The Ravenna-Bryant Community Association will hold its spring general meeting on Tuesday, June 9, l998 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Ravenna Eckstein Community Center, 6535 Ravenna Avenue N.E. Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata, will be our guest. He is scheduled on the agenda from approximately 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. Come and meet one of our new City Councilmembers and let him know what's on your mind.
Also on the agenda is the election of officers to the board for the 1998-1999 term. As of the newsletter printing, the following are standing for election:
President: Eileen FarleyVice-president: Jorgen Bader
Treasurer: Al Rasmussen
Board/Neighborhood Planning and Ravenna Creek: Kit O'Neill
Board/Web Page and Email list: Pete Fiddler
Board/Newsletter Distribution: Barb Holya
Board/Newsletter: Past president Brian Peyton
If you would like to seek election to the board, please send your name and address to the community association at the address above and we will include you among the list of candidates announced at the meeting. Nominations from the floor are also permitted.
The board would like to find people in the neighborhood who are interested in working with groups attempting to get traffic circles; willing to be a liaison with the schools in the neighborhood or who would like to follow the neighborhood development and planning in the Roosevelt neighborhood. If you are interested please come to the meeting, drop a note by the community center, or call Eileen Farley at 526-1453.
The Arboretum Foundation presented its proposed master plan for the future of the arboretum to the Montlake Community Club (MCC) at the Club's April meeting. Several elements of the plan, particularly proposed fencing and admission fees, drew strong opposition from the MCC. The plan outlines a budget of 46 million dollars for the improvements. Part of that includes the cost of removing all southbound exits from SR 520, requiring everyone leaving the floating bridge to go north for some distance.
The plan is available at the Montlake Library and the Center for Urban Horticulture on Mary Gates Drive. A representative from Montlake asked our association to include the reasons for the MCC's objections in our newsletter and to allow time on the agenda of our June meeting for discussion of the plan. The following paragraphs were provided by the MCC. The Ravenna-Bryant board will contact the Arboretum Foundation and offer time at the June meeting to present its plan, if it wishes to do so.
Over the past few years a new master plan for the Arboretum in Washington Park has been developed. It is now beginning its way through the approval process. The plan is 148 pages long, cost $400,000 to produce and is offered as a guide for the Arboretum development for the next 60 years. The cost of implementation is some $45,000,000. It proposes very significant alterations in the park. In general the master plan is an effort to redefine the use of Washington Park from the mixed arboretum / park that we know, to a much more narrowly focused arboretum and to pay for the attendant operating costs with the creation of profit centers within the park and out of the park itself. The Montlake Community Club recently passed a 10 point resolution addressing the plan. The following are some of the objectionable elements in the plan:Next is the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement. In May, there will be a hearing to determine what issues should be addressed in the EIS. And, then there will be two subsequent hearings.At least four new buildings, one apparently on or adjacent to Azalea Way, plus a 6,000 square foot expansion of the Graham Visitor's Center
Greatly expanded parking lots, including one at Reclamation Point on land now designated as "Conservancy Preservation Environment"
An overnight camp on Foster Island
Commercial food services ( one called a restaurant on p 88)
Fencing, admission fees and parking fees
Rerouting of the north end of Lake Washington Boulevard through current green space
Closure of the SR 520 on and off ramps at the north end of the Arboretum will only allow for northbound traffic when exiting at Montlake Boulevard.
Ravenna-Bryant Community Association member Nick Rossouw has been appointed by the City as an alternate to the Translake Washington Study Group. Laurelhurst resident Jean Amick is the regular representative from the Northeast District Council. Tom Heller of Lake City has been appointed to represent the North District Council. (46th District Sen. Ken Jacobsen will serve as an alternate, as well.)
The legislature has directed to Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to study ways of improving the traffic congestion across and around Lake Washington. (Our neighborhood would feel the effects of any expansion of either SR 520 (the floating bridge) or SR 522 (Lake City Way).) Representatives from Ravenna-Bryant, along with other neighborhood reps, met with the City for almost a year to negotiate the make-up of the Study Group. As originally proposed by WSDOT the group had three neighborhood representatives - one for the east side of the lake, one for the west side of the lake and one for the north side. This has now been expanded to give Seattle neighborhoods four seats on the Study Group. Other study group members include the Highway Users Federation and the Washington Trucking Association. It promises to be an interesting process!
Representatives of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association and other community organizations are preparing to meet with the Seahawks about their proposal to use of Husky Stadium while the Kingdome is being torn down and a new stadium is being built.
The Seahawks will be asking the City and University of Washington for permission to use Husky Stadium for the two years, beginning in 2000. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) from the Public Stadium Authority predicts an average attendance of 72,000 at 10-12 games per year. This is about 15,000 people more than attended the five games played at Husky Stadium in 1994 when the Kingdome was being repaired. The FEIS suggests development of Residential Parking Zones (RPZs) as possible mitigation of the parking and traffic impact.
If an RPZ is created, restricted parking signs are posted in the neighborhood. Neighbors who show proof of residency and proof of registration in Washington State and a current license for an automobile are qualified to receive a decal permitting them to park on the street during restricted periods. The decal is usually affixed to the car and one is required for each vehicle, if the household has more than one car. One guest pass per household is allowed.
If the community association includes an RPZ as possible mitigation it would insist that the Seahawks pay for it. Before getting that far, however, the association would like to hear from residents. Because the program can be restrictive and limit guest cars there are complaints about it. Others feel that the volume of Seahawks traffic will overwhelm neighborhood streets, making it impossible to park there without some restrictions.
Would you support an RPZ in your neighborhood? Please let us know. Responses can be sent to Ravenna-Bryant Community Association c/o 6535 Ravenna Avenue N.E. Seattle, WA. 98115. Ravenna-Bryant neighbor Margaret Ferenson has been asked by the Board to meet with the Seahawks. All comments on mitigation and the RPZ will be forwarded to her, as well as reviewed by board members.
The board of the Ravenna-Bryant Community Association voted a big thank your to King County Councilmember Cynthia Sullivan for her efforts to restore the downtown runs of Routes 71 and 72. Metro had proposed that the routes terminate in the University District, requiring those traveling downtown to transfer to another bus to continue their journey. Board members rode some of the routes proposed for change, distributing surveys to riders. Councilmember Sullivan's office received almost 2200 comments about the changes. The association can't take credit for all the responses (although we'd like to try) but the number is consistent with the strong support for mass transit consistently voiced by north end communities. Councilmember Sullivan strongly supported the community's request that the routes not be terminated and Metro restored the full-length runs. We appreciate her efforts. J J J
JOIN THE RAVENNA-BRYANT COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION!RBCA and its members work hard on issues important to you. We want new contributing members, and need volunteers to distribute the newsletter and work on projects. Annual dues are only $10.00. Your dues allow us to continue distributing this newsletter and keep you informed. Return this form with your dues to: Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Ravenna Eckstein Community Center, 6535 Ravenna Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98115. You will receive the newsletter and other special mailings, and know that you’ve made a contribution to help your community.
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Ravenna-Bryant has a home on the web, at http://www.scn.org/neighbors/rbca (using space provided by the Seattle Community Network). The home page includes an event calendar, copies of recent newsletters, and links to other interesting sites (your editor particularly likes the Ravenna, Italy site). If you know of any relevant or interesting web pages we should link to (maybe your own?) please call Pete Fiddler, at 525-2012, or send e-mail to rbca@scn.org.
And, to subscribe to an e-mail distribution list for Ravenna-Bryant community members, through which we will broadcast time-critical community news. If you would like your e-mail address added to the list, please send your e-mail address to us at rbca@scn.org. This information will not be shared with any other organization..
Tomorrow's Roosevelt neighborhood planning open house and workshop. Wednesday, May 20 -- open house: 4:00 pm; workshop: 7:00 pm. Roosevelt Square, 65th and Roosevelt. Contact Carla Main, 684-8501
Seattle Community Public Health and Safety Network YouthCare tour. 2500 NE 54th St. Thursday, May 21 – Tour: 6-6:30 pm; Meeting: 6:30-8:30pm. Call 282-1288
Ravenna-Bryant Community Association general meeting. Tuesday, June 9, 7:30 pm. Ravenna Eckstein Community Center, 6535 Ravenna Avenue NE.
Ravenna Park pedestrian trestle replacement project. April-October 1998. For more information about the project, contact Colleen Browne, Project Manager, Seattle Public Utilities, 684-5851
RAVENNA-BRYANT COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Ravenna Eckstein Community Center 6535 Ravenna Avenue NE Seattle, WA 98115
SPRING MEETING – SPECIAL GUEST NICK LICATA – TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 7:30 p.m.