West Seattle, Washington
17 Tuesday
That’s Midget the Chihuahua, taken during a robbery in South Delridge. Shannon says it happened to her parents Sunday near Delridge/Barton:
Please be on the lookout for my mom’s Chihuahua, Midget.
On Sunday, December 8th (at around 1:45 pm), a woman and man pulled a gun on my parents and took Midget. The woman was described as being caucasian, with shoulder-length brown hair, tall and thin. The man was described as being caucasian, with reddish/brown hair and combed to the side. He was also very thin. My mom couldn’t give very much of a description because it happened so fast, she was in shock.
Midget, is a little over a year old and is a tri-colored Chihuahua. The (photo above) is when he was only 6-8 months old. He’s bigger now and weighs about 5-7 lbs.
The SPD case # is 19-454236. We’re also adding to the Lost/Found Pets page.
10:47 AM: Though it’s been closed for some days, something about the Cottage Grove Shell (5445 Delridge Way SW) closure has drawn attention over the past day or so, as several people have asked about it. So we went over for a look. According to both the state liquor-licensing-application list and a social-media post forwarded to us by Mike (thank you!), it’s undergoing an ownership change. No one was there when we visited, so we don’t have any info on an updated reopening timeline, but it’s clearly visible from outside that the mini-mart hasn’t been restocked yet.
ADDED TUESDAY NIGHT: We went by again tonight and stopped when we saw people working on site. However, they were just there working on the floor and said they had no idea when the business would reopen.
The week’s first announcement from Mayor Jenny Durkan heralded a nine-figure investment in “new, affordable rental homes.” The only West Seattle project on the list is one that’s been in the works a while, the Seattle Housing Authority‘s Lam Bow Apartments replacement project. The announcement and citywide list are here. The Lam Bow project (6955 Delridge Way SW) will replace both the building destroyed in a 2016 fire and the one left standing. The total 82 units to be built are up from 51 in the original complex. The cost of the project was estimated earlier this year at $35 million. Today’s announcement of citywide investments notes:
Funding sources for the Office of Housing investments include the 2016 voter-passed Seattle Housing Levy, incentive zoning and Mandatory Housing Affordability payments, $32 million in Real Estate Excise Taxes and over $13 million through retained sales taxes, made possible by changes in state law authorized by the 2019 Washington State Legislature and Seattle City Council.
A check of online files shows the Lam Bow project is still going through the city permit process.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The location of Sound Transit‘s future Delridge light-rail station – first stop after the future extension crosses the Duwamish River – won’t be finalized until 2022, but planning it starts now.
That’s what ST reps said as they convened another West Seattle “neighborhood forum” on Saturday, focused specifically on the Delridge station. But it wasn’t as much of a planning exercise as a chance for the ~40 participants to acquaint ST reps with where they go in the neighborhood and how they get there.
After an open-house-style chance to wander the Delridge Community Center gym, looking at maps and bullet points on easels, it was time for the update, via this slide deck projected onto the gym’s concrete-block wall:
four project-team reps tag-teamed the presentation, starting with Dennis Sandstrom recapping the process.
Stephen Mak reviewed the routing/station locations currently being studied, including the Yancy/Andover option recently added. Then Alisa Swank went into details of what the current environmental review is about, working first toward a Draft Environmental Impact Statement. That’s expected to be made public in early 2021 – pushed back from the original “late 2020,” as was warned in the recent round of adding alternatives to be studied.
With I-976-related funding uncertainty in the background, planning proceeds for West Seattle light rail. Two notes today:
(WSB photo from November forum)
DELRIDGE FORUM SATURDAY: 10 am-noon tomorrow at Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW), Sound Transit‘s next “neighborhood forum” will focus on Delridge station-area planning. As announced by ST, “This event focuses on the Delridge station and builds upon the community engagement and collaboration approach outlined in the Racial Equity Toolkit. Spanish and Vietnamese interpreters will be available.” (Here’s our coverage of last month’s West Seattle forum.)
MORE DRILLING: Meantime, as part of the environmental studies along the potential routing alternatives, drilling continues for soil testing. ST is circulating flyers for the next two locations, both along SW Genesee, near 30th SW for five days starting as soon as Monday (PDF flyer here), and near 31st SW, same duration/time frame (PDF flyer here).
(Rendering from September’s review, by Sazei Design Group)
Another Delridge Way redevelopment project is continuing to progress through the city system – the Southwest Design Review Board‘s calendar has just been updated with its first scheduled project review of the new year, 8854 Delridge Way SW, 6:30 pm January 23, 2020, at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon). This is the now-vacant site where a burned-out former auto shop has already been demolished; the project is now described as ” a 4-story apartment building with 18 small efficiency dwelling units, 14 apartments (32 units total), and office space. Parking for 14 vehicles proposed.” The project has been before the board twice; in September (WSB coverage here), the SWDRB decided it needed to return for a third meeting, so that’s what this will be.
(2018 WSB photo of project site)
Tonight’s “early community outreach” meeting for the revised 9201 Delridge Way SW project was devoid of community members.
20 minutes after the promoted 6 pm start time, it was still your editor and six members of the project team, led by Caron Architecture, at Jim Wiley Community Center in Greenbridge.
So we asked Caron CEO Radim Blazej and his team a few questions about the project, which, as first reported here in October, pivoted from self-storage to residential/retail mixed-use
They say the current plan is for 46 apartments – not microstudios, but “regular” apartments – and three live-work units, in a five-story building with about 2,000 square feet of retail space. Ideally that’ll go to an F&B (food/beverage) tenant, but that depends on how leasing goes. Though no offstreet car parking is required, they’re looking at about 20 underground spaces, plus spots for 50 bicycles. They are not proposing any zoning exceptions (“departures”). The project will have to go through the Southwest Design Review Board and is likely to start that process “in the first part of 2020.” The site has not been sold – same ownership is developing the new project, which doesn’t have an official name, so it’s going by the working title “Delridge Apartments.” Its residential entry will be off SW Bartpn.
SURVEY: Through Thursday night (December 5th), you can provide feedback via this survey.
WHAT’S NEXT: Watch for that first Design Review Board meeting next year.
7:06 PM: We’re getting some questions about Guardian One over North Delridge. They’re backing up SPD as they check out a suspicious car pulled over at Delridge/Andover.
7:20 PM: The scene cleared before we arrived.
7:41 PM: Guardian One made note of its assistance via Twitter:
Assisted @SeattlePD with a vehicle stop near Delridge and Andover. pic.twitter.com/M2xHdRXbGs
— KCSOAirsupport (@KCSOAirsupport) December 4, 2019
That security video just made public by Seattle Police shows the shooter in Monday’s South Delridge incident that sent a man to the hospital. Recognize him? Here’s another look:
SPD says the victim was shot during a robbery while he was “delivering an item sold on a secondhand goods website.” If you have a tip about the shooter, call the SPD Robbery Unit at 206-684-5535, or call 911.
Need to catch up on West Seattle’s next big road project, which is also a transit project? Tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon at 2 pm, the City Council Sustainability and Transportation Committee gets a briefing on the Delridge RapidRide H Line project, which also includes repaving and other road work, as well as the conversion of Metro Route 120 to the H Line. Above is the slide deck that’ll be used in the briefing; it projects that construction will start in the second or third quarter next year. The H Line is expected to launch in fall 2021. The 90 percent design milestone was announced a month ago; see our November report here.
2:19 PM: Police are investigating a shooting in the 9000 block of 18th SW. They report “one male victim injured.” More as we get it.
2:34 PM: Police tell us at the scene that the victim’s injuries are not life-threatening. The shooting was the result of a robbery somewhere nearby – the victim made it to a construction site and called for help.
3:31 PM: Still no one in custody. No description made public, either.
3:55 PM: A bit more info from SPD: They say the victim is 24 years old and was shot while “delivering an item sold on a secondhand goods website.”
Reminder as the long holiday weekend wraps up: Seattle Parks invites you to a meeting tomorrow night (Monday, December 2nd) to talk about changes at Cottage Grove Playground as part of the Your Voice/Your Choice program – some new equipment, in addition to moving existing equipment. The meeting is set for 6:30 pm at Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW); here’s our preview from two weeks ago.
For the second consecutive night, a pedestrian has been taken to the hospital after being hit by a driver in West Seattle. This time it happened on the northeast side of the Delridge/Orchard intersection, by the Shell station. We’re told at the scene that the pedestrian, described as a young woman, does not have major injuries, but she’s being taken to Harborview to be checked out. Police are talking with the driver.
If you’re headed toward southbound Delridge, you might want to consider an alternate route for a while: Those lanes are blocked at Brandon because of a crash response. No major injuries reported so far. However, don’t detour onto Genesee east of Delridge – there’s a stuck truck on the hill.
Seattle Parks and SDOT are organizing a community walk December 7th for a project that’s linked to the future conversion of Metro Route 120 to the RapidRide H Line, in hopes of helping people get to and from one of the stops:
This project improves pedestrian paths and wayfinding along SW Brandon Street and SW Findlay Street to improve neighborhood mobility. It includes work to improve and make more welcoming to the public the trail entries at Camp Long and Longfellow Creek from SW Brandon Street. One of the goals of this project is to improve access to the future new RapidRide H-line stop at SW Findlay and Delridge. The RapidRide H-line service starts in 2021.
(Our most-recent update on the overall project – which includes repaving and other changes for much of Delridge – is here.) The December 7th walk will start at 26th/Brandon at 11 am.
As previewed in our Sunday highlight list, a camel – technically, a dromedary – was at Ounces in North Delridge this afternoon as part of the beer garden/taproom’s third-anniversary celebration. Crackle is from a farm on the Eastside. (We would have photographed Ounces’ proprietors too, but Laurel and Mike Trujillo had stepped away just before we got there. Happy anniversary!)
Thanks to Doug for the tip! Another West Seattle playground has improvements on the way. New equipment is planned for Cottage Grove Park Playground at 5206 26th SW, as part of the 2018 Your Voice, Your Choice! process, “to make the play area more usable for young children.” Seattle Parks is having a community meeting at 6:30 pm Monday, December 2nd, for input on the new equipment. All are welcome at the meeting, which will be in Delridge Community Center (4501 Delridge Way SW) – see the full flyer here (PDF).
(WSB photos)
A man driving a pickup truck suffered a medical problem and hit four parked cars along Delridge Way near Hudson tonight. One of the cars was knocked on its side. SFD checked out the pickup driver at the scene; no injuries otherwise.
The southbound lane will be blocked until the police and tow truck are clear.
(October photo by John McIntyre)
Longfellow Creek … home to salmon … and pollution. The creek runs almost the entire length of eastern West Seattle, from Westwood (where it’s undergrounded) to the Duwamish River. Seattle Public Utilities is planning a water-quality project that would focus on reducing polluted stormwater overflows in the creek during heavy rain. But the project isn’t just about some big public-works facility – it’s also about other potential neighborhood benefits, as detailed here. So right now, they’re recruiting community members for an “Innovation Team,” explained as:
We are building an Innovation Team of nine, paid, community co-creators that reflect the diversity in South Delridge. The Innovation Team will guide and work with the Project Team. Team members will attend up to 8, 2-hour meetings this winter and next spring. The Innovation Team will help us:
• Create innovative solutions to achieve community goals
• Build relationships and community partnerships
• Understand risks when deciding where to make investmentsSome examples of people we are looking for:
• A high school student engaged in design, poetry, filmmaking, or engineering
• A person for whom English is a second language
• Someone who leads an informal group like a women’s group, soccer team, or book club
• Someone who builds things or helps organize activities in the neighborhood
More details here. The original deadline to apply was today, but it’s just been extended through Sunday. Here’s how to apply.
6:48 PM: SPD and SFD are heading to the 8600 block of 18th SW for a reported shooting. More to come.
6:55 PM: At least one person’s been shot. Police are searching with K9 and the Guardian One helicopter – but no one is reported in custody. The shooting is now reported to have happened in an alley west of 18th/Thistle.
7:05 PM: The victim is female, we’ve learned at the scene, and is being taken to Harborview Medical Center.
7:11 PM: We’ve also learned at the scene that the victim is 19 years old. An area resident says the first they heard of this was a group of young people on the run, yelling that someone had been shot.
7:18 PM: SPD says the victim’s injury is not life-threatening. Gang Unit detectives have joined the officers investigating.
8:05 PM: No further updates, nor word of anyone in custody. Our crew’s back and we’ve added two photos above.
ADDED SATURDAY: Here’s what SPD Blotter has today. Not much beyond what we reported last night:
Gang Unit detectives are handling the investigation following a shooting that occurred Friday evening in the South Delridge neighborhood. The victim, a 19-year-old female, was transported to the hospital with a non life-threatening gunshot wound.
At approximately 6:40 pm, Southwest Precinct officers were dispatched to a reported shooting in the 8600 block of 18th Avenue SW. Officers arrived and located the female victim. Officers performed first aid until Seattle Fire took over primary care and transported the victim to the hospital. Fortunately her injuries are not life-threatening.
Officers learned from witnesses that the victim was with a group of other people in the alley just west of 18th Avenue SW and SW Thistle Street. The witnesses stated that an unknown male who was with another group fired a shot toward the victim and her group, striking her.
Officers searched the area for the suspect, including the King County Sheriff’s helicopter Guardian One and an SPD K-9 team, but the suspect or people he was with was not located. Gang detectives responded and will conduct the follow up.
Four weeks ago, we broke the news of a dramatic change in the redevelopment proposal for the auto-shop site at 9201 Delridge Way SW. Instead of a 4-story storage facility, a 5-story mixed-use building is now planned, with 51 apartments, 5 live-work units, and offstreet parking spaces for 8 cars and 59 bicycles. Today, we just got word from Caron Architecture that an “early design outreach” community meeting is planned, 6-7 pm Tuesday, December 3rd, at Jim Wiley Community Center in Greenbridge (9800 8th SW). Above is the flyer, in English, Vietnamese, and Spanish (or see it here in PDF). As it says, you also can answer an online survey to provide feedback – find it here.
(Image from kingcounty.gov)
The project to convert Metro Route 120 into the RapidRide H Line includes, as we’ve long been reporting, changes for Delridge Way – including repaving and rechannelization. The design has just hit another milestone – the 90 percent stage, according to SDOT’s project spokesperson Dan Anderson. You can preview the road changes in these PDF documents – channelization here, types of paving here. (Both require extensive zooming for detail.) Below, you can see a list that Anderson describes as “changes we’ve included in the new design based on what we heard”:
Extended the northbound bus-only lanes two blocks farther south. The 24/7 bus lane now goes from the West Seattle Bridge to SW Alaska St. There is a 6-9 AM peak only bus lane that extends south from SW Alaska St to SW Hudson St.
Moved the southbound RapidRide station at SW Holden St from the northeast to the southeast side of the intesection
Added a half-mile of new drainage improvements to reduce flooding in and near the intersections of SW Sylvan St and SW Myrtle St
Added leading pedestrian intervals at traffic signals to give people walking a head start crossing the street
Added additional new streetlights for increased safety
Integrated transit priority signals at major intersections to improve bus speed and reliability
Updated the 26th Ave SW Neighborhood Greenway by adding speed humps, street painting, and vegetation clearing
Added wayfinding signs with directions to neighborhood greenways and popular destinations
Added standard neighborhood-greenway signs along 26th Ave SW with connections to SW Andover St, SW Hudson St, SW Findlay St, SW Juneau St, SW Holden St, and SW Henderson St
Added wider curb ramps at SW Andover St for people biking and walking, thanks to community members’ Neighborhood Street Fund proposal
Added a “no right on red” restriction sign for traffic turning from westbound SW Andover St onto northbound Delridge Way SW to reduce conflicts between people biking and driving
Included real-time arrival reader boards at RapidRide stations
Increased the amount of flower beds and trees planted in street medians to increase canopy and greenery
Added a protected left-turn lane for people traveling south turning into Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
Added a northbound left turn pocket at the intersection of SW Holden St
Added a walk/bike flashing beacon and marked crosswalks across Delridge Way SW at SW Hudson St
Added a walk/bike traffic signal at SW Findlay St to stop traffic when activated
Added curb bulbs and a marked crosswalk across Delridge Way SW on the north side of the SW Edmunds St intersection
Added drainage improvements at the intersections of SW Findlay St and SW Brandon St
Maintained the Route 60 and Route 128 bus stop in front of the 7-Eleven
Preserved large oak trees near SW Barton St and SW Henderson St
Widened sidewalks by power poles near 21st Ave SW to be wheelchair-accessible and Americans with Disability Act-compliant
When the project website is updated – by day’s end, Anderson says – they expect also to list other suggested changes that either were ruled out or are still being considered. The road project is expected to start next year; the RapidRide H Line launch is expected in fall 2021.
BACKSTORY: Some project overview is in this report from earlier this year, when the City Council got a briefing at the 30 percent design milestone; we also took a close-up look at that stage here. As noted then, some of the north-end repaving is constrained by the fact that Sound Transit light rail is scheduled for construction in less than a decade. The south half-or-so of Delridge Way will not be repaved because it already got new pavement in 2013.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
After shovels went into the ground at today’s celebration of the future Delridge Grocery Co-op store, a little rosemary plant followed.
With it, high hopes for the next stage of a decade-long journey toward opening a small food store in Delridge were planted too. Among those who voiced them, Brent Curtis of the DGC board:
The brief ceremony was part of a three-hour event outside and inside the store-to-be, a 2,200-square-foot space at 5444 Delridge Way SW, beneath the 60+-apartment supportive-housing complex Cottage Grove Commons. The complex is owned and operated by DESC, which promised the space to the co-op long ago; its executive director Dan Malone was among those at today’s celebration, along with City Councilmember Lisa Herbold and council candidate Phil Tavel.
But this was not an event for dignitaries’ speechifying. It was for the co-op and its community.
It has grown to about 500 member-owners, even before the store is built and opened, but there’s room for much more. Tables at today’s event invited signups for roles from financial planning to public relations to coffee-conversation organizing. The wooden spoons offered to members might be seen as an invitation to stir things up.
As longtime board member Ranette Iding explained in our conversation earlier this week, there is a lot of shaping to do.
As architect Parie Hines of LD Arch Design (WSB sponsor) explained to those who stopped by her table, the interior design (added above) has many potential moving parts, depending on what the community wants.
In a sign that it was time to get back to work, an hour after the planting ceremony, co-op members who had hung around gathered for their annual meeting. This was the first one held in the store space, which previously had only opened for a public peek four years ago during then-Mayor Ed Murray‘s Delridge “Find It, Fix It” walk.
The meeting addressed “what’s next”:
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