Maybe it's the weather, but new development projects seem to be popping up just about everywhere. Turn a corner and you might see a white city permit application sign sprouting like dandelions.
For better or worse, such projects by their nature portend change for the neighborhood. One such project planned for 15th Avenue East fits this bill. A four-story, mixed-use building with underground parking is slated to be built on the corner of East John Court and 15th Avenue East. This places it one block south of the Safeway and across the street from Group Health.
The project is still in its very early stages - an early design guidance meeting was held in mid-February, meaning permits are far from being granted and construction equipment won't be on the scene for quite awhile. But as proposed, there will be street level retail on the ground floor and three floors of apartments above.
Buildings on two parcels will be removed. Along East John Court, across from the Williams Place park, a seven-unit apartment building will be torn down. Along 15th Avenue East, the building that houses Kidd Valley, the Christian Science reading room, a teriyaki restaurant and the Teapot vegetarian restaurant, would be torn down. (The neon teapot inside the latter restaurant goes back to the days when the space was an authentic tea room.) The apartment building was built in 1902. The commercial building was constructed in 1952 by the same family that owns it now.
Dotty DeCoster, whose apartment building is on East John Street attended the early design guideline meeting. A resident of the neighborhood for most of the past 40 years and a former City of Seattle employee, she said she's not opposed to development on the property. But she hopes the development can be done right, meaning with sensitivity to the neighborhood.
Three potential early designs were presented at the February meeting. But the final design - how the project actually will look - is a long way from completion.
"I think this is potentially a very good project. I'm enthusiastic about adding more rental housing. The developers were trying for a look reminiscent of the Pike-Pine corridor, a loft look with big windows, with roofs reminiscent of taller, slopped Anholt roofs," she said.
DeCoster is especially concerned with transportation and pedestrian issues. She said she's seen two motorcycle accidents along East John Street in the last six months, and pointed out the awkward turn onto 15th Avenue East from East John Street due to the close proximity of the Safeway.
"This intersection [John and 15th] is anything goes," she said. "It's a multi-model mix of cars, skateboards, people, bikes and buses."
Such concern prompted her to write a letter to Grace Crunican, the director of the Seattle Department of Transportation. She proposed a study be done to analyze transportation conflicts, one that includes the participation of Group Health, Safeway as well as the developers and other community stake holders. She hopes such a study would include an evaluation of pedestrian access, sidewalk repair and parking patterns, among others.
DeCoster sent a copy of that letter to Diane Sugimura, who heads the city's Department of Planning and Development, and to City Councilmember Richard Conlin. Conlin sent a reply fairly quickly thanking her for her thoughtful review, adding that he supported the idea of looking into the issues she raised about the project.
Other concerns have to do with the width of the sidewalks, currently too narrow in the eyes of many, and the possibility of a blank façade along East John Court.
DeCoster hopes the developers will take neighborhood issues into account. Many people are still unhappy with the Safeway on the other side of the street, especially the large, blank wall along 15th Avenue East and the location of the main entrance, as well as the Walgreens store that opened two years ago a few blocks farther north.
Such unhappiness, DeCoster feels, can lead to a sense of futility and hopelessness on the part of residents. A sense of inevitability that a given project will turn out badly helps create apathy among potential activists. It's a notion DeCoster hopes to dispel:
"Many people are still discouraged about those two projects. They don't go to design meetings. But these meetings are our chances to see if there's something positive we can do."
She has received several positive comments and words of encouragement as a result of her efforts. She's hoping more neighbors will become involved.
"This intersection is one of the more interesting parts of Capitol Hill and this project is the last of the large projects possible on this intersection," she said. "Group Health and Safeway have already done their thing. The goal is to make this the best project for this corner. The question is how can those of us who care about this mini-neighborhood make it work better."
Doug Schwartz is the editor of the Capitol Hill Times. He can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.[[In-content Ad]]
