The Public Review Draft of the Queen Anne Plan is now available for review at the Queen Anne Branch Libary. Parts 1 (Plan Summary) and 2 (Queen Anne Plan) will be held for reference at the Library. Part 3 (Appendices) will be following soon with the SEPA Checklist and technical reports. The QANPC encourages everyone to have a look at the Queen Anne Plan and give us your ideas and comments. The "Validation" process will be held in September. This will be the time to provide communitywide feedback. The essence of the Queen Anne Plan is provided in three sections:
- Goals and Policies
- Specific Plan (also known as "Key Integrated Strategies")
- Planning Recommendations (also known as "Planned Actions")
The Goals and Policies provide a broad framework for the Plan and the planning recommendations. The Specific Plans are integrated redevelopment projects which build upon one or more individual actions. For example, the "Queen Anne Bicycle Beltway" consists of many small bikeway projects which when combined provide a continuous bike beltway for commuters. The Planning Recommendations are individual actions or projects which were identified as necessary or desirable to address Queen Anne's issues. There are 154 separate recommendations, ranging from a new tunnel under Aurora Avenue for bicyclists and pedestrains to a new "neighborhood center" near Mercer Street at Queen Anne Avenue.
Lower Queen Anne becomes Uptown Queen Anne - by popular request one of the recommednations changes the official title of the Urban Center from the Seattle "Center Urban Center" to the "Uptown Queen Anne Urban Center" or "Uptown" for short. In addition, two specific plans build upon the Uptown concept - "Uptown Park Neighborhood" and "Uptown Center" to create unique urban subareas within the overall Uptown Queen Anne Urban Center.
Summaries are also availble for review. These present a quick overview of the seven specific plans.
If you have questions, call the following folks:
Technical planning questions (questions about the projects or the document): Robert Foxworthy, Planning Consultant Project Manager, 206-285-5816.
Queen Anne Plan process, Queen Anne Neighborhood Planning Committee, scheduling, validation, history of process, breaking news, etc.): Doug Lorentzen, QANPC Executive Committee, 206-283-4350 or Tracy Robinson, QANPC Executive Committee, 206-684-0769.
Previous QA Planning News Reports
Public Review Draft of Queen Anne Plan to be Completed in June
The Public Review Draft of the Queen Anne Plan will be completed in June 1998 and submitted to the City of Seattle for review. The Plan will also be available for the public to review prior to Validation which will occur in late August or early September. The QANPC will be distributing this draft to the City and review copies will be available for the Queen Anne community shortly thereafter. The drafting of the Plan was put on a fast track when the QANPC learned that a June submittal to the City would allow City Council Neighborhoods Committee review of the QA Plan in September. The QANPC and the consultant planning team are rushing to meet this deadline.
City of Seattle Comments Received on Preliminary Queen Anne Plan
Comments on the Preliminary Draft of the Queen Anne Plan were received by the QANPC starting Friday, May 22. NPO project manager David Goldberg delivered the first wave of City comments to QANPC Topical Committee chairs that afternoon. The QANPC met the following Wednesday and Thursday evening to review the comments and recommend revisions to the Plan.
Our first goal was to update and adopt the Goals and Policies for the QA Plan, which have been in development since the start of Phase II but which were not ready to be sent to the City in the Preliminary Draft in April. We negotiated among committees and adopted these and then began working through the City's comments on the Plan. Reviewing the comments on each of the Plan's proposals was a lengthy process, since there were about 170 separate proposals in the Plan. This process continued until the end of the week. For example, I spent several hours reviewing the transportation comments with John Coney, the QANPC Transportation Committee chair. We finally agreed on a revised set of proposals in response to the City's comments but which preserved the essence of what the planning committee wanted. In the end, each committee went through a similar process, and we came away with a revised set of proposals.
Robert Foxworthy, Consultant Planning Team Coordinator
The revised proposals and Goals and Policies will be included in the next draft of the plan, the Public Review Draft.
Queen Anne Planning Recommendations
and
The Preliminary Queen Anne Plan are Completed
(Robert Foxworthy, AICP)
April 28, 1998 - The QANPC received the "Preliminary" draft of the Queen Anne Plan tonight at their regularly scheduled fourth Tuesday monthly meeting. The Plan included an extensive "matrix" or table of Planning Recommendations which were identified over this last seven months by each of the QANPC Topical Committees. Approximately 150 individual recommendations or "actions" were included. The Preliminary Draft of the Queen Anne Plan is the first draft of the planning document which will eventually be adopted by the QANPC and the City of Seattle as Queen Anne's Plan. The Plan also includes a set of integrated projects or "Specific Plans" which combine the individual recommendations to create thematic plans. The QANPC will review this draft and determine in which direction they wish to continue. An important step now underway is the articulation of each Topical Committee's Planning Goals & Policies which will make explicit the criteria by which each recommendation was made. Comments are sought from all interested parties.
Recommendations were made in the areas of Community Character, Human Services/Housing, Land Use, Parks & Open Space, Transportation & Business Districts. Recommendations dealing with public safety were integrated into these topical actions.
Two Recommendations worth noting are 1) the elimination of the Urban Village designation in Upper Queen Anne; and 2) the change of name for "Lower Queen Anne" to "Uptown Queen Anne" and from "Seattle Center Urban Center" to the "Uptown Queen Anne Urban Center."
The Specific Plans include concepts for:
"Uptown Park" Neighborhood - New residential neighborhood in Uptown QA (Lower QA)
"Uptown Center" - Encouragement for the continued development of an urban center village
centered on Queen Anne Ave. at Mercer St.
Counterbalance - New circulating trolley transit system linking Upper & Uptown QA.
Queen Anne District Village - Small-scale mixed use district in Upper QA
Queen Anne Bicycle Beltway - Connections to complete the commute bicycle system
Allot Bay Access - Links from QA to Elliott Bay
Historic Queen Anne - Actions to retain the historic character of QA
Mobile Queen Anne - Actions to make Queen Anners more mobile
Good Neighbor Seattle Center - Actions that will make Seattle Center a better part of QA
This the first draft of the Queen Anne Plan. These ideas are now being reviewed by the Neighborhood Planning Office and the City's Review & Response Team.
For more information, contact Doug Lorentzen, QANPC Public Information Officer at 206-283-4350.
Draft Planning Recommendations Presented!
The Queen Anne Neighborhood Planning Committee (QANPC) reviewed its first completed listing of Queen Anne Plan recommendations on Tuesday evening,
March 24, 1998. Robert Foxworthy, AICP, Planning Team Project Manager, presented the recommendations in a matrix form to the full committee at
their second monthly meeting. Pat Kaufman, Chair of the QANPC, accepted
the assembled recommendations and the full committee review began.
Approximately 140 separate recommendations were identified from each of the QANPC Topical Committees which will form the foundation of the
Queen Anne Plan. Several well-attended public meetings were held in March during which committees presented their list of proposed projects. The evening of the 24th was the first time, however, that all of the proposals were assembled in one document for review. Recommendations ranged from the striping of bike lanes on local roads to the development of a new community center in Lower Queen Anne. Revisions are still occurring, but the essence of the topical planning process is now complete. The QANPC will be taking these proposals and integrating them into larger projects which will be the focus of the Queen Anne Plan.
The QANPC will be presenting these recommendations to the Geographical Committees on Monday evening, March 30 at 7:00 p.m. Like all QANPC meetings, the public is encouraged to attend. Topical Committee chairs will be describing each recommendation so that everyone understands what each will entail. The Geographic Committees will then caucus to review these proposals and provided comment on April 13 at the QANPC’s first monthly meeting in April. The QANPC intends to begin the process of adopting recommendations at that meeting.
February-March News
QANPC is moving forward with their planning recommendations. After
months of analysis and discussion topical committees are meeting nonstop
to formulate their preliminary "preferred planning recommendations"
which will eventually be forwarded to the City of Seattle for comment.
This is an exciting, if not exhausting, time for everyone. While the
last few weeks have seen meetings every day of the week, frustration
over scheduling, and concern over the City's potential response to the
plans, the process continues to engage participants, and the plans are
beginning to gel.
The QANPC has two extended meetings scheduled - Saturday, March 7 "retreat" for Land Use, Character, Parks, and Human Services/Housing - get together and sort out committee recommendations; and Saturday, March 14 - Transportation "retreat" for that committee to sort out and prioritize its recommendations. The prioritized recommendations that come out of these meetings will be presented to the full QANPC for their review and decision-making in April. The complete set of recommendations will then be "pitched" or presented to the geographic committees later in April.
The consultant planning team is working closely with each committee to
provide information and clarify planning recommendations. Susan Black
is working with Karen Gielen and the Parks Committee, and they recently
walked the entire length of the Historic Boulevard (3.5 miles?) to
review and discuss issues and ideas. Mimi Sheridan and Robert Shinbo
have been working with Steve Paoli and the Character Committee to
develop appropriate design guidelines for special areas they have
identified. Mimi and I have been working with the Human
Services/Housing Committee to address a wide range of community issues
from housing afford ability to the establishment of a new community
center in Lower Queen Anne ("Queen Anne's Uptown Neighborhood").
Cynthia Baker is completing the Business Committee tasks and meeting
with the Chamber of Commerce. David Zielinski has been working with
John Coney and the Traffic & Transportation Committee to address a broad
set of mobility issues. Finally, I have been providing info to the Land
Use Committee which is now making important land use recommendations.
All of these issue-oriented groups have made substantial progress and
will be completing their work soon.
It isn't too late to get involved! See the meeting schedule at this
site for upcoming discussions.
Robert Foxworthy, Consultant Planning Team Coordinator
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