"We're just ecstatic about the opportunity we see here [in Interbay]. We want the services, we want the funky little places. A yarn shop, a dry cleaner, a couple of nice little restaurants." This is the vision for a "24/7" vibrant neighborhood in Interbay, where people who work in the adjacent industrial areas or downtown can live, shop, go out to eat, and take advantage of nearby public transit. "We can easily create 2,000 to 2,500 jobs in that area, in addition to 1,000 to 1,500 units of housing in six to eight years."
On the heels of redevelopment plans in South Lake Union, Downtown, and Capitol Hill, that sounds a lot like the latest press release from Mayor Greg Nickels's office, gearing up to fight with neighbors opposed to urban density. But it's actually an Interbay neighbor, David Bolin, summing up the community's plan. In fact, in a striking role reversal, the biggest obstacle to redeveloping Interbay—going taller and denser—could be the Nickels administration.
Nickels's office—which will officially review the plan in July—definitely seems lukewarm to the idea: "We have not said no to that, but we're looking at it to see if it makes sense," says Marianne Bischel. "The mayor's Center City strategy is to create density, so we are supportive of that, but it has to make sense."
Folks in Interbay—a sunken area along 15th Avenue West, dominated by vacant land, warehouses, and very little retail or residential space—think their plan makes sense. They'll do all of the developing (and like SLU trolley supporters, they're even willing to tax themselves for things like street improvements) if the city will simply designate the neighborhood's seven acres of commercial space as a "hub urban village" or a transit-oriented overlay. Then, the area could be upzoned to 80 or 120 feet, folks like Bolin explain, unleashing dense development. Adjacent neighborhoods, like Magnolia and Queen Anne, have written letters of support.
"From our standpoint," says Tom Harkin, a business owner in Interbay, "it's a little mind-boggling. In our meetings there's been no opposition [from fellow neighbors]. And we're not asking the city for any money. We just want them to let us improve the area."
But Ray Bartel, an INA member and pastor at Interbay Covenant Church, says he has heard that Nickels wasn't in favor of designating Interbay as a hub. Apparently Nickels thinks Interbay is too small, Bartel says. "We've sensed from the mayor's office that he has more pressing problems," says Bartel.
The city has assigned a planner to help the INA fine tune their pitch. But that planner, Tom Hauger, angered neighbors at a May 16 meeting when he said that the city "only wants density in certain areas," according to minutes. Hauger told The Stranger the city wants to concentrate density in larger hubs like Ballard, South Lake Union, or Capitol Hill. "We're trying to create these healthier, chunkier nodes," Hauger says. Interbay, he explains, "does not seem to meet the criteria," for hub status: The area is too small and can't currently accommodate much growth. Moreover, Interbay could do some redeveloping within the current 40-foot commercial zoning. Hauger will soon present the INA's plan to the mayor, who can then send it to the city council, where there is some support.
NORTHGATE: Patrons of Great Dog Daycare—a business where dogs romp while their owners are at work—are barking at the city over a "zoning challenge." It seems the city officially views the doggy daycare as a kennel, which isn't allowed under the location's current zoning. The daycare owners say they offer "a place where dogs can learn, interact, be fulfilled and enriched," not overnight boarding. They are appealing the city's kennel definition. DOWNTOWN: Kate Martin and Scott Shinn—two Parents for Skateparks members—led a lunchtime tour of Freeway Park's concrete labyrinth on June 15 to pitch city council staff on an idea to allow skateboarding in certain areas. "We believe this could solve most if not all of the problems at Freeway Park"—drug dealers, street alcoholics, muggers—"at little to no cost," Martin says. RAINIER BEACH: The neighborhood QFC closed in late May, shuttering Southeast Seattle's only kosher butcher and deli, according to the Seattle Jewish Transcript. The surrounding neighborhood is home to the highest concentration of Orthodox Jewish families in the state, who will now have to head all the way to University Village or Mercer Island for fresh kosher food. —AJ
