Notice of Proposed Land Use Action

A Notice of Proposed Land Use Action sign was put up on Fremont sometime around Dec 8, 2017 for the proposed microhousing project (#3026875) at addresses 3959 and 3965 Fremont Ave N.

It is interesting to note that although the Approved Presubmittal Minutes of 8/1/2017 listed the early guidance item:  Meet with neighbors to hear concerns and questions, share concept ideas, the developers arranged no such meeting and instead chose to put up the notice of land use action so that the short public comment period would take place during the winter holidays.  The developers also put the sign up in front of the wrong property (they placed it in front of 3955 Fremont Ave).

Fortunately, two of our observant neighbors quickly emailed the SDCI (Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections) regarding the improperly placed sign, and the suspicious holiday timing of the public comment period that appears to be designed to limit the amount of resistance to a project that they know is uniformly opposed by the neighborhood.  The PRC (SDCI Public Resource Center) responding by granting a 14 day extension of the public comment period.  This moves the deadline for public comment from Dec 20, 2017 to Jan 3, 2018.
Update: The deadline for public comment has been extended to Jan 10, 2018.

We Need All Concerned Neighbors to Submit Comments!

The public comment period for this project closes on Jan 10, 2018.  Please let the SDCI (Seattle Dept. of Construction & Inspections) know what you think of this microhousing project, proposed for our neighborhood, by submitting you comments to the PRC (SDCI Public Resource Center)

Write your comments in an email, or letter attached to an email, and send to:
prc@seattle.gov
with the email subject line:
3026875 at 3959 Fremont Avenue North

You can view all of the public documents regarding this project (3026875) at the PRC website.  Click the link below, and then click the Attachments tab to see all developer submitted documents and public comments.

 

2 thoughts on “Notice of Proposed Land Use Action

  1. Sean Thomas

    Here the letter I’m sending now:

    Dear PRC,
    I’m writing to express serious concern about the development being proposed at 3959 Fremont Ave N (PRC project #3026875):

    1. L2 zoning is not appropriate for the property. W Fremont Ave is a major arterial street, the steep grade makes it inaccessible for vehicular traffic, aside from very limited street parking. Most of the residents on the block park via garages or carparks located within the alley west of Fremont Ave N. L2 zoned projects are not meant to be supported by residential streets. The alley in question is already difficult to access. Emergency vehicles would likely be unable to reliably reach the address in question.
    L2 designation for this address should be changed to L1, and also for all addresses where the grade of Fremont Ave makes them effectively isolated from Fremont Ave for vehicular traffic.

    2. Lack of direct vehicular or pedestrian access to arterial street. Even if L2 zoning is accepted for this property, which would be a mistake, this property doesn’t have direct pedestrian or vehicular access to that artery. It is improper for a L2 construction to rely on an unnamed back alley for its main thoroughfare. What would happen if other old properties on this block get developed similarly? That alley which cannot even handle large delivery trucks would be choked. This would be a congestion nightmare for all involved, as well as a safety hazard. What happens when a firetruck or ambulance can’t reach the building or one deeper down the block because a car is parked too tight in the alley?
    3. Current design abuses local parking and infrastructure. The design of the property does not provide the neighborhood one additional parking space, and takes away potentially dozens of already tightly contested parking spots from the block daily, depending on who moves in. Think about that for a second, please. In an effort to maximize space for units, there is no effort to help make the neighborhood a better place. Our development, built just last year, at 4025 Fremont Ave N comes with 5 parking spots. One for each unit. This is how adding density should be done – make no major impact in terms of congestion or safety to your new neighbors wherever possible. Adding a ton of congestion and safety problems isn’t the way to do it.

    I submit to you that the project must be scrapped wholesale or have substantial design changes on the basis that L2 zoning is not appropriate for this low density residential area. Failing that, the designs must be materially changed to incorporate sufficient parking with vehicular access to Fremont Ave N as befits an L2 development.

    Sincerely,
    Sean Thomas.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *