Beach Drive Blog

Compliments of the Alki News:

Press Release City Neighborhood Council

April 30, 2007

SEATTLE’S CITY NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL INVITES CITIZENS TO A PUBLIC
WORKSHOP ON NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING

SAT., MAY 19, 9 A.M. TO NOON AT
CITY HALL, 601 FIFTH AVENUE

Citizens who wish to improve and empower their neighborhoods should
not miss the important public workshop on Neighborhood Plans –
Sharpening the Tools for Effective Use, Implementation and
Stewardship, to be held Saturday, May 19th, from 9 a.m. to noon in
the Bertha Knight Landes room on the first floor of the City Hall,
601 Fifth Avenue. The event is sponsored by the City Neighborhood
Council, in coordination with the office of Seattle City
Councilmember Sally Clark.

The May 19 workshop will assess the results so far from Seattle’s
nationally recognized 38 neighborhood plans, which were produced
between 1995 and 1999, based on the volunteer efforts and
recommendations of tens of thousands of Seattle residents,
businesspeople, and non-profit organizations. In approving and
adopting the neighborhood plans, City officials committed to changes
in plans and ordinances that guide housing and job growth, and in the
City’s spending for streets, sidewalks, parks, and other neighborhood
needs.

Issues and opportunities to be explored at the May 19 event include
the following:

· How have City departments and the City Council implemented
the neighborhood plans, and what further implementation is needed?

· How have neighborhood plans affected the course of private
development, and in what ways has this impact been helped or hurt by
subsequent citywide changes in the land use code?

· To what extent do the neighborhood plans need to be
revitalized to make them useful tools to guide city investment,
development and preservation--and how can this be done?

· Do neighborhoods that currently lack a plan (nearly 40
percent of Seattle’s area is not covered by a neighborhood plan),
wish to have one? What resources and procedures are available to
this end?

Speakers will include representatives of various City departments, as
well as experienced citizen volunteers. The breakout sessions and
summations will spotlight the ideas of many other citizens who were
involved in developing the plans, those now serving as plan stewards,
and those newly interested in neighborhood planning.

Sally Clark is uniquely qualified to keynote the event. She chairs
the City Council’s Economic Development and Neighborhoods Committee,
and in that role she recently commissioned from the City Auditor an
evaluation of the track record of neighborhood plans. In an earlier
career, Clark worked for the City in overseeing the development and
implementation of many of the current neighborhood plans. For a link
to Clark’s March 16 Seattle Times article on neighborhood planning,
see http://seattle.gov/council/clark/innews.htm.

Founded in 1987 under a City Council resolution, the City
Neighborhood Council is an official advisory body, the citywide voice
of the thirteen district councils (which are also official advisory
bodies). The City Neighborhood Council successfully campaigned for
the neighborhood planning program, and is committed to its renewal
and continued success. About the City Neighborhood Council and the
district councils, see www.seattle.gov/neighborhoodcouncil. The
City’s current information on neighborhood plans can be found at
http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/npi/.

DETAILS:

Neighborhood Plans Workshop: Sharpening the Tools for Effective Use,
Implementation and Stewardship

Saturday, May 19, 9:00 a.m. – noon, Seattle City Hall’s Bertha Knight
Landes Room, 1st Floor of 601 5th Avenue (between Cherry & James)
(Light refreshments will be provided)

Contact: Irene Wall (Chair of the City Neighborhood Council’s
Neighborhood Planning Committee, (206) 784-8731, iwall@serv.net; or
Chris Leman (Chair of the City Neighborhood Council), (206) 322-5463,
cleman@oo.net.