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City Council Notes | Broadway post office relocation plan, required parking recommendations

Post Office Relocation BoundariesHere’s a look at this week’s Capitol Hill-centric highlights from the City Council’s chambers:

  • Broadway post office relocation: The United States Postal Service will brief a Council committee Wednesday on plans to relocate the Broadway post office. The federal service is on the hunt for new real estate to serve the neighborhood around central Broadway as the current home of the post office will be leveled to make way for a planned six-story, mixed-use development at the site. According to a USPS spokesperson, officials are looking at retail locations on the same 100 block of Broadway E and in the 600 block of E Pine in the “primary” boundary to relocated. Generally, USPS prefers to locate “as close to the existing building as possible,” the spokesperson said. We asked about whether the move is planned as a temporary or permanent relocation. While the spokesperson chuckled at the word “permanent,” he did say the relocation is being planned as a longterm move by USPS.
  • New plan for parking requirements: The debate over changing Seattle’s requirements — or lack thereof — for parking in new development will move back into  Council chambers Tuesday as the planning and land use committee hears recommendations including adding a transit pass program for new projects and making it easier to develop parking shared between multiple developments:

    Presentation on Parking Policies

  • Terminal 5 resolution: The Tuesday PLUS committee meeting will also include discussion of a resolution “related to the use of the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5 for Arctic drilling operations” stating the city’s opposition to the project:
    The City of Seattle (City) opposes federal permits or leases to authorize Arctic drilling, on the grounds that such drilling would violate global, national, and local commitments to limit carbon emissions to levels that prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
    Monday, Mayor Ed Murray announced the Department of Planning and Development has determined the port will need a new permit before Shell can use the terminal facility.
  • Aguirre (Image: City of Seattle)

    Aguirre (Image: City of Seattle)

    New parks super: Tuesday’s parks committee meeting will include the “appointment and Oath of Office” for Jesus Aguirre as Superintendent of the Department of Parks and Recreation. Meanwhile, the same committee is expected to approve an agreement between the Seattle Center and The Vera Project to continue the “all-ages music and art program” through 2016.

  • Somali remittance legislation: Monday, the full Council voted to approve legislation to aid Seattle’s Somalian community:
    Council unanimously approved legislation today, which calls on several City departments to investigate options that would allow Seattle residents to continue servicing remittances to Somalia. Due to federal government action in February, the Merchants Bank of California closed the accounts of all Somali-American Money Transfer Operators due to issues surrounding federal money laundering and terrorism financing regulations. Thousands of Somalis in Seattle are now unable to send money back to their families to help with basic needs such as food, water, shelter, and education.
  • Interim Council member sworn in: John Okamoto — whose selection has been partly overshadowed by an argument over how “nice” Council member Kshama Sawant needs to be in City Hall proceedings — was sworn in Monday.

    (Image: Seattle City Council via Flickr)

    (Image: Seattle City Council via Flickr)

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Oneway
Oneway
8 years ago

Let’s coin a new acronym. “Six-story mixed use development” is used frequently enough here to simply be a “SSMUD”.

Captain Smashtastic
Captain Smashtastic
8 years ago
Reply to  Oneway

Love it! Gettin’ awful SSMUD-y out there…

COMTE
COMTE
8 years ago

So, does that mean a political action committee made up of developers of such buildings would be known as – a SSMUD PAC?

Mimi
Mimi
8 years ago

I’m happy to hear that the Post Office is going to stay close to its current location. I rely on that Post Office as do many other people in the neighborhood.

Tobin
Tobin
8 years ago
Reply to  Mimi

Same here. The next closest one to me – the downtown one at 3rd/Union – is consistently a nightmare.

Miguelito
Miguelito
8 years ago

Wonder if the closed OfficeMax store space would work as a post office? Would take a large remodel of course. Don’t recall if they currently have a bunch of mail vans parked at the Broadway location, or if they just drop off and pick up there….. that could be the tough part of finding something nearby.

And that spot would be perfect for a higher than 6 story building, you could go 8 or 10 stories without it feeling too bid, I’d think.

Eric
Eric
8 years ago
Reply to  Miguelito

They just drop off and pick up at the current Broadway PO. They used to have some delivery based there, with the vans parked a few blocks away, but that has all been moved to the Sodo PO.

The problem I see with the OfficeMax location is that even the drop off and pick up would be difficult with no good place to load/unload. All there seems to be is the center turning/”loading” lane in the street. And would that even remain if the street car line is extended to Roy?

I agree that restricting a building that is right across the street from the light rail station to only six stories would be a sad waste.

COMTE
COMTE
8 years ago
Reply to  Eric

Yeah, it seems like the availability of some sort of loading dock/loading zone immediately adjacent would be a must-have.

Timmy73
Timmy73
8 years ago
Reply to  Eric

I’m surprised the OM space doesn’t have some sort of loading zone and spaces inside the buildings garage.

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