the pickup was at 5:54 a.m. Klemond is working with Seattle Public Utilities and Rabanco to deal with the rogue truck driver.

8. Villa Master Plan: Brian Henling called on 3/16/02 to express concerns about changing the main entrance to the Villa to 49th. He just build a new house at that corner and is concerned about the noise from the school and new parking lot. He is also concerned about the plan to pave the front corner of the property to create a parking lot. Henling attended the Villa community meeting.

9. Floor Fumes: Laura Castelo who lives in the Laurelhurst apartments at 4653 41st Avenue NE called on 3/16/02 because her next door neighbor has their floors redone and then left for a few days without opening the windows. Hale put Castelo in touch with the Environmental Health Division of the County's department of public health.

10. No Detour Sign at Princeton Street Bridge: Weissman received a call regarding the gas and water repairs the City is working on and the neighbor was concerned that no detour sign had been placed at that location.

11. Annual Meeting Topics: Hale asked if we should include a fifteen minute segment at the annual meeting on the topic of aircraft noise.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: (Also see NEDC announcements in the member organization packet.)

1. Thank you! Special thanks to Don Torrie, Maggie Weissman, Shahina Piyarali and Jim Strunk for delivering trustee packets this month.

2. Absent: Barb Ragee, Heather Newman and Kate Lloyd are on vacation. Han Kim could not attend tonight's meeting and Jean Colley is not feeling well. Susan Torrance is dealing with a death in her family.

3. LCC Annual Neighborhood Meeting: The date has been set--May 30th at 7 p.m. at the Community Center. Neighbor Jeff Douthwait has suggested that LCC include a presentation from the Seattle Council on Airport Affairs about aircraft noise issues. Jeff represents Laurelhurst on the SCAA. Hale mentioned that Coco Sherman will host the thank-you neighbor segment of the meeting and that speakers from Talaris will attend the meeting.

4. Easter Egg Roll: Between 600-700 neighbors attended the Easter egg hunt at the Laurelhurst Community Center!

5. Children's Advisory Committee Meeting: The Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center Master Plan Standing Advisory Committee will meet on Monday, April 29 from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. in Small Dining Room #3 (next to the cafeteria) at Children's Hospital, 5th floor. Parking is now available in the new parking garage on the fifth level. The group will receive an update on the completion of the parking garage and the 70th and Sand Point Way facility. They will also review the expansion plans for the new in-patient wing and learn about future development. Neighbors are welcome.

6. Battelle Property Expansion Meeting: At the request of Talaris, the City has agreed to reopen the process for determining what alternatives should be included in the Environmental Impact Statement to allow it to consider developing the property as single-family housing, should the current plans for an Institute for Advanced Study not work out. A public meeting on this topic will take place in late April or early May. At the meeting, you'll have the opportunity to learn about the alternative proposals and provide comments. We will let you know the details just as soon as the meeting is scheduled.

7. Arboretum Foundation FLORAbundance Spring Plant Sale: This event will be held on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, April 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Building 30 at Sand Point/Magnuson Park. This free event features Seattle's biggest plant selection from the Northwest's foremost specialty nursery vendors, including species and hybrid rhododendrons, unusual annuals, favorite and rate perennials, trees, shrubs, rare conifers, groundcovers, organic vegetable starts, grasses, vines and more!

8. Friends of Seattle Public Library Spring Book Sale: More than 100,000 books, CDs, records, videos, sheet music, art prints and posters are among the items up for sale at bargain prices at the 2002 Friends of the Seattle Public Library Book Sale, scheduled April 12-14 in Building 30 at Sand Point/Magnuson Park, 7400 N.E. Sand Point Way. A preview for Friends of Library members will take place on Friday night from 6:30-9:30 p.m. and members can purchase up to 25 items at the preview. The sale is open to the public on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.

9. Neighborhood meeting re Talaris: Sorscher announced that a meeting will be held on April 9 and that flyers had been distributed regarding the meeting.

REPORTS/ACTION:
Crime Prevention Report: Wright informed the Board of the issues that were discussed at the North Precinct meeting. These issues included transportation, public safety and the continuation of officer training. Mayor Nickels and the Chief of Seattle Police attended the meeting. Wright also reported the following: (a) the Chief of Police is working on a new mission statement for the Seattle Police Department; (b) the Chief of Police and the Mayor expect that more work is required on the City's emergency preparedness plan and (c) the following people are working on the noise ordinance- Jordan Royer, David George and Carla Cole. On the issue of crime, Wright reported that two burglaries had taken place in the neighborhood. Wright also provided details of the robbery at Washington Mutual on 25th Avenue N.E. There have been ten such bank robberies in the North End in recent months.

Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF): Enclosed in the correspondence packet is a letter from the Neighborhood Plan Implementation Advisory Committee. That committee was asked to comment on several questions, including whether the NMF should be expanded to allow funding for social service projects by citywide organizations and social service agencies. The Committee recommended that the NMF not be expanded to include social service projects. The Committee doesn't think social service agencies should be able to apply to the NMF unless they partner with a neighborhood-based organization, which is the current procedure. The Committee also doesn't think that projects should be allowed that have a citywide focus because that would dilute the fund and change the neighborhood focus. Regarding social service projects, so long as the agency partners with a neighborhood group, the Committee supports guidelines including funding for capital projects, not ongoing expenses. Hale: we should retain the current character of the fund and should write a letter saying so. Weissman and Strunk agreed. Hale: Social service groups have access to other funding, including federal funding, which neighborhoods do not have access to. The new Head of the Department of Neighborhoods wants access for all groups. See letter in correspondence packet. The general agreement of the board is to write a letter requesting that the status quo be maintained.

U Village's Decision to Discontinue Recycling: The April 2nd edition of The Daily included a piece about U Village's decision to discontinue recycling of mixed paper because they say it is too expensive. The Village will continue to recycle cardboard because cardboard can be sold. A U Village employee shared an internal memo about this with The Daily . There is a group called the Business and Industry Resource Venture sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce that provides recycling assistance and information to the business community. At its April 4th meeting, NEDC voted unanimously to write a letter to U Village encouraging it to reconsider its decision to discontinue recycling. Hale stated that she could not obtain a copy of U Village's internal memo. The general agreement of the board is that we should write a letter to U Village encouraging them to reconsider their decision.

Waterway #1: Hale: John Zavis from Seattle Transportation met with Liz Ogden and Hale on March 18th to update us about the reconfiguration of the Waterway #1 dock. Since the dock was rebuilt a couple of years ago, LCC has had several complaints about the dock being located in the public right-of-way. Apparently, DCLU issued the permit and didn't notice that the dock was in the right-of-way and also that it had pilings instead of being a floating dock, something required by state law. The sketch in the packet indicates the changes that will be made. The pilings will be removed and the dock scooted over in from of the Coulee's house. The dock will still intrude onto the public right-of-way, but only be 12 feet as opposed to the current 25-foot encroachment. Liz Ogden felt that this was acceptable.

Villa Master Plan Community Meeting: Weyrauch: The Villa hosted a meeting on March 27th to unveil preliminary plans for its master plan. About 40 attended the meeting where three different development scenarios were presented. All options call for changing the main entrance from the current one on the corner of NE 50th and 50th Avenue NE to 49th Avenue NE (the current entrance to the preschool). The current exit onto Ivanhoe would be limited to faculty and staff. All options also include a 60-car parking lot on the corner of the property closest to St. Bridgett's. Cars would circulate from the preschool entrance, to the front of the Villa building for dropoffs or into the parking lot and then out the current entrance. Cars could also enter near the current entrance into the parking lot. Villa transportation consultants have met with the LCC transportation consultant. The Villa plan is contingent on the extension of their lease (they have 21 years left on the existing lease). They plan to take the existing use and double it. The Villa also plans to replace the gym. Torrie: The main issue is whether the lease extension will be granted. All plans are contingent upon this extension being granted. Hale asked Weyrauch whether he would follow up on the lease issue. Hale: the LCC needs information regarding the Villa's transportation plan for inclusion in LCC's Laurelhurst transportation plan.

Ravenna Creek: Hale: Strunk is absent and cannot deliver his report. Cynthia Sullivan will assist the sports/soccer people who want their playing field on the steepest side of the creek in order the have the largest space. Hale: we should recognize Kit O'Neil at our annual meeting for her work on Ravenna Creek.

Children's Proposed Expansion and Leftover Issues with the Garage Project: Hale: DCLU has granted LCC's request to extend the April 3rd comment deadline on the new proposed inpatient wing. In the meantime, Children's wrote to its nearby neighbors regarding mitigation for the garage project. Children's has expressed willingness to apply a surface coat on the garage deck in warmer weather with a light absorbing color to decrease light reflecting off the surface; using lower wattage light bulbs and increasing planting around the lower levels to decrease the light emitted. Children's will consider planting additional dense evergreens along the perimeter of the garage to obstruct its view from neighbors and providing landscaping in neighbors' yards immediately across from the garage who are interested.

Neighbors across from Children's have outlined a number of remaining issues (see handout), including standing water on the north side of 45th just below the alley and above 43rd Avenue NE that could have resulted from the construction activities, the temporary utility pole that was supposed to be removed in February, landscaping plans to obscure the garage and lighting associated with the garage. Hale will finalize list of neighbors' concerns. Hale: we need someone who lives near Children's Hospital to be on the Board. Cheryl Kitchin is moving out of Laurelhurst.

Talaris Update: The packets include a technical review of the Talaris wetlands report commissioned by DCLU. Although dated 1/25/02, the report has just recently been made available to LCC because it was not in the DCLU file. There is also notes of a meeting hosted in February by Sorscher with neighbors to discuss Talaris issues. Recently, Sorscher's group distributed notice and an agenda for what was called the "Battelle Neighbors" Annual Meeting on April 9th at 7 p.m. The official Battelle Neighbors corporation followed up with a "Battelle Neighbors Correction" flyer (enclosed in the trustee packet). BN has maintained its corporate existence for the past 14 years with filings and payment of fees to the Secretary of State and has called no meeting. It appears that Sorscher's group is moving forward with its meeting on April 9th. An updated flyer for that meeting was distributed at the meeting.

Talaris has asked DCLU to reopen the scoping process for development of the Battelle property to allow consideration of a housing option. The new single-family alternative would entail a replat of the property into approximately 75-81 lots. The majority of the lots would be single-family 5000, but a few would be larger estates. A new scoping meeting will be held sometime in late April or early May to take public comment on what environmental impacts of the new proposal should be studied in the draft Environmental Impact Statement. Sorscher: People have asked about the single family housing issue. Why do it? Is money the main factor? Hale: The environmental impact statement (EIS) will be useful if Talaris is unable to move forward with is research facility due to Code requirements. They could sell the property and they would already have an EIS in place for a prospective buyer/developer to use as a basis for development of single-family housing.

Teen Dance Ordinance: Wright: The Mayor is proposing changes to the Ordinance but we do not know what those changes are as yet.

Goodwill: Hale has contacted U Village on behalf of LCC and requested that they provide place for Goodwill in the Village. General consensus: it does not seem likely to happen.

ADJOURN: The meeting was adjourned at 9.05 p.m.