Presentation from Seattle Department of Transportation including comments from the Maple Leaf Community Council Executive Board.

At a meeting two years ago to introduce a plan to add a bike lane through Maple Leaf on Roosevelt Way Northeast, many neighbors in the south end spoke up when they learned that they would lose parking on the west side of the street from Northeast 75th to 85th streets.

Although the Seattle Department of Transportation promptly restriped most of our stretch of Roosevelt with a bike lane, the agency left 75th to 85th bike lane-free in favor of studying other options.

SDOT has since revealed its verdict, and to the typical neighbor, it might appear quite the same. Once again, parking on the west side of the street will be eliminated from Northeast 75th to 85th streets, making room for a bike lane on the east side of the street, as well as providing room for buses to pull out of traffic at more of their stops.

However, the Maple Leaf Community Council Executive Board points out that the new proposal is actually quite different in that it improves rather than impedes traffic flow on that stretch. In this pdf, the council shares its comments along with the proposal SDOT presented last month, including this breakdown of their understanding of the proposal:

• 5 parking spaces removed east side of Roosevelt Way NE just north of the signal at NE 75th.
• 5 parking spaces removed on east side of Roosevelt to the south of intersection at 80th
• 3 parking spaces removed on the east side of Roosevelt to the north of intersection at 80th.
• All parking removed west side of Roosevelt from 75th to 85th.
• Reducing three in-lane bus stops to only one.
• Retains turning lanes so no worsening of 75th/80th intersections
• 8-foot wide parking area at curbs (versus 7-foot standard)
• 6-foot bike lane width (versus 5-foot standard) on east (uphill, northbound) side, sharrows on the west side
• Retained parking enough to handle maximum parking seen during surveys, though on-street availability shifts across
  street.

In an email to Maple Leaf neighbors (subscribe here), the executive board further elaborates: (more…)

Although there was talk of adding a second edition of the Maple Leaf Art Walk next month, the fanfare appears to have died out as neighborhood businesses realized that they’re simply too busy with everything else going on in the neighborhood this summer.

From the Maple Leaf Summer Social on July 25, to the Maple Leaf Garage Sale on Aug. 11 and Blue Saucer’s Pop-Up Open Market on Aug. 19, there will be plenty of other opportunities to show your Maple Leaf pride and patronize our area businesses.

We hope to keep the Maple Leaf Art Walk as an annual event, however, so please stay tuned and maybe we’ll see its return in May 2013!

Nordstrom has officially confirmed its plans to build a Nordstrom Rack in the space previously occupied by Toys ‘R’ Us at the south end of Northgate Mall, according to our news partners The Seattle Times.

It says the new store will open in November, and cover about 41,000 square feet. From the article:

“Northgate has been a special home to us for over 60 years, and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to add a Nordstrom Rack in such a terrific location in our hometown,” Geevy Thomas, president of Nordstrom Rack, said in a statement, referring to the full-line division’s long-time presence there.

Maple Leaf reader Stu, who told us about the initial plans from May, adds:

Old Northgate Theater demolished (complete), Thorton Place (complete), replacing ToyRUs (in November), a pedestrian bridge to NSCC (approved), just waiting for a Trader Joe’s and light rail and my master plan will be realized.

Update July 7: The Seattle Times now has a new story here.

A tentative compromise was announced this afternoon to keep dozens of affordable housing units when the Northgate Apartments are redeveloped.

The issue has repeatedly made news. We wrote about it last week here and earlier here. The Seattle Times has coverage here.

The Northgate Apartments are 207 units just north of Northgate Mall and east of Interstate 5 that currently rent at prices that fit the definition of “affordable.” They are shown in blue on the map at right.

Their redevelopment could at least triple the number of apartments on the site, convenient to the transit center and future Northgate light rail station. But Seattle ordinances wouldn’t necessarily require any of the new units to be affordable.

Earlier appeals of the redevelopment were thrown out by the city, but the property owners nonetheless agreed to mediation. The agreement announced today would preserve at least 66 units of low-income housing, almost certainly on site. It was negotiated in part by David Miller, president of the Maple Leaf Community Council.

There is a joint press release on the agreement here with details. In it, Miller commends the property owners, saying the council “would like to thank all of the participants in this mediation, but particularly the Mullally family. They’ve been excellent community members, ensuring the units currently on the site are well maintained and affordable. It was clear from our very first day across the table this was a property owner interested in doing the right thing.”

The agreement still must be approved by the city Hearing Examiner and the City Council.

Jill Killen, owner of Cloud City Coffee, and now of El Diablo Coffee Company on Queen Anne, at the Capucas Coffee Plantation in Honduras last March. Photo courtesy Cloud City Coffee.

Maple Leaf’s Cloud City Coffee now has a sister store on Queen Anne - El Diablo Coffee Company.

The Queen Anne coffee shop was purchased this week by Jill Killen, who started Cloud City 10 years ago. She bought the 12-year-old El Diablo from former owner Terri Sullivan.

“Terri built a great coffee shop and was very connected to the community,” Killen said. “I am really excited to get to know the people of Queen Anne.”

From her press release:

The staff at El Diablo will remain the same and the menu will continue to include Cuban food and drinks. Additionally, Killen plans to expand the food offerings significantly and incorporate some of the Cloud City Coffee favorites such as morning glory muffins, breakfast sandwiches and quiche at breakfast. For lunch, made-to-order sandwiches and wraps, fresh salads and homemade soups will be added with a Cuban roast sandwich featured. The in-house bakery in Maple Leaf will also supply cookies, pies, coffee cake, and their famous coconut bread.

The drink menu will expand with a full espresso bar, drip coffee and chai tea. Specialty single-cup brewing methods will be offered on the new pour-over bar. In Maple Leaf, expect to see Cuban toast and Mexican hot chocolate show up on the menu soon.

El Diablo is located at 1811 Queen Anne Ave. N.

Killen plans to begin begin hosting free public cuppings in the near future at El Diablo. Similar to the concept of wine tasting, cuppings focus on education along with tasting and rating single-origin coffees.

Like Cloud City, El Diablo will be serving Tony’s Coffee, a small roaster in Bellingham in business since 1971. Tony’s is featured in many coffee shops as well as PCC Natural Markets.

On July 12, El Diablo will be the guest barista at the Queen Anne Farmer’s Market and will also be hosting a coffee cupping at the Chef’s tent the following week on July 19. There will be free coffee at treats at Queen Anne Days (July 14th) outside of the coffee shop as well.

“I invite my Maple Leaf customers to come in and see the new shop,” Killen said, “Queen Anne is a great community and there are lots of businesses to visit around El Diablo.”

Ruth Williams, president of the Thornton Creek Alliance and Beaver Pond Natural Area forest steward, has sent a plea out to fellow urban environmentalists about the removal of 18 healthy street trees from Northeast Northgate Way and Fifth Avenue Northeast, starting as early as July 7.

She says the trees, which have become big enough to provide shelter for pedestrians, are being removed to make way for turning lanes for cars.

However, signs posted on each of the trees states that for each tree removed, the Seattle Department of Transportation will plant two. Williams writes:

We should make sure SDOT means what they say and will replace the trees with specimens of similar size. Since they will no longer be on the sidewalk shading pedestrians, but out in the median shading vehicles, there will be fewer overhead wires and awnings to contend with. Will SDOT be able to add a few natives to their tree list and plant some now?

(more…)

It’s an Independence Day tradition now in Maple Leaf.

Neighbors close Northeast 95th Street between Roosevelt Way Northeast and 12th Avenue Northeast, and throw a block-long parade.

“This is something two boys on the block started a few years and now has become a yearly tradition!” emails Julie.

The parade went off at 10 a.m., with games in the street afterwards and muffins and coffee for neighbors.

“Should be fun and looks like the weather will cooperate!”

It did. Today’s forecast is for sun, with a high near 71 degrees. And it just keeps getting better through the weekend, topping out Sunday with a high of 81 degrees.

Several items of interest to Maple Leaf neighbors:

• Northgate is much in the news of late. In addition to the Northgate light rail station, there’s debate over the Northgate Apartments, 207 units just north of the mall next to Interstate 5 that now provide affordable housing. The owners want to redevelop what will be prime property with the light rail station coming in, and one question is how much affordable housing will remain. David Miller, president of the Maple Leaf Community Council, is involved in the negotiations. Our news partner The Seattle Times has a story here.
• Speaking of Northgate and David Miller, he has a question for the neighborhood.

One of our neighbors tipped us off that Sound Transit is considering naming the light rail tunnel entrance near the Northgate Station (roughly Northeast 95th Street and 1st Avenue Northeast) the “Maple Leaf Portal.”

My gut reaction was, ‘no’ because it really is the portal to the Northgate station. Then I wondered if it made some sense to leave it that way for promotional purposes.

On one hand, it would be a good way to publicize Maple Leaf. This could be good for our local businesses.

On the other hand, it really is nowhere near most of our Maple Leaf Business Districts. If we do some sort of “Shop Maple Leaf” campaign in the future, perhaps people will confuse that with shopping near the Maple Leaf Portal (i.e. Northgate) instead of taking a connector bus up the hill to our 5th/Roosevelt/Lake City Way business districts.

He’d like to hear your opinion. Email him at [email protected]

• Seattle City Light tells us “we will be doing some noisy work at the substation” this month.

They’re talking about the North Substation, located in Maple Leaf at 814 N.E. 75th St.

We wanted to let our neighbors know that we will be doing some work during the next three weeks that occasionally will be noisy as we jack-hammer old concrete and prepare the site for installation of a new transformer.

The work is scheduled from today through July 20, and must be performed between the hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends.

• On a softer note, City Light announces that “the goats are coming back!”

In 2010, up to 280 goats munched vegetation - especially blackberry vines - at the substation. This summer they are scheduled from July 23-25.

Photo by Theo Henderson of Roosevelt High School.

There’s plenty of change brewing on Roosevelt these days! The empty lot at Northeast 89th Street has finally been sold, and there’s also been mysterious activity at the empty building at Northeast 75th Street, shown at right.

Meanwhile, the Edward Jones at 9524 Roosevelt Way N.E. has been lured to Thornton Place and is now located at 339 N.E. Thornton Place, which is down the hallway next to Subway.

But with Edward Jones’ departure, we will actually end up with two fewer empty spaces because of a planned expansion by Beadworld, 9520 Roosevelt Way N.E. After years of being vacant, the former Eastlake Galleries frame shop will be vacant no more after Beadworld moves into both that space and the former Edward Jones.

Beadworld will take over all three of the above-shown storefronts.

The end date is in September, so it’ll be a while until we can write more about the details, but we’ll get them to you as soon as possible.

Like other jewelry shops, Sanford Design at 9224 Roosevelt Way N.E. has plenty of pre-made pieces you can choose from. But owner Dan Sanford says what the small shop really specializes in is making custom jewelry.

That can range from creating a design from scratch, redesigning a piece, or even combining multiple pieces into something new, he said.

“We’re a small shop that does everything here, so our overhead is low,” Sanford added. “We’re low tech and are still doing everything by hand, so we can be very competitive with our prices.”

The store has been in Maple Leaf since August 2004, but previously was located in the Roosevelt neighborhood, where Sanford worked for years at Laffoon’s Jewelry before he purchased the store from the family in 2003. (more…)

Sound Transit followed the lead of the Seattle City Council today, approving the proposed pedestrian improvements that include a bicycle/pedestrian bridge from North Seattle Community College to Northgate Station, according to a news release from the Cascade Bicycle Club.

It states that the Northgate Station Access Strategy commits Sound Transit to:

• Completing a Northgate access improvement study to identify potential additional pedestrian and bicycle access improvements to enhance access to the current Northgate Transit Center and future Northgate Station inter-modal transit facility as part of the Northgate Link Extension Project.
• Contributing 25 percent (up to $5 million) of the cost of a bicycle/pedestrian bridge over I-5 to North Seattle Community College and Licton Springs, which the City of Seattle will match with an additional $5 million. The City will also seek other funding partners to secure full funding to complete design and construction of the bridge (total cost approximately $20 million). If a full funding agreement for the implementation of the I-5 pedestrian/bicycle bridge cannot be completed by July 2015, the Sound Transit Board will reallocate any unspent bridge funds to other priority pedestrian/bicycle projects identified through the connectivity and access study processes.
• Matching up to $5 million in City investments in pedestrian/bicycle facilities in and around Northgate Station consistent with the improvements identified and recommended by the connectivity analysis and access study.

In other Northgate Station news, the Thornton Creek Alliance is inviting the public to a panel discussion tonight on the changes and challenges to Thornton Creek as the North Corridor Transit Project becomes further developed. There will be representatives from Sound Transit, Seattle Public Utilities, State Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the State Department of Ecology on the panel, which will be followed by the Alliance’s regular meeting.

The meeting is from 7-9 p.m. tonight at the Meadowbrook Community Center, 10517 35th Ave. N.E.

Although the Seattle City Council already approved $5 million for a pedestrian/bike bridge over Interstate 5 along with another $5 million for additional bike/pedestrian improvements around Northgate Station, the Sound Transit board has yet to agree to the joint proposal.

On Thursday, the transit agency will consider the Northgate Station Access Strategy proposed by City Councilman Richard Conlin, which would commit Sound Transit to:

• Match up to $5 million in City investments in bicycle and pedestrian facilities around the Northgate station;
• Commit up to $5 million as a 25 percent share in a bicycle/pedestrian bridge between the Northgate station and North Seattle Community College;
• Agree that Sound Transit will fund park-and-ride facilities including a new 450 stall parking garage, preferably shared use. Private funding could be used to provide additional parking garage stalls and potentially free existing surface parking for future development. (more…)

As the warm days of summer near, the questions grow about the Maple Leaf Garage Sale. But until recently we didn’t have any answers.

Lucky for us, new neighbors Eagles Mother Aerie One did some investigating on their own, and discovered that the previous organizers of the neighborhood-wide sale were ready to pass the torch. And luckily for the neighborhood, the Eagles are ready to take on the project.

From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, the Eagles, located at 8201 Lake City Way N.E., will be the site of a garage sale that Aerie President Dan Kerege says he hopes will be just part of a much larger neighborhood-wide sale.

Interested? Email us at [email protected] and we’ll get you on the list of participating Maple Leaf residences.

Or, for members of the community who don’t want to have a garage sale on their own space, the Eagles is accepting donations for its sale (but no large furniture) or you can rent a table there for $15. All unsold items must be removed at the end of the day. For more information, contact Faye at 206-762-5125.

It’s going to be a busy weekend in Maple Leaf, with the return of the Maple Leaf Art Walk the evening before from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10. Maple Leaf for Life indeed!

The Seattle City Council today voted in favor of making Northgate more walkable by unanimously adopting a resolution dedicating up to $5 million for a pedestrian/bike bridge over Interstate 5, linking the future Northgate Station and North Seattle Community College.

The so-called Northgate Station Access Strategy also includes another $5 million as a match from Sound Transit for additional pedestrian/bicycle improvements in anticipation of the arrival of the North Link light rail in 2021.

The strategy, which was proposed earlier this month by Councilman Richard Conlin, also includes a request that Sound Transit develop of a 450-stall parking garage “that will support park-and-ride facilities, preferably shared use, with possible private funding used to provide additional parking garage stalls and potentially free existing surface parking for future development,” according to the text of Resolution 31389.

From Conlin’s news release:

“A coordinated access strategy is critical to making light rail work and to realizing the vision of the Northgate Urban Center and enhancing the neighborhoods around Northgate,” Conlin stated. “We can accomplish so much more by recognizing that all modes of access are necessary in order to prevent gridlock and ensure that transit and urban development work together.”

For a decade, the empty lot on the corner of Roosevelt Way Northeast and Northeast 89th Street has tottered between being for sale and being just empty. But these days will soon be over.

Dan Duffus with Soleil Development along with another developer and an architect have each purchased one of the three lots that were for sale, with plans to build a combination of 14 or 15 units that combine live-work spaces directly on Roosevelt with town homes in the back.

“We’re each going to do separate development there, but they’re going to tie in together,” Duffus said.

Because the developers are just building the space, Duffus can’t address what kind of retail might end up in the spaces, or even say for certain whether any of the spaces will become storefronts. But in his experience, he says the ground floors of similar live-work spaces often become retail.

“The other stuff that we’ve done has been very well received,” he said, giving as an example a new development he completed in West Seattle with a Cafe Fiore and an art gallery on the ground floor.

For more examples, he urges those interested to look at the Knoll Development website, which has developed various live-work communities.

Duffus said the development will likely be completed in about a year.