PINEHURST The city council’s Urban Development and Planning
Committee met November 28, after The Stranger went to press, to
discuss whether Safeway should be allowed a rezone in North Seattle,
which would allow them to build a new “green” store. “The entire store
needs to be leveled and rebuilt,” says North District Council cochair
Renee Staton, who’s been a liaison between the city, the neighborhood,
and Safeway for the last two years. Staton says the neighborhood is
excited about the possible expansion of the store, which would be
designed to reclaim heat from the store’s refrigeration systems, use
local materials for construction, and possibly use nonpermeable
materials for the sidewalks and parking lots. So far, the city has been
supportive. “We really feel like we’ve been listened to,” Staton says.
SOUTH SEATTLE A California judge’s decision to uphold public
funding of a Laguna Beach labor center may be a precedent-setting
roadblock for South Seattle residents who opposed plans to relocate
CASA Latina. In September, right-wing group Judicial Watch—who’s
provided legal support to groups who opposed labor
centers—stepped into the mediation process, at the behest of a
few neighbors, which drew the ire of the city attorney’s office and
neighborhood activists. A Judicial Watch spokesman told The
Stranger they’re still considering suing the city for funding CASA
Latina.
