Author Archives: Bryan Cohen

About Bryan Cohen

Bryan Cohen is a CHS reporter. Reach him at [email protected] and @bchasesc

Seattle set to consider competing plans for regulating homeless encampments — UPDATE

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A camper attempts to stay dry using a stack of newspapers as a pillow Friday morning on Broadway (Image: CHS)

Friday morning, Seattle will hopefully begin what looks to be the arduous process of sorting out how best to regulate homeless camping in the city. Two competing plans are being pushed forward by Seattle City Council members. Meanwhile, Mayor Ed Murray said in a news conference Thursday night he will add his own proposal for regulating encampments that includes money for as set of new authorized encampments.

Officials say encampment rules will help shield the City of Seattle from legal issues, and, they hope, help solve what many say is a public health and safety crisis.

In response to a wave of pushback against an initial proposal introduced by City Council member Mike O’Brien, two competing replacement bills are seeking to find wider support even as another plan from the mayor looms. Continue reading →

Portage Bay crow-feeding family settles lawsuit with neighbors

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img_0522-1An out of court settlement has been reached in the 2015 civil lawsuit neighbors filed against the Portage Bay parents of a girl who made their block a veritable crow haunt.

According to the attorney for the neighbors who filed the lawsuit, the girl’s parents agreed to pay “a sum of money” and to “severely restrict their bird feeding activities for the following eight years” in exchange for having the civil suit against them dropped in this wealthy neighborhood just off the north slope of Capitol Hill.

“My clients are very happy to have peace restored to the neighborhood,” said Seattle attorney Anna Johnsen. Continue reading →

Seattle gearing up to take bike share all-electric, to Central District in 2017

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Bewegen electric assist bikes could be rolling out in Seattle by April 2017. (Image: Bewegen)

The City of Seattle is planning to say goodbye to bike share operator Motivate and bonjour to Bewegen. The young Quebec-based company was ranked the highest among six companies seeking to operate a new bike share system in Seattle. Motivate came in second.

While the deal is not finalized, Seattle Department of Transportation has entered negotiations with Bewegen to completely replace the current city-owned Pronto system. The move would prove an expensive mistake in Seattle’s first attempt to create a successful share but also clear the road for faster progress in giving people a simple alternative for getting around the city quickly and safely.

With plans to bring 1,200 electric assist bicycles and 100 stations with 2,400 total docking points, Bewegen says it could make the transition in 16 weeks and be operational by April 2017. Several new stations along 23rd Ave would push the Capitol Hill coverage area eastward, allowing the electric bikes to be put to full use traversing the backside of Capitol Hill. UPDATE: We confused the service proposal’s plans for the eastern Capitol Hill, Central District area. The proposal from Bewegen would utilize 19th Ave to serve the 23rd Ave corridor. The stations proposed would not be located on 23rd Ave. Sorry for the confusion. UPDATE x2: Or maybe not. Here’s where station planning stands according to SDOT:

“The locations on the map are approximate – blocks and streets for the station locations have not yet been defined. Bewegen’s intent was to show general city coverage with its proposed service area and station density. Service area and station siting is a task for the City and Bewegen to complete collaboratively after a contract is signed.”

Continue reading →

City convenes task force to improve bike safety along streetcar tracks

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screen-shot-2016-01-27-at-4-24-07-pmStreetcar tracks, especially wet ones, are notorious hazard for cyclists. Westlake Ave is a perennial problem for biking along the South Lake Union Streetcar line and one young woman’s fatal crash along the First Hill Streetcar in May prompted calls for safer street designs.

A group of mobility advocates and members of the Bicycle Advisory Board are now being tasked with finding ways to improve bike safety around the next leg of Seattle’s streetcar system.

The Center City Connector will connect the First Hill and Westlake lines by 2019, and with this group’s help, could also include some much-needed bike infrastructure downtown. Officials say the streetcar design group for the Center City line will also look at how to make existing lines safer — including the First Hill Streetcar. Continue reading →

Maps cause neighborhood stir over Seattle encampment protections

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While Mayor Ed Murray is working to implement a plan he says could see all unsheltered residents housed by 2017, untold numbers of people continue to live on Seattle’s sidewalks and in public green spaces, and presumably would continue to do so if Murray’s plan falls short.

A bill making its way though City Council is seeking to give more protections to those people living on public property, requiring in some instances that they are offered an adequate and available place to stay before being removed. Supporters, including District 3 representative Kshama Sawant, say the alternative is to keep shuffling people around without any long term solution.

Drafted by the ACLU and introduced by Council member Mike O’Brien, the bill has stirred up controversy in City Hall for detracting from Murray’s focus on getting all unsheltered residents into permanent housing.

The pot was given another stir over the weekend as draft maps were released by Seattle’s parks and transportation departments showing where the extended protections would apply under O’Brien’s plan.

But the released maps fail to show the areas that could be taken off the list due to unsafe or unsuitable conditions.

As the fine print on one of the maps notes, further analysis would be required to “verify potentially unsuitable areas or the presence of environmentally critical areas or other use restriction.” Continue reading →

Late night closure goes off without a hitch as new round of Pike People Street testing begins

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On one block of E Pike Friday night, cars were replaced with people eating slices from Big Mario’s Pizza, riding bikes, and having after-show smokes. It was the start of the second round of the Pike People Street, which saw car traffic blocked off on E Pike between 10th and 11th from 11 PM to 3 AM.

Seattle Department of Transportation public space specialist Seth Geiser, who was out in the street Friday night, said the “late night” test run was a success from the city’s perspective — people spilled out into the street to relieve sidewalk pressure and there were no cars towed from the closed parking areas.

The response from people on the street who spoke with CHS was also overwhelmingly positive. “It seems super safe and super fun. I wish more people joined to make it more of a party,” one woman told CHS. Another said she wished the city spread the word more widely to bring more people out into the street. A man visiting Seattle from Tennessee said it reminded him of going out in Memphis. Continue reading →

Seattle U likely heading to court after refusing to bargain with faculty union

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Students and faculty rallied on campus in support of a union in 2015. (Image: CHS)

Students and faculty rallied on campus in support of a union in 2015. (Image: CHS)

Seattle University may be heading to court after administrators formally refused to enter contract negotiations with a labor union newly representing adjunct faculty at the Capitol Hill college.

After organizing for nearly three years, SU’s non-tenured faculty voted in September to join Service Employees International Union 925. The university administration has opposed the union from the start, saying federally regulated contract bargaining would violate the college’s First Amendment protections of religious freedom. Administrators are specifically concerned about being required to hire faculty members that do not subscribe to its Jesuit style of teaching. Continue reading →

Kshama Sawant representing District 3 in effective ‘alternative’ style

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These guys know a good ribbon cutting when they see one (Image: CHS)
Sawant at the start of her term (Image: CHS)
(Image: Sawant Facebook Page)

March’s opening ceremonies for U-Link light rail and the Capitol Hill Station were the type of backslapping events that delight most politicians. Officials got to deliver a tangible and popular project while local representatives bolstered their profile and political resumes.

It was also the type of event Kshama Sawant has, for the most part, completely avoided during her time on the Seattle City Council leading District 3.

For better or worse, Sawant has freed herself from the provincial politics and symbolic neighborhood appearances — the opening of Broadway Hill Park being another example — you might expect from a district representative. Along the way, she has chosen to steer clear of some more serious issues. Sawant was not out front in the response to this summer’s drugged drinks scare on Capitol Hill or the string of late night shootings around Pike/Pine. Neighborhood efforts like the Melrose Promenade and improving lighting at Cal Anderson Park have also been the kinds of topics and initiatives Sawant’s camp has chosen to keep out of the representative’s Twitter feed and talking points.

But where some might see missed opportunities, many Capitol Hill leaders CHS talked with look favorably on Sawant’s alternative leadership style. While some told CHS they would like to see more engagement at the neighborhood level, there was also a sense that Sawant is playing a crucial role on the council by bringing it further to the left on many issues important to Capitol Hill. Continue reading →

Why 20 Capitol Hill neighbors are opposing the mixed-use project at 19th and Mercer

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The project at 19th and Mercer will replace a parking lot and green space while retaining an existing office building. (Images: Public47 Architects)

The project at 19th and Mercer will replace a parking lot and green space while retaining an existing office building. (Images: Public47 Architects)

screen-shot-2016-10-04-at-6-20-08-pmTrouble for the planned mixed-use development at 19th and E Mercer started with plans to tear down a big, old cedar tree. Now, frustration over the city’s design review process has prompted 20 Capitol Hill neighbors to formally challenge the project’s design.

The lead appellant, nearby homeowner Dr. Suzanne Lasser, said the first major issue occurred in February when she realized the city’s design review website did not include many letters of concern submitted by neighbors months earlier.

Then, the following design review board meeting was held at a location Lasser said was not ADA accessible, preventing some members of the public from attending. Those that did attend the meeting were also advised not to comment on the size of the building, Lasser said, which several people wanted to discuss.

“We just felt like we weren’t heard as normal citizens in the design review process,” she said. Continue reading →

‘Spare the Change’ forum aims to give practical advice for helping Capitol Hill’s homeless

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14612525_10155312883018696_1291315555072272754_oWhen a homeless person is openly using drugs, suffering a mental health crisis, or passed out in a doorway, residents and business owners often feel their only options are to call the police or ignore the situation. A Capitol Hill event is aiming to provide some alternative answers, or at least spread the word on some available resources.

Spare the Change: Being a Changemaker on Homelessness in our Neighborhood is an effort from a trio of Capitol Hill organizations seeking to “inform, empower, and activate Capitol Hill residents and community members to help people experiencing homelessness.” Continue reading →