At last month’s community council meeting we met with the powers that be on local projects. Here’s what happened and their follow up comments…
Gas Works park sediment clean up with Judith Noble of Seattle Public Utilities
The goal is to decontaminate the sediment in Lake Union off of Gas Works Park. Contamination is from the manufactured gas plant that operated from 1900-1950.
To determine groundwater flow the city has drilled 6 monitoring wells in Gas Works Park ranging from 15’ – 90’ deep to figure out how groundwater is moving through the site and how upland contamination is flowing into Lake Union sediment (these wells appear as little metal caps in the park, with only 1 being actively used at a time). The City plans to place a sand cap on the sediments to contain and cleanse the groundwater coming up through the dirty sediments; the cap may have amendments (such as compost) in them to help strip out contaminants.
Blah blah carcinogens blah blah- What about the cool playground promised in the Pro Parks Levy?
The contamination is still there under the sand and it will likely take another 4 or 5 years before Ecology can ok construction of a play structure. David Graves at Parks has been contacted to discuss Pro Parks levy plans for park development (I will post in comments when I hear back from him).
Farmers’ market site selection progress from Judy Kirkoff with the farmers’ market
The Office of Economic Development is setting up a stakeholder process that includes the Dept of Neighborhoods, a representative from Lorig Management, Kara Ceriello from the Chamber, and Erika from the WCC. The ideal site allows for a minimum of 40 vendors, is centrally located in Wallingford, and has community support. Judy is committed to moving the process forward this fall and winter and is currently most optimistic about the Good Shepherd Center field or the Lincoln High School parking lot (behind the library). Discussions will be ongoing to include all impacted parties, and we all hope a mutually agreeable site can be found.
Transfer Station Update with Erin Tann & Dan Costello of HDR, Bill Benzer and Nancy Ahern of SPU
The dump rebuild has been much discussed on this blog already. We had Q&A with the powers that be on a few issues, and below are the results…
Why did SPU keep the transfer station in Wallingford instead of moving it to a more appropriate site like Interbay?
The Solid Waste Management Plan adopted by the City Council in 1998 states that the NRDS would be upgraded at its existing location. SPU evaluated other sites in the north end in 2003 but determined that other sites were no better than the current site (documentation here). Editorial overlay: It’s too hard politically to relocate a dump, although it’s about time Laurelhurst sucked it up and provided some sort of public service.
Why did SPU condemn and purchase the 1550 (Orowheat) property adjacent to residential over the more appropriate property located to the West?
Goals for transfer station layout included improving accessibility of reuse and recycling drop-off area for customers, space for offices and employee facilities. These goals led to a preference for the property to the West. Editorial overlay: Neighborhood impact was apparently not considered, so we will strongly oppose rezone if offsetting benefits don’t outweigh the impact. Speaking of which…
Is SPU considering an overall landscaping plan along the perimeter of the site?
The landscaping ordinance for transfer stations will require a high level of landscaping and screening around the new station. We have heard from our Stake Holder Group the idea of making N 34th Street more walkable. We think this is feasible without moving the transfer station building further north.
Cool! A viewing gallery! A park! What else?
Public amenities are required as part of the Carr Pl N street vacation process; SPU is investigating public amenities such as a viewing gallery and park at the corner of 35th and Woodlawn. The park would be developed as part of the transfer station rebuild. Amenity preferences will be discussed at a future community council meeting. Editorial overlay: Amenities need to more than offset the impact of an expanded dump.
The Good Shepherd Center is not a viable option, There is an elementary school that makes very heavy use of the parking lot area, driveway, and Sunnyside street parking every school day from 3-3:40pm. I do not see how a weekday Farmer’s Market could work in that space.
The market would be set up in the field, not the parking lot. The occupants of the building (including the school) have been supportive so far, but there’s still a lot of people to be surveyed before the bar for community buy in is cleared.
Unless access, including load in and load out, is strictly on the Meridian street side, you may run into problems with a weekday market there. Customer parking in the GSC parking lot will definitely be difficult, as the lot tends to be fill up at various times throughout the day due to all the tenants in the building. The school is the largest tenant, but there are dozens of others who need access to the parking lot during the day, from the various third floor therapists offices, the non profits, and the Senior Center, which needs clear access for the Metro Access vans, which pick up and drop off disabled clients throughout the day.
If you have not yet done so, Eric, you should stop by the Sunnyside side of the premises in the afternoon, especially from 3 to 4pm. I am in the parking lot there every weekday, so I am pretty familiar with the daily ebb and flow of cars in that area (my kids go to the school.) A second important issue is to make sure that the neighbors on the Sunnyside area are not inconvenienced any more than they already are with the twice daily mini traffic jam, and the fluctuating street parking overflow throughout the afternoon.
I would love to see a farmer’s market in the area, as I used to stop by after picking up my kids when it was at Wallingford Center (at least, when we could either walk on a nice day, or find parking.) I don’t have a very good idea as to how the market would manage the load in/out and customer parking issues, and whether the grassy area would hold up to a weekly use (not an issue when the market is on pavement.) The field area behind the center is also not very visible from the street, due to a stone wall and lot of shrubbery and trees. I do not have a clear idea as to how people would be directed to get to the market in the field, or how easy it would be to see from Meridian Ave.
I know this may sound non-supportive of the market, but really, I want to see a good home for the market, and I very much support the efforts to find a permanent location. Maybe some of the issues have been worked out with the Good Shepherd Center site. But right now, I am having a hard time seeing how this is going to work without negatively impacting the already tight Sunnyside parking lot, and access to the Center, or how the fields will stand up to the weekly market use.
Great feedback, very constructive- thanks #93! I am guessing load in / out would be by way of the access road on Bagley, but that is a guess and I’m going to get quickly out of my depth here. I’ll contact Judy Kirkhuff with the farmer’s market and ask her to chime in on this thread.
i have also said all along that i don’t see the Farmers Market working at Good Shepherd Center, because of the issues raised above. think of any FM in seattle – they’re always in parking lots, because no one wants to deal with things like mud, and don’t want to destroy grass and play areas.
many of us wish we could get back to a discussion about holding the FM in the business district, like at the now-unoccupied PayDay Loans lot. many residents, and some businesses, have commented they’d like the FM to stay centrally-located. i still do not know why a few businesses, who got and then spread incorrect and panicky information, have affected this situation so much.
on Nov. 2 there is a small meeting (just several community leaders), in advance of another Community Meeting (as promised to the community!), to see where we are with this. it is NOT a given that we get to keep a FM, though we all hope so…
The November 2nd meeting was held and everyone in attendance supported the continuance of the Farmer’s Market in Wallingford. There are many locations on the table with pluses and minuses to all of them, but preferences are for a location near local businesses, accessibility to bus stops and a paved surface. In addition, it’s important that the site be available to the market every year so that we don’t have to go through this process annually. That alone would likely rule out the PayDay lot since it is for rent and a prospective tenant might not want their parking lot taken over by the market, but all avenues will be explored. The next meeting is on Jan 19th at 7 p.m. in the conference room at 1501 N 45th. Feasible sites will be identified and everyone will be able to ask questions and comment on the selection process. Hope this answers a few questions that are lingering out there.