Council Meeting Minutes October 2021

LICTON SPRINGS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Meeting Date/Time: October 20, 2021, 6:30 P.M.

These meeting minutes were approved at the November 2021 meeting.

Attendance Notes

• Directors Present: Melanie Davies, Mike Cuadra, Bekah Gautrowski, Bob Blade, Lindsey Webb, Kathleen Braden
• General Members Present: Peter Reid, Mary Katka, Kevin Sheets, Kelly McGee, Brenda Butzon, Emma McStearns, Christine Hatcher, Robin Amadon, Anna Sim, Kay Mesirow, Pablo Lopez, Susan Ward, Jenn Mortola, Barbara Alfeo, Fernando Cervantes, Benson Limketkai, Jamie Waldock, Tom Boyden, Tom Meyer, Johnna Reitz, Jason Rood, Janice Holkup, Heidi Westling, Kyle Kinney, Ellen Beck, Paul Leonard, Xena Kinkade, Marci, Peter
• Other Visitors Present:
• Bellwether Housing: Susan Boyd (CEO), Richard Loo (Director of Real Estate Development), Mindy Black (Senior Housing Developer)
• Chief Seattle Club: Derrick Belgarde (Executive Director), Virgil Wade (Deputy Director), Mesha Florentino (Project Development Asset Manager), Anne Xuan (Development Consultant)
• North Seattle College: Lincoln Ferris, Terrence Hsiao, Gregory Hinton, Steve Leahy
• Architects: Jim Bodoia (VIA Architecture), Jenny Burdzinski (VIA Architecture), JohnPaul Jones (Jones & Jones Architects)

Welcome & Introductions

• Melanie started the meeting and welcomed everyone at 6:35. Attendees introduced themselves.

Housing at North Seattle College

• Leaders from Chief Seattle Club (CSC), Bellwether Housing (BH), North Seattle College (NSC), and architects for the planned affordable housing at North Seattle College talked about various aspects of the project and answered questions from residents. The project will include about 200 housing units with a target population of those earning up to 60% of the Area Median Income, especially those in the low wage workforce. Expected completion is in late 2024 and expected opening in early 2025.
• Gregory Hinton of NSC gave a short summary of the original Request for Proposals.
• Derrick Belgrade, Executive Director of CSC, talked about the org’s mission of tackling issues for Native Americans and low income individuals and families. CSC mainly provides social services but recently expanded into real estate and housing. They are excited to build housing for families and foster community, health, and well-being with this project, including the longhouse.
• Susan Boyd, CEO of BH, talked about the target population for the project. In addition to people with low incomes, outreach will focus on younger households and Native American households. Almost half of the units are 2- and 3-bedroom.
• Jim Bodoia, an architect for the project, talked about the location, which is on the SE corner of the NSC property. It is close to parks, schools, and new transit development. The property has interesting topography and exceptional trees. Some of the trees will be removed, some retained. The city does not require saving trees if it hinders development potential of a site. Asked whether the project will affect nearby wetlands, he said it is well outside of the protected boundary.
• The project is organized around four courtyards, each with its own character and purpose. An underground garage will have spaces for about 80 cars. The longhouse will be on the north part of the property due to the location of significant trees. At the south part of the property, there will be a natural amphitheater. Two housing buildings will be connected by a raised open air bridge. There will be a playground on the east side. Asked whether the project will impact the P-Patch, he said there is a study underway.
• Architect JohnPaul Jones noted that the building is open to the street, which makes the development more pleasing for neighbors and allows sun and air into the development to the benefit of the residents. Current zoning allows the project as planned. Modeled after traditional longhouses, the longhouse on the property will seat 150-200 people indoors and can also host outdoor gatherings. The goal is to create inviting spaces to help native and non-native communities enjoy it.
• There will be an opportunity to comment on the design during a second review process as the design progresses. Information on opportunities will be public. Residents within 300 feet of the site will get a notice in the mail about review.
• Terrence from NSC talked about expected student enrollment in the coming years. The college anticipates students returning to campus after the pandemic but not at historical levels, in part because of increased hybrid course options. When this project is finished, the number of students will be lower. In past years the college has considered student housing with a focus on international students. However, there has been a drastic reduction in these students coming to campus so there isn’t enough demand to justify it.
• Residents of Licton Springs and anyone else who is interested can go to https://www.bellwetherhousing.org/northseattlecollege for information on the project and email [email protected] with questions.

Licton Springs Park Restroom Update

• Mike shared that the folks in Seattle Parks & Rec working on this will be getting a demo permit for the comfort station and are working on a design and permitting to rebuild. Liz’s email to Kathleen said the architect on the project told her it will be rebuilt on a timeline of 2-3 years, pending asbestos and lead testing. There will be an opportunity for public comment.

Community Councils Meeting on Homelessness

• Several LSCC board members attended a meeting of north Seattle community councils convened by Blair Perilman of the Greenlake Community Council. Reps from different community councils attended for a discussion on actions community councils can take collectively to spur the city into more urgent action on the loss of open space due to encampments.
• There was a discussion about the demise of district councils and whether the City Council would appreciate hearing from the community councils. Melanie said at the meeting there was a consensus about putting together a letter asking the city to let community groups know what is going on and what will happen moving forward since there is a lack of information coming out to local groups (contrary to what was planned under the Murray administration to keep local groups more informed). It is probably wise to hold off on a letter until after elections.
• Kathleen sent Blair a list of block captains in the north precinct and people she knew were interested in a revised version of district councils. She also pointed out that there are tools that have been developed internally at the city to help address diversity issues. She wondered whether the city could share those tools with neighborhoods so we can work on expanding and diversifying the voices being heard.

Licton Springs Halloween

• Bekah is heading up the creation of the trick-or-treat and decorated home map for the neighborhood and said she would release the first draft on Saturday. Submissions for inclusion on the map would be accepted until midnight that day. There was a discussion of a raffle prize for home decorating. Bekah will approach local businesses for small gift cards to put together as a prize. The group discussed a potential allowance from the LSCC account should there be low interest from businesses in donating.

Aurora Reimagined Coalition

• Melanie attended the coalition’s last meeting, which included a discussion about the Safe Routes to Schools program. Right now there is a great need for crossing guards, but a major shortage in part because of harassment crossing guards endure here. Many crossing guards are also not comfortable working on Aurora because of the speed of cars there.
• November 21 is a world day of remembrance for victims of traffic violence. There was a discussion at the coalition meeting about closing lanes at 100th and putting up tables, etc. to remember victims of traffic accidents. Melanie will find out more because there are potential opportunities to volunteer/participate.
• The coalition is getting a lot of conversations going with various stakeholders in advance of SDOT’s deadline early next year to initiate a study of Aurora.

Approval of Minutes & Treasurer's Report

• Minutes from the September meeting and the Treasurer’s Report were approved. Bekah asked if the tools purchase noted on the Treasurer’s Report was due to loss because of the fire at the park restrooms but Liz was not available to answer.

By-Laws Committee Update

• There was a discussion of officer election and nomination procedures, and who should be considered a voting member at LSCC meetings. Lindsey said in order to make every attendee a voting member, the structure of how the council runs would need to change because by and large, board members are the only people consistently attending the meetings. No one had any major changes to the nomination or election process. Bekah said in most similar groups, the board elects the officers.
• Bekah emailed each officer with the current description of their position and asked them to note any changes they would like to see.

Hearing from Neighbors

• Neighborhood resident Fernando Cervantes brought up an improperly posted notice of a property change near his home having to do with removing trees. The process seemed shady as if the people in charge of the project wanted to sidestep the comment process. He had concerns with the design review process being very fast.
• Comment in chat from Robin Amadon: I would like to see a community organization unity around linking all the new units being built and bought for our homeless neighbors with the specific concentrations of outdoor neighbors. I am not seeing this connection…so that the homeless cohorts get outreach and the chance to move into the various homeless housing options that are advancing and available to occupy. For example, there is a new 65 unit project finishing at 81st and Greenwood by Inland Construction selling to Catholic Communit Services of Western Washington. As far as I have hear, there has been NO outreach by CCS TO the Greenlake/Woodland Park homeless neighbors to get permanent and affordable housing. This seems a shame—the silos need to cooperate to show an improvement. The city is just backing away because the problem has been allowed to grow so large in scale.

Minutes by Lindsey Webb, Secretary

Next meeting November 17

Licton Springs Community Council Monthly Treasurer Report

10/21/2021 through 11/17/2021

NOTES:

• Ending Balance reflects $10.00 held in PayPal Account
• We received an email from Fred Meyer on 4/28/2020 of a $0.44 donation, but this has not reached our Verity account and will not until it reaches $25.00.