ZONING CHANGES: With big public hearing next week, last-minute Alki ‘Neighborhood Center’ proposal gets scrutinized

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

In a week and a half, the City Council will listen to what might be hundreds of speakers at the last major public hearing on the first phase of the Comprehensive Plan – aka One Seattle Plan – which is meant to guide the city’s growth for the next 20 years.

Upzoning has been the focus of what’s working its way through the system, dating back to the unveiling of proposed maps last October. The plan details included new terminology for new types of zones, including Neighborhood Centers envisioned as hubs of businesses and denser housing. We first reported, after that unveiling, on seven West Seattle areas proposed for the Neighborhood Center designation – north to south:

*Delridge (centered on Delridge/Dakota)
*Brandon Junction (centered on Delridge/Brandon)
*Fairmount (centered on California/Findlay)
*High Point (centered on 35th/Morgan)
*Holden (centered on 35th/Holden)
*Upper Fauntleroy (centered on 35th/Barton)
*Endolyne (centered on 45th/Wildwood)

We also noted in our initial report that the city had considered three other West Seattle areas as potential Neighborhood Centers but decided against the designation:

*Alki (would have been centered on 61st/Stevens)
*Sylvan Junction (would have been centered on Delridge/Orchard)
*Highland Park (would have been centered on 9th/Trenton)

Now, one of the 106 amendments that councilmembers have proposed for the Comp Plan/rezoning would resuscitate the idea of an Alki neighborhood center. And Alki neighborhood advocates say that shouldn’t happen without a chance for them to be part of the process – more than just having their say at the upcoming eleventh-hour public hearing.

The Alki NC proposal is in the 34th amendment in this package of amendments, one of eight neighborhood centers that citywide Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck wants to add to the plan (none of the other seven are in West Seattle) with support of a housing-advocacy organization. This amendment starts on page 56 of the 424-page document with all councilmembers’ proposals. Her amendment describes the proposed Alki neighborhood center as follows:

1. Alki (District 1)

This amendment would create a new Alki Neighborhood Center generally located west of 59th Avenue (SW), north of SW Hinds Street and south and east of Alki Avenue SW (Council District 1). It would encompass approximately 95 acres.

The area to be included in the Neighborhood Center includes a mixture of Neighborhood residential zoning, generally to the south, Lowrise 1, 2, and 3 zoning in the middle and west of the proposed center, and Neighborhood Commercial 1-40 zoning along Alki Avenue SW in the northeast corner of the proposed district. The area contains mostly single-family homes in the Neighborhood Residential zone, multifamily buildings in the lowrise zones, and a mix of commercial, mixed-use and multifamily structures in the Neighborhood Commercial zoned area. In addition to the section of commercial zoning proposed to be included in the neighborhood center, the commercial district extends three blocks east along Alki Avenue SW outside of the proposed boundaries. In addition, there are a number of parks in the area, including Alki Beach, Bar-S Playground and Alki Playground.

Bus stops for the 50 and 56 bus routes are located along SW Admiral Way, 63rd Avenue SW, 61st Avenue SW and Alki Avenue SW. The 775 bus route runs westbound along SW Admiral Way, north of 63rd Avenue SW, and eastbound along Alki Avenue SW. None of these routes individually meets the definition of providing frequent transit service. The areas farthest from the transit stops are approximately one half mile (2,640 feet) from the center of the proposed neighborhood center.

“Neighborhood center” was originally defined by the city as:

… places with a variety of housing options centered around a local commercial district and/or major transit stop (such as RapidRide). They typically serve as focal points within neighborhoods, offering shops, services, grocery stores, restaurants, and more. These places are suitable for residential and mixed-use buildings up to six stories in the core and smaller apartment buildings on the periphery. Neighborhood centers should generally encompass areas within 800 feet, or one to three blocks, of the central intersection or transit stop.

Councilmember Rinck’s amendment notes that some of her proposed additions (obviously including Alki) don’t fit the definition;

Many of the proposed boundaries of these Neighborhood Centers include areas that are significantly more than 800 feet from the central intersection of the center or a bus rapid stop. Consequently, the boundaries that would be adopted through this amendment are generally not consistent with Comprehensive Plan policy GS 5.4 which states: “GS 5.4 Determine the boundaries of Neighborhood Centers based on local conditions, but generally include areas within a 3-minute walk (800 feet) of the central intersection or bus rapid transit stop. ”

If the Council wants to adopt the boundaries for the new centers as proposed under this amendment, it should also amend this policy to allow greater flexibility in the configuration of neighborhood center boundaries.

While the originally proposed Neighborhood Centers around the city have been up for scrutiny and feedback dating to last October, the ones Councilmember Rinck seeks to add, including Alki, have not, and the Alki Community Council is voicing concern about that, sending the ACC mailing list an alert today, saying in part:

your voice will not be heard unless you message City Council that Alki deserves the same education, workshops, and outreach that the 30 other designated Neighborhood Centers received before zoning is approved. To compare public information in the 30 other Neighborhood Centers, here is a synopsis below from the city webpage. Alki deserves to be treated equally and fairly.

Outreach & Timeline in 30 Neighborhood Centers
Oct 16, 2024 – Dec. City launches One Seattle Plan zoning update website; 60-day public comment period opens.
Dec 20, 2024 – Public comment period closes.
May 2025 – Mayor introduces plan to City Council with 30 Neighborhood Centers (Alki still excluded after feasibility analysis).
July 31, 2025 – CM Rinck [proposes amending] plan to add back Alki and the other excluded neighborhoods, just weeks before the Sept. 19 vote — leaving no time for public education or feedback in Alki.
Aug 9, 2025 – CM Rinck’s staff holds a small unadvertised meeting in Alki to discuss rezoning.

If you aren’t on the ACC list and therefore haven’t seen it, you can read the full email, including information on how to comment, by going here.

(Regarding the “small unadvertised meeting” last month, we can confirm there was no media notification. One attendee, community advocate Steve Pumphrey, described it to neighbors in a message about the proposed rezoning, saying that he “attended a less than well-publicized (there were just four legitimate Alki residents that I could see) community meeting that was supposed to be for fact finding and community feedback. It was nothing more than a sales pitch.”

Councilmembers are scheduled to vote on the 100+ amendments, and the rest of the Comprehensive Plan’s Phase 1, the week after the September 12 public hearing, so that they can finalize it before spending more than two months focused on the budget, as happens every fall. In urging people to offer feedback, pro, con, or otherwise, ACC president Charlotte Starck says, “Your voice matters — no matter your opinion on how Alki growth evolves. What’s unacceptable is eliminating Alki’s voice altogether.” Testimony will be accepted in person and online during the two-session hearing on Friday, September 12 – 9:30 am and 3 pm; the agenda explains how to participate, as does the ACC email linked above. (Also on the agenda, links to everything that’s currently up for consideration.)

Share This

from West Seattle Blog… https://ift.tt/aIC7pUq
via IFTTT