Category Archives: Calls to Action

Call to Action: Public to be removed from Design Review

Tomorrow Monday April 13 at 2 PM, the Seattle City Council will vote on CB119769, an emergency ordinance to expedite affordable housing during the COVID-19 crisis. The bill curtails public Design Review meetings for the next six to eight months to accelerate project approvals. Instead the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections will conduct only internal administrative reviews.

Administrative Design Review is where the developer can promote variances to set backs and allowances for roof-top structures for their projects. See the Downtown Residents Alliance post for further discussion of the bill.

Express your concerns to the City Council or your Councilmembers. We emphasize these concerns:

  • A better option is to eliminate Design Review for the crisis period. All developers would have to follow the land use code without exception.
  • Only projects with significant affordable housing units on-site should be given this exemption. Market-rate and commercial projects can wait.
  • Six to eight months is an excessive time period for a crisis that may ease in one to two months.

Financial Help in Washington State for the COVID-19 Crisis

The King County Council has published a bulletin of useful resources for families, employees, and small businesses facing financial hardship from the COVID-19 crisis, and bulletins for how to apply for Unemployment and/or Workers’ Compensation. We were made aware of this information in a newsletter from Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles sent Monday March 16. The contents of the Helpful Financial Resources section are republished below. As the bulletins note: “Due to the rapidly evolving nature of state and federal programs, this information may change unexpectedly.”

Please practice social distancing. We wish good health to everyone during these challenging times.

Best Regards,
The Wallingford Community Council

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43rd District Town Hall, Saturday February 22

1:30 – 3:00 PM

Seattle First Baptist Church
1111 Harvard Ave

Join Senator Jamie Pedersen, Representative Frank Chopp, and Representative Nicole Macri for a town hall meeting.

  • Get an update on the 2020 Legislative Session.
  • Share your comments, concerns, and questions.

More information is available from the Representative Macri.

Route 44 Planning Drop-In Sessions, Thursday, November 21

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and King County Metro have kicked-off the early planning phase of the Route 44 – Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor project. They are working to enhance safety, and to improve transit speed and reliability throughout the Route 44 corridor. SDOT and Metro anticipate implementing these upgrades to the Route 44 Transit-Plus Multimodal Corridor in 2023, prior to Metro’s future delivery of RapidRide.

Join SDOT and Metro at one of three drop-in sessions in the University District, Ballard, and Wallingford. The drop-in sessions are a good opportunity to learn more about the project, talk to the project team, and provide feedback on early concepts. Drop in any time; the information presented will be the same for each session.

University District
Tuesday November 19
2:00 – 3:30 PM
University Bookstore
4326 University Way

Ballard
Wednesday, November 20
6:00 – 7:30 PM
Leif Erikson Hall
2245 NW 57th Street

Wallingford
Thursday, November 21
6:00 – 7:30 PM
Wallingford Senior Center
4649 Sunnyside Ave N, #140

The Wallingford Community Council (WCC) is committed to working with the City on safer streets and smart designs, and has been involved with Route 44 improvements for many years. The WCC promoted the present in-lane bus stops, supported queue-jump signals and reduced bus stops for faster Route 44 bus travel through Wallingford. The WCC maintains its support for Wallingford businesses that could be impacted depending on the proposed changes to the corridor.

Please attend a session, review the project, and comment on the proposals.

City Council Poised to Gut Environmental Reviews, Monday October 7

On Monday October 7 at 2 PM, the City Council is rushing to take a final vote on CB 119600. This legislation will substantially weaken requirements for the environmental review of projects and policies under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).

In the opinion of the Seattle Times Editorial Board:

“Don’t be fooled by [the] greenwashing. It does the environment no favors to weaken the State Environmental Policy Act… This will mostly benefit real estate investors trying to further cash in on the Amazon boom.”

“Seattle’s environmental community should also urge the council to reject this faux-environmental policy. They must resist the siren song of developer-friendly think tanks, telling tales of how the earth will be saved by bulldozing houses, cutting trees and replacing them with big apartments.”

“This [legislation] is about weakening policy written to protect the environment and quality of life for everyone. It reduces costs for the few who profit off land speculation.”

We urge you to contact all City Councilmembers with your concerns about CB 119600, and ask them to delay this legislation for consideration by the newly-elected Council next year. (Contact information is below.) You can further express your concerns by testifying at the City Council meeting on Monday October 7 at 2 PM in Council Chambers at Seattle City Hall.

There is no reason for the City Council to rush. Under state law, the City has until April 2021 to consider and adopt more reasonable and more environmentally friendly provisions. When our big issues are climate change, equity, and human health, the SEPA process should be strengthened, not weakened.

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