Roosevelt Zoning - A Case of Wait and See

The regular meeting of the Roosevelt Zoning Committee had two topics of discussion tonight. Jim O'Halloran, chair, presided.

1. Roosevelt Development Group (RDG) recently met with the Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) to get advice on how to proceed with their permit application for the possible rezoning of the Hugh Sisley Properties. The RDG will hold a meeting on April 20th at Calvary Christian Assembly with a DPD representative in attendance to disclose, hopefully, something about what they want to do on the properties. Two parallel procedures will soon begin to happen if the developers choose to proceed.

A) And Environmental Impact Study (EIS) will commence with a scoping phase wherein the RDG will submit a scenario, which, along with variations, will be studied for how it impacts the community. Community input is vital at the outset of the process. This meeting is not the scoping meeting, but possibly it will be scheduled soon.

B) The Design Review Board (DRB) will request the developers to present plans to the Early Design Guidance Committee (EDG). Again the community will have opportunity to contribute. See the Seattle Municipal Code Section - Title 23 Chapter 23.41 . Keep your eyes open for that meeting too.

2. There was a long discussion about where the neighborhood stands with the Red Cedar Tree issue on the Brooklyn Court Property where a 54 unit residential and commercial building is proposed. The big question that needs to be resolved is, "Is this particular tree sustainable?" There are advocates for preserving this tree, and maybe all trees. And there are others in favor of giving up this tree for a better set of trees and a start to cleaning up blight on the corner of 12th Ave NE and NE 66th Street.

The tree has issues with the wires and it also is a cluster of three trunks branching into more. You can go there and take a look at it for yourself. On May 4th, at University Heights, there will be a meeting of the DPD's design review process, to render a decision. The public is welcome.

Where do you stand on the tree issue?