Category Archives: Uncategorized

August 22, 2019

Mayor Jenny Durkan

Mayor’s Office

600 4th Avenue

7th Floor

Seattle, WA 98104

(Sent via Email: jenny.durkan@seattle.gov)

SUBJECT: Aurora Licton Urban Village – Fatal Shootings

Dear Mayor Durkan,

Since the start of 2019, the Aurora Licton Urban Village (ALUV) has experienced five homicides in a range of twenty blocks.  The fourth of these shootings happened on July 9th, in broad daylight.  All of these occurred on or within a block of Aurora Avenue North, a stretch well known by Seattle Police for drugs and prostitution.

• December 31st, 2018:  SPD fatal shooting on North 96th Street west of Aurora Avenue North
• May 29th, 2019: Man shot dead on North 96th Street and Midvale
• June 18th, 2019:  Man shot dead on Aurora Avenue North and North 84th Street
• July 9th, 2019:  Man shot dead on North 96th Street and Midvale
• August 21, 2019: Man shot dead on Aurora Avenue North and North 102nd Street

Seattle deployed an increase in police presence for neighborhoods of Ballard, Fremont, Pioneer Square, Georgetown, South Park, SoDo and downtown, but we are certain these areas have not had five fatal shootings in the last eight months.

Our urban villages deserve city investment. ALUV lacks investments.  While other neighborhoods (some of which are receiving increased patrols) have community centers, thriving commercial streets, and pedestrian encouraged activity, ALUV has the problems of Aurora.  The Mandatory Housing and Affordability plan has paved the way for this stretch to feature thousands of new housing units with thriving business storefronts at their base.  For this vision to be achieved, the corridor must be safe.

Sincerely,

Ryan DiRaimo

Aurora Licton Urban Village (ALUV)

www.AuroraLictonUV.org

Thank you for continued interest in bringing positive change to the Aurora Ave Corridor, specifically from N. 84th to N. 110th. As we continue our efforts to increase public safety via “eyes on the street” our biggest obstacle is the commercial zoning designation. This zoning has recently allowed for two public storage facilities to be built that provide no housing or walkable amenities to our Residential Urban Village as designated by the city in 1999.

Please email your support for the proposed zoning changes from Commercial (C) to Neighborhood Commercial (NC) to the Seattle City Council council@seattle.gov prior to FEBRUARY 20th.  Below is a sample email template for your use.  Please blind-copy auroralictonuv@gmail.com so we can track our advocacy efforts.

We are also pleased to announce three Neighborhood Street Fund projects that help improve our community.  Please take the time to score all projects as “High Priority”. The highest-scored projects will proceed to the voting phase in Spring with only 5-10 projects funded per district. You can score all projects until February 22nd.

• ALUV Community Enhancement
• Illuminate Aurora
• 90th and Aurora Crosswalk Safety Improvements

Email Template:

SUBJECT:  Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) – Aurora Avenue Rezoning for Residential Mixed-Use Development

Councilmembers,

My name is [INSERT NAME] and live [in] OR [near] the Aurora Licton Springs Urban Village.

Please support the proposed  Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA)  rezones of all Commercial 1 (C1) and Commercial 2 (C2) zoned property in the Aurora Licton Urban Village to Neighborhood Commercial (NC).

My reasons for support these rezones include, but are not limited to:

• NC zoning directly supports the Residential Urban Village concept.  NC zoning promotes mixed use development with residential uses above much needed day to day neighborhood serving businesses.
• Housing for people, not stuff.   Recent permitted development  allowed by the current C1 and C2 zoning include two (2) multi-level storage facilities and an equipment rental/truck rental/concrete business with outdoor storage.   These and other auto-oriented uses permitted by the C1 and C2 zones are inconsistent with the intent of a pedestrianized Residential Urban Village.
• Frequent Transit .  Aurora Avenue is served by the Rapid Ride E line.   This popular route has the highest ridership level of any route in the Metro system.   Housing along transit corridors will discourage automobile use.
• Rezoning of Aurora Avenue to NC brings with it capacity for thousands of new residential units, businesses, and retail to the 53-acre, 1.25 mile stretch.
• Public Safety. The pedestrian oriented design, character and scale of NC zoned buildings and sites will offer more “eyes on the street” to deter crime and promote public safety.

Please approve the proposed NC zoning along the entire Aurora Avenue corridor within the Aurora Licton Urban Village.  No exceptions should be allowed. Residents of this urban village have absorbed upzones in the past and will absorb more upzones in the latest proposal.  We are committed to the city’s plan to build more housing within our neighborhood and request that the neighborhood’s merchants accept this urban village model along our commercial corridor.  The urban village cannot adequately function without a unilateral commitment to the strategy Seattle began twenty years ago.

Commit to Aurora Avenue Revitalization

While not principally part of the MHA program, the City should focus on opportunities to create an Aurora Avenue  Residential Urban Village of the future rather than remain ingrained in an Aurora Avenue of the past.  Recently, Aurora Avenue revitalization has been  discussed by National Public Radio (NPR) station KUOW.  The Daily Journal of Commerce also wrote an article on the opportunity that exists along Aurora Avenue.

The City needs to initiate a public planning process to enhance Aurora Avenue for the pedestrians, current and future residents and businesses that the MHA rezoning will support.

Thank you,

_____________ (name)

• Saturday, November 17, 2018: 10:00am-4:00pm: Ground Preparation
• Sunday, November 18, 2018: 10:00am-4:00pm: Plant 3700 Daffodil bulbs

Neighbors and friends we need your continued support!

On Wednesday, Sept. 5th at 9:30AM the Seattle City Council Planning, Land Use and Zoning (PLUZ) Committee will hold a public hearing on the renewal of the Interim Zoning Controls for the Aurora Licton Residential Urban Village.  The interim controls were originally passed October 2017.

If extended, the Interim Zoning Controls will continue to limit the development of certain heavy commercial auto oriented land uses such as public storage facilities and unsightly outdoor storage yards. These type of uses are incompatible with the City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan and Aurora Licton Springs Neighborhood Plan goals and policies for a residential urban village.

This limitation would be in effect until the City adopts permanent zoning regulations for the residential urban village, likely in early 2019.  The permanent regulation is expected to limit these incompatible land uses as well.

A public hearing is required to extend the interim controls for an additional six months until the permanent zoning changes are enacted.    After its September 5, 2018 public hearing, the process currently is to for PLUZ Committee to the vote the legislation out of committee, sending it to full City Council for a vote on September 10^th.

We expect opposition to the interim controls extension.  Your comments, as well as others, in support of the extension are vitally important! Please share with your neighbors!

Meeting details and background for the legislation can be found here http://www.seattle.gov/council/committees/planning

If you are unable to attend the public hearing, please email your support for the extension of the Interim Controls to Seattle City Council council@seattle.gov and noah.an@seattle.gov prior to SEPTEMBER 5th.  Below is a sample email template for your use.   Please blind-copy auroralictonuv@gmail.com so we can track our advocacy efforts.

Email Template:

SUBJECT:  September 5, 2018 Public Hearing – Interim Controls Extension (Ordinance #125425)

Councilmembers,

My name is [INSERT NAME] and [live] or [run a business] [in] OR [near] the Aurora Licton Springs Urban Village.

I am writing to express my unconditional support for the extension of the Interim Controls passed last year (Ordinance #125425) for the Aurora Licton Residential Urban Village.

This legislation is a much-needed step towards achieving the vision for the Aurora Licton Springs Residential Urban Village. The City’s adopted plans identify this area as a Residential Urban Village.   The interim controls will allow for greater diversification of business types; specifically, it will afford greater opportunities for land to be developed for residential neighborhood serving goods and services as envisioned in the Aurora Licton Neighborhood Plan (adopted in 1999) and City of Seattle Comprehensive Plan.  Losing valuable land in the Residential Urban Village to traffic generating, regional serving heavy commercial land uses will be avoided.

Public safety is the great concern for residents and business alike. By passing these interim controls, we can be assured that public storage facilities/warehouses, open storage yards and other uses that do not activate the streetscape with pedestrians and do not provide “eyes on the street” (which are deterrents of unsavory activities) will not be allowed until the City Council votes on the MHA/HALA land use changes.

MHA/HALA has been a long multi-year process with considerable public notice and opportunities for the public to be engaged.  These interim controls will serve as a bridge between now and the time the final vote on the MHA/HALA zoning changes that will increase affordable housing opportunities in the Residential Urban Village and citywide.

Thank you very much for your support of our efforts to work with the City to implement the City’s Vision for a vibrant Residential Urban Village.

_____________ (name)