Category Archives: Quality of Life

Join Us for a Webinar on Homelessness, Wednesday December 2

Time: 7:00 PM
Date: Wednesday, December 2
Location: Zoom videoconferencing

We are excited to once again host a virtual monthly meeting! This will be the first of several meetings on the topic of homelessness.

Please join Marcia Wright-Soika (Executive Director of Family Works), Jerred Clouse (Executive Director of ROOTS Shelter), and the Northlake Nicklesville Tiny House Village for a virtual town hall meeting on Wallingford and homelessness.

We will explore what specific advocacy groups are doing well to support our community experiencing homelessness, and how we can most effectively engage and support those experiencing homelessness to build relationships and cultivate community.

Submit your questions in advance via email at communications@wallingfordcc.org. The questions will be asked by our moderators. We will also be taking questions from attendees during the meeting.

Register for the December WCC Monthly Meeting

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Registration is presently limited to 100 participants. The Zoom service is available as an application for computers, as an app for iPhones or Android phones, or as a webpage in a browser. Please configure your device before the meeting to ensure your participation.

Webinar with Councilmember Alex Pedersen, Wednesday October 7

Time: 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Date: Wednesday, October 7
Location: Zoom videoconferencing

Happy fall! Join us and special guest, Councilmember Alex Pedersen (District 4), at the Wallingford Community Council (WCC) October monthly meeting. We will also devote time for chair reports, an update on Waterway 20, and new business.

Bring your questions on the community issues most important to you — homelessness, affordable housing, City budget, and more. Share in advance by email at communications@wallingfordcc.org. Questions will be asked by our moderators. We will also be taking questions from attendees during the Q & A portion of the meeting.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Registration is presently limited to 100 participants. The Zoom service is available as an application for computers, as an app for iPhones or Android phones, or via browser. Please configure your device before the meeting to ensure your participation.

We wish you and your families good health and safety.

Sincerely,
Jenny Ring-Perez
Wallingford Community Council President

Vote on subdivision with no minimum lot size, Wednesday August 12

The Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee of the Seattle City Council is considering Omnibus bill CB 119835 this Wednesday August 12 at 9:30 AM. This omnibus bill is supposed to be for minor editorial corrections, but several provisions will change all Single-Family lots into Multi-Family lots with no minimum lot size. We urge you to contact your Councilmembers and ask them to remove these provisions.

  • The Legislative Analysis of these provisions states: “However, the proposed omnibus language introduces ambiguity into the Code that could lead to unintended consequences for future development of vacant lots that are created through a unit lot subdivision process.”
  • The City Council should not be passing bills with ambiguous language.
  • Any single-family parent lot could be redeveloped with a house and an ADU and a DADU then subdivided in three unit lots that could be sold separately (as multi-family housing).
  • Unit lots have no minimum lot size requirement.
  • More trees would be cut to make way for these redevelopments.
  • The price of single-family lots would increase further reducing the affordability of housing.
  • The City Council should use a separate bill with a full public engagement to consider this major change in land use code.
Example of 4960 SF parent lot redeveloped into 2000 SF, 1150 SF, & 1800 SF multi-family unit lots.

Webinar with Seattle Public Schools, Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Time: 7:00 – 8:00 PM
Location: Zoom videoconference

We are excited to once again host a virtual monthly meeting!

Please join Sherri Kokx, Senior Advisor to the Superintendent, and Carri Campbell, Chief of Public Affairs, of Seattle Public Schools for a virtual town hall meeting on school this fall during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Get an update on what parents and caregivers can expect (from Elementary School to Middle School and High School), and how plans to open school remotely will impact families and will be equitable and inclusive.
  • Share your concerns and questions in advance by email at communications@wallingfordcc.org. Questions will be asked by our moderators. We will also be taking questions from attendees during the Q & A portion of the meeting.

To attend, you must register in advance for this webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the information necessary to join the webinar. Registration is presently limited to 100 participants. The webinar will be recorded.

The webinar will be held using the Zoom videoconferencing service. The Zoom service is available as an application for computers, as an app for iPhones or Android phones, or can be joined in many browsers. Configure your device beforehand to ensure your participation is working properly.

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.