Category Archives: Calls to Action

Wallingford Community Council "Kite Hill" logo

Please Renew or Join

Your membership and donations support activities that advance the shared interests of the Wallingford community.

  • We investigate issues of concern to the community.
  • We educate the community on a wide variety of issues and interests.
  • We facilitate community improvements by acting as a fiscal agent and by managing grants.
  • We advocate for the community with the City and State.
  • We cooperate with other organizations throughout our City on common concerns and goals.
  • We negotiate to improve projects and policies that impact our community.
  • We litigate when necessary to represent the interests of our community.
  • We prefer win-win solutions.
  • We work to protect public access to the Lake Union.
  • We are neighbors working together to build a better community.
  • More…

Membership is for the 2018 calendar year. Note: To be a member you must reside, own property, or manage a business within Wallingford.

Click here to RENEW / JOIN for 2018.
Click here to DONATE.

"Keep Seattle Livable" logo

Deadline for ADU EIS Scoping Comments, Thursday November 16

Comments must be submitted by 5:00 PM tomorrow, Thursday November 16!

The City is proposing to change the Land Use Code to remove barriers to the creation of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in single-family zones. The proposal allows for two ADUs instead of one per lot, removes existing off-street parking and owner-occupancy requirements, and changes development standards that regulate the size and location of detached units (DADUs).

We urge you to express your concerns regarding what issues the City should study in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Your comments may address these topics:

  • The objectives for this proposal are not clear. Better objectives might be more affordable housing, more family housing, preservation of tree canopy and yards, and development compatible with existing single-family housing.
  • Only one alternative is presented for this proposal. At least two alternatives to accomplish the objective are required. You may suggest alternatives to be studied.
  • The impacts of this proposal on neighborhoods, public services, and natural resources.
  • Measures to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the effects of this proposal.

Comments must be submitted by 5:00 PM on November 16 by:

Further information is available at the City’s Accessory Dwelling Units EIS website. The City will produce a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).  When the DEIS is released, you will then have a chance to comment on the specific conclusions in that document.

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"Keep Seattle Livable" logo

Wear Black to the City Open House, Thursday October 26

A.K.A. the “Funeral of the Neighborhood Voice”

Thursday October 26, 6:00 – 7:30 PM
Hales Brewery (in the Palladium)
4301 Leary Way NW

Wear black as together we mourn the loss of our Neighborhood Voice

The City wants to remove Single-Family zoning language from our Neighborhood Plan to allow for upzones and increased building heights in our neighborhood.  This Thursday, the City is having an Open House in which they want to “start a discussion” around changes to five neighborhood plans.

If you think that neighborhoods should have a voice, and believe that residents, neighborhood businesses, schools and the city should all be involved and working together to plan the future – then wear black and attend the Open House.

We can make a statement about our lack of voice.  Here’s how:

  1. Show up, dressed in black as a visual protest of the City killing our Neighborhood Plans by controlling its language and not allowing neighborhood-directed planning.
  2. The City will ask you to rewrite a section of our neighborhood plan to remove single family zoning language and will dictate what language is allowable, or ask you to choose one of their options. Instead, we recommend you tell the City that our neighborhood plans and zoning should only be changed through a formal neighborhood planning process.

Please join us for the “Funeral of the Neighborhood Voice”.
Suggestions for Signs:

  • RIP – Neighborhood Voice
  • RIP – Democracy in Seattle
  • RIP – Livability
  • RIP – Affordability
  • Death of the Neighborhood Plan
  • Silenced! Neighborhood Voices
  • Resurrect Neighborhood Plans

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"Keep Seattle Livable" logo

MHA DEIS Comments Due by Monday August 7

We need you and your friends and neighbors to comment this weekend!

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) evaluates the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program impacts on Urban Villages, and in multi-family and commercial areas throughout Seattle. Residents from many neighborhoods have reviewed and analyzed the DEIS.  The results are available in the Comments folder and the Analysis folder.

Please view the comment and analysis documents, find the issues important to you, and email your comments to the City at MHA.EIS@seattle.gov or by using the online form.  Submitting many brief comments is probably preferable to sending one long email.  The more people who submit comments, the more seriously the City has to address the comments!

If you are overwhelmed or short of time, here is a suggested comment to make:

“The DEIS is not sufficient to represent all Urban Villages and the City overall. Each Urban Village is unique, with different housing types, cultural traditions, businesses, resources, and growth needs. This DEIS fails to recognize and examine these differences.

Each Urban Village and Surrounding Area needs to be analyzed separately, thoroughly and accurately via their own individual EIS.

Additionally, the DEIS does not address how the whole City will be impacted by the changes both in this DEIS and the other SEPA analyses combined. Seattle residents live in both their own neighborhoods and in the City at large, yet this DEIS has failed to analyze the impacts to both thoroughly and accurately.”

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"Keep Seattle Livable" logo

Important Land Use Issues

1. Request an extension: MHA DEIS

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) evaluates the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program impacts in Urban Villages, and in multi-family and commercial areas throughout Seattle. It presents three alternatives.  The first alternative is to not do the MHA Upzone program.  The second appears to be an expanded variation of what was presented at the end of the HALA Focus Groups and in the Urban Village Workshops.  The third alternative presented is brand new, and is not based on discussions with the HALA Focus Groups or the Urban Village Design Workshops.

Please request to extend the MHA DEIS comment period! Released on June 8, 2017, the DEIS is 462 pages long and the appendices are 364 pages long. This is over 800 pages to review within only 32 days.

Please send your request to: MHA.EIS@seattle.gov, as well as to the City Council by phone, 206-684-8888, and/or by email: Lisa Herbold, Bruce Harrell, Kshama Sawant, Rob Johnson, Debora Juarez, Mike O’Brien, Sally Bagshaw, Tim Burgess, Lorena González.

Please submit your request to Mayor Murray:
http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/get-involved/contact-the-mayor

These documents may be viewed or downloaded from the City’s MHA Environmental Impact Statement website, or from copies in the EIS folder on the Wallingford Community Council (WCC) website. These are large documents! The main document is 50 MB, and the appendices are 95 MB.

2. Public Hearing: MHA DEIS

Attend the Public Hearing on the DEIS on Thursday June 29, 5:30 PM at Seattle City Hall. Open House at 5:30 PM; Public Hearing starts at 6:30 PM.

  • Request an extension to the MHA DEIS comment period.
  • Ask for clarifications on MHA issues.
  • Share your concerns on MHA impacts.

3. Submit comments: Design Review Process “Improvements”

Please comment on the proposed Design Review Process “Improvements” by Monday July 10, 5:00 PM.

Ask the Land Use Planner and all Council members to:

  • Leave the Design Review Process as is.
  • Direct city employees and the Design Review Boards to enforce existing design guidelines.

Growth without Oversight: Without the check and balance of inclusive design review, growth can destroy neighborhoods. With it, the character and quality of the neighborhood is strengthened when adding housing and commercial spaces.

Click here for WCC call-to-action and contact information for comments.