Blockwatch
“I just talked with a Shoreline Fire Department officer who told me that they are looking for a group called “RED” that is working our area drumming up business by offering home and fire inspections, for a fee. They are in fact, impersonating the fire department and do not have a Shoreline license. They have a brochure that looks pretty legit but the FD is getting reports of people being taken advantage of. He asked if anyone sees them or if they come to the door, to call the Shoreline Fire Dept. 206-533-6500.”
Attention Graduating Seniors!
The June issue of the Bulletin will feature students in our neighborhood who are graduating from high school or college this year. If you know someone who fits this description, please email the editor at Carol Solle by June 15th. Please include the school, area of study and future plans.
Well-fed coyote pup captures mountain beaver
17th NW, June 1, 1:30 PM
Point Wells Workshop on June 14, 7:30 PM
at the Richmond Beach Congregational Church
Learn how to make your comments count!
Snohomish County has announced they expect the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed development at Point Wells to be released later this year. Once it is released, residents will have a 45 day period in which they can submit comments to the County. There are probably many aspects of the proposed project that you are concerned about and would like to comment on, but maybe you aren’t sure exactly how to do that. Well we have you covered – RBCA is hosting a workshop on Tuesday, June 14th to help residents learn how to submit effective comments. The workshop will be held at the Richmond Beach Congregational Church starting at 7:30 PM.
Why is this happening now?
Snohomish County has been slowly processing the permit application for the Point Wells development since it was submitted in 2011, but the pace has recently picked up speed. The next significant step is the release of the DEIS. The DEIS is where the developer will try to explain how a development the size of a small city will avoid harming the Puget Sound shoreline, avoid harming the aquatic life that depends on that shoreline, and how all the new traffic generated by the development can be handled by Shoreline’s street system.
Why is the release of the DEIS important?
The DEIS is significant because it is the primary opportunity for Shoreline’s residents to tell the County whether they think the developer’s plans to minimize the impact of the development are reasonable or not. You can do that through the public comment process that is part of every DEIS. We need Snohomish County to know that a development as large as this is opposed by a large number of local residents.
What can you do?
The DEIS will cover a very wide range of topics including those listed below. Each of these topics is a an area that can be addressed in public comments. If you have expertise in any of these areas, or know of someone who does, or are interested in learning more about some of these topics so you can submit your own comment, please contact us at info@saverichmondbeach.org. We need to get as many experts and interested residents as possible involved in the comment effort.
DEIS Comment Areas
- Earth (critical slopes, landslides, earthquakes, liquefaction, etc.)
- Water Resources (storm water runoff, sea level rise, tsunamis)
- Noise (construction noise, train noise reflected to the east from sound barriers, etc.)
- Plants and Animals (existing on site aquatic and land wildlife, fisheries, wetlands, etc.)
- Environmental Health (on site contamination cleanup)
- Aesthetics (relation of building height to neighborhood, view impacts, light pollution, etc.)
- Land Use Policies (relation to plans and policies of SnoCo, Shoreline, Woodway)
- Historic and Cultural Resources (archeological sites or artifacts)
- Transportation (second access road, cut through traffic, pedestrian safety, etc., etc.)
- Public Services (impact on police, fire, sewer, water, power, library, schools, parks)
- Fiscal Impacts (impacts on Shoreline, schools, fire, etc., impact on local property values)
Come to our June 14th Workshop!
To help you learn how to submit a comment, RBCA is hosting a workshop on June 14th at 7:30 PM at the Richmond Beach Congregational Church. The workshop will present information about what makes an effective comment, how to submit your comments, how you can get more information about the topics you are interested in commenting on, and will give you a sample comment letter you can use as a template for your own comments.
We’ll make it easy for you to sound like an expert!
Council of Neighborhoods Meeting Highlights
June 1st, 2016
Pete Gerhard, the new Chairperson opened the meeting at 7:00.
Announcements: Maryn Wynn
The Solarize Shoreline Campaign, designed to provide discounted group pricing for anyone wishing to take advantage of the final 4 years of rebates and incentives.
Come to one of two Workshops to find out more and register for a preliminary free assessment.
- Thursday, June 23rd, 7:00 – 8:30 pm @ Shoreline City Hall
- Saturday, July 23rd, 10:30 am-Noon @ Shoreline Community College
- August dates coming!
Come and find out more.
For more info and to register for a workshop. Go to:
Contact info@shoreline.org for information about a special talk for your community
Michelle Pidduck, with the Shoreline Fire Department announced that she will be taking the place of Melanie Granfors as the Community Outreach Coordinator
Minutes reviewed and Approved
Jesse Salomon provided an update on key issues facing the City Council:
- 145th Corridor Project….amidst angst and curiosity:
- Zoning review is still underway
- Primary concerns are for Lake City Way and Aurora to Light Rail station
- Council met and with community input they voted to have an open process and make a final zoning decision in September…
- One possible consideration will be to do a phased zoning
- The advantage would be to limit demand (Phase 1: on adoption)
- Phase 2: would commence on 2030…
- One thought is to include parks instead of an exclusive focus on housing density.
- ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL FRONT. Hidden Lake in Boeing Creek & Runoff Purification
- The City has been paying to dredge the lake (without which it would become a bog) but can no longer justify the expenditure of $100,000s to continue dredging.
- So there will be a study to remove the dams to restore salmon habitat
- Also needed, is a large storm water facility to purify the water from runoff.
- The City will undertake this burden so that developing the Central Market/Sears Center is more attractive to developers
- Financial Sustainability Presentation—Sara Lane
- This is a infinitely better explanation of the proposed property tax changes I discussed at the May Board meeting
- Key Points:
- Based upon an bi-annual survey (currently being conducted again)the consensus is that people are generally quite pleased with the level of services offered.
- The presentation included a discussion of the services and costs.
- For those who missed one of two City-sponsored community meetings, a “voice-over” will be added to the presentation and it will be made available online
- The current Property Tax Levy lid lift that allows $1.48/$1000 of assessed value is about to expire.
- Bottom Line is that the Financial Sustainability Citizen’s Advisory Committee voted overwhelmingly to renew the Levy Lid Lift that is expiring this year. The current amount is approximately $1.33 per $1000 of assessed value. That amount would change, but be allowed to raise to $1.48 per $1000
- The reason it is currently at $1.33 and not the allowable $1.48 is because there is still a CAP on the TOTAL taxes the City can raise, because as Assessed Values rise, the rate has to lower. They are inversely proportional.
- The problem is that without lifting the Levy Lid (Initiative 747) of 1% increase per year, we cannot keep up with costs of services that increase at often even greater the Consumer Price Index
- Key Points:
- This is a infinitely better explanation of the proposed property tax changes I discussed at the May Board meeting
- Constance provided a packet of upcoming events
- As his first official act as Chair, Pete Gerhard, Reviewed our progress in the last year.
- Successes and Suggestions for improvement for the Council of Neighborhoods were offered
- Some Ideas for Next Year:
- Invite people with diverse backgrounds to come and share their story
- Consider a Sister Neighborhoods event where each Neighborhood pairs with a geographically distant neighborhood to sponsor and hold a joint event
Respectfully Submitted,
—Domenick J. Dellino