Tonight Community Meeting On Proposed Development Next To Laurelhurst Condos On Sand Point Way

Tonight at 6pm, there will be a Community meeting about the proposed project at 4529 Sand Point Way NE.  

One neighbor told the Laurelhurst Blog "The development will have a large impact on the entire neighborhood."

This vacant parcel is where the Bike Shop used to be until it was demolished in 2016.  Currently, the El Camion food truck sits on part of the property and in previous years a Christmas tree farm was on the south end of the property.

The applicant, listed as Shilshole Development, has a permit on file with the City to construct a 5-story mixed use building with 9,000 square feet of commercial space, 30 residential units and parking for about 40 vehicles.  

In 2007, another developer requested a construction permit, proposing a  4-story mixed use building with 30 residential units, but was cancelled in 2011.

At tonight's meeting, which will be held at the Mountaineers Club at Magnuson Park, there will be an opportunity to give input to the project team and architects regarding the "vision and approach."

King County lists the property as sold on November 6, 2019 for $3,500,000. The lot size is listed as 16,391 square feet and .38 of acre.

The property was last sold in 2008 for $1,600,000.

Very close to this proposed development, Aegis Living, will begin construction of their assisted living and memory care facility, which would be built at "Five Corners, where the former Baskin Robbins site, which closed September 2015 was located (3200 NE 45th Street).

Aegis Living is planning on a building a 135 unit, six story building (55-70 feet) with 53 parking stalls on a lot currently zoned for 40 feet. Permit # 3025056 will require City approval of a "contract re-zone" to build as requested.

Contractors Must Adhere to City Parking Codes And Construction Hours

The Laurelhurst Blog received this information from several residents about contractors adhering to City policies regarding noise and parking. 

One neighbor said:

How about a friendly reminder to help neighbors get through remodeling projects in Laurelhurst.  

Ask your Contractors and workers not to park on the side of the street where a sign says “No Parking”.  Many streets are lined with large trucks that you can barely pass by and curbs are usually left with broken concrete.  Garbage trucks and or Delivery trucks can not pass by.   

  Contractors and workers please, "Do not block driveways." 

Morning start time for any workers  should not work earlier or later than City code allows. 

Another neighbor commented:

For those of you having contractors or other delivery people using the alleys, please have them keep a person immediately nearby to move their vehicle.  

There have now been multiple times where the alley has been blocked on both ends, with no one near the vehicles.  This has forced us to be late picking up our kids at school and would be dangerous if there was an emergency situation.

Seattle City Municipal Codes states on loading and blocking alleys:

Section 11.72.025: No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle within an alley in such a position as to block the driveway entrance to any abutting property.” (RCW 46.90.433(2) 

Section 11.72.020: No person shall stand or park a vehicle except a commercial vehicle, a vehicle displaying a valid commercial loading permit, or authorized emergency vehicle in an alley.” 

Section 11.74.010: No person shall stop, stand or park a commercial vehicle or a vehicle displaying a valid commercial loading permit in any alley for any purpose or length of time other than the expeditious unloading and delivery or pickup and loading of property and then in no case shall such parking for loading and unloading of property exceed thirty (30) minutes.

The Noise code states:

Limit construction noise, in general, to the following times:

• 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., weekdays
• 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., weekends and holidays

For more information on Seattle Municipal Codes go here and here to file a complaint.

Hospital Completing NE 45th Street Sidewalk Work This Week

Work has been going on to demolish and replace the sidewalk on NE 45th Street between 40th Avenue NE and the Hospital plaza walkway, across from 43rd Avenue NE, near the new park on the corner.

Laura, with the Hospital told us:

The sidewalk was not damaged during construction. The sidewalk is being replaced under a separate permit from Building Hope because of its deteriorated and uneven surface.

The sidewalk in the work area should open again sometime next week. The rest of the sidewalk on NE 45th Street remains open.

Tonight King5 Report On Talaris Re-Development And Read Comments From The Neighborhood

At 5pm tonight,  King 5 news reporter Linda Brill will be doing a story on the Talaris re-development. We have heard she will be talking with George Thurtle, consultant and representative to the owners and who is also a Real Estate Developer with John L. Scott, and Linda will also talking with a few neighbors.

The owners have proposed two options for developing the 18 acre property and have posted the options as well as additional information on their "Talaris Living" website.

The first option, their preferred plan is a 350 to 400 unit multi story apartment option which would require a rezone from the single family zoning. Changing the rezoning then allows the developer to increase the height, in exchange for low income housing.

The second option, which is in line with the current zoning, divides the land parcels up into 90 single family lots for homes.

The Laurelhurst Community Club, who has been working with the 4000 Property LLC since mid 2012, has also drafted another conceptual option along with a residential architectural firm with the goal in mind to preserve as much open space as possible, by having homes with single family lots and staying in character with the neighborhood.

An LCC Board member told us of their concept:

The option LCC provided to Talaris is a suggested proposal to encourage Talaris to think outside the box on an alternative for a lower number of single-family lots and preserving more open space in sync with the character of the neighborhood.

This differs from 90-home maxed out grid that Talaris presented as an only option for single family development, or, their preferred plan , which is a 350- 400 unit apartment option, that requires a rezone.
 

Before last year, LCC has been involved with the site once known as Batelle, for over 30 years, in ensuring the property is well integrated with the neighborhood by closely monitoring any proposed development.

Here is LCC's history with Batelle and later Talaris as posted on their website.

LCC has told us that they "hope to work together with the owner and with neighbors to ensure any development plan enhances the livability of Laurelhurst and takes into account the unique open, natural space that exists".

During the Open Houses held by the developers to educate the community on the proposed re-development, our staff  received many comments from neighbors who attended.

Here are the comments:

I opposed the suggested development plan. The neighborhood and surrounding areas have already been hit by the impact of large developers and environmental changes. I believe that development on the Talaris property should be limited to single family homes with yards and high end town homes. The impact of this 'suggested development' design could bring in 200-250 cars into this neighborhood, implies rental and leased properly and retail opportunities. Is this what Laurelhurst neighbors really want?

Neighbors in the Laurelhurst neighborhood east of Laurelhurst Park did not receive a written invite to the meetings. They are only aware of the development via the hard copy of the Laurelhurst news letter.

Rentals mean transient tenants. With the size of one of the proposals there could be some major turn overs in occupancy in a 12 month time period. Short term occupancy can diminish the sense of community and pride.

How many children would they expect and how will that impact schools?

90 units is too many why not a cluster of single family dwellings more along the line of single family 20-30 nicer homes.

If they go with the POD idea and every occupant had a car and some have two where are they going to park? Reminded of other neighborhoods like Capitol Hill and Swedish Hospital area were traffic and parking are a challenge.

We are surrounded by high density housing from UW student housing, to condos and town homes and an ever growing retail mall. Believe in preserving the idea of single family homes.

Both ideas presented by developer seem to be more about making money than in preserving the environment and enhancing the neighborhood. Against any rental property.

What is to keep other developers from buying up surrounding homes and continuing to build high density housing?

Was the developer putting this plan together at the same time Children's was proposing the additions to Children's?

I personally am against such high density housing. More and more signal family neighborhoods have been impacted by high density growth. We need to include preservation of communities like Laurelhurst so that residents of Seattle have choices.

When I was there an LCC Board Members shared an interesting concept design that is very different than either of the two developer options.  It includes a lot of public open space, retains much of the landscape and water features and still seems to meet the owner’s desire to make a profit on his investment. There are something like 52 homes (instead of the 91 homes in one of their plans) and some condos. But no rentals or apartment buildings

George  Thurtle, one of the owner's consultans seemed to  deny the presence of wetlands on the property, which he is totally wrong. 3.8 acres of the property was designated wetlands in the EIS done in 2006. George  also got pretty defensive with another neighbor who was asking a lot of questions, bringing up a lawsuit against a developer by some residents in magnolia, for whom it didn’t end well   He seemed to be letting this neighbor know that we shouldn’t think about pursuing anything of the sort. 

We attended the open house and had a long interaction with the architect who has developed the current proposed plan for the owners of Talaris.  Our impression is that a lot of thought has gone into the proposed development, with the goal of preserving as much as possible of the open areas, trees and conference center in its current natural setting. The development of carefully located buildings for apartments could balance the losses from the conference center without disturbing it's quiet profile.

We understand that the conference center alone is not self-supporting, and we understand the reasons for that. The facility has been limited to use primarily in the daytime and to quiet activities. It is a lovely place for a small conferences and many folks we know have used it as such.

There was one wedding reception that I know of a few years ago - it went on much longer than planned and became quite noisy around 9 - 10 pm. Our homes are like an amphitheater for sounds at Talaris, especially on the side with the dining hall. To Talaris's credit, there has been no other such activities. I'm sure such rentals would be profitable but they are also potentially noisy and disruptive for nieghbors, as we experienced the one time.
 

I was frankly prepared to dislike any changes to the Talaris property, but we recognize the conference center cannot continue as currently run. Therefore we were pleasantly surprised at the intense evaluation of the assets of the land including open space, trees, birds and wildlife. It took some effort to account for each of the trees, and to site buildings so that trees would largely be undisturbed and would shield buildings from view by homes to the east and west. The size of the buildings are reasonable at 2 stories - if I understand correctly - except for replacement of the "commercial" buildings along 45th. And those buildings would have more setback from the streets with landscaping, be much more attractive than the current buildings, and have underground parking.

We also understand that one reason to leave the property intact as a single entity, with renters, is that the owners/managers will retain control of the buildings, land, and their use. Their stated goal to us is to continue neighborhood access to the grounds, as is currently available, except of the development and sale of a single row of single family houses at the eastern edge of NE 45th. If the land was managed by a home-owners association, it is unlikely that the public would be encouraged or even allowed to freely utilize the grounds. Also, with central ownership, there can be standards for noise and behavior, and full time security is planned for the property. (There have been some vandalism and parties in the summer - not nearly as bad as the playfield from what I understand, and we have had numbers to call to alert the property management group to any problems.)

I asked about one comment I had heard, that the apartments would be 600 square feet, with a target of renting to students and workers at the hospitals. It was explained to us that 600 sq feet is a module when planning, and apartments could be 1, 1.5, 2x the 600 square ft, or whatever is desired by the market. We were told they see it as a high end development, and would likely be out of the price range for students. We commented on the interest by seniors in staying in the neighborhood when ready to give up maintaining a home and gardens. The developers are hearing this from others and will respond, I think.

There are plans to add one extra 2 story building on the east side of the property, north of the dining hall and south of a current building in the NE area which is used for conferences. It would give extra rooms for the conference center. We think that the limited height and footprint, along with the quiet nature of current conferences, would be much more desirable than building single family homes build in that area. In fact, the hillside between the alley and the driveway at Talaris is quite unstable and would be expensive to build on, as they recognize. Maintained and improving the trees and other plantings would be far better than intensive development, from our point of view.

We would support the proposed development of the option presented by Talaris, if contracts and covenants can be developed in such a way as to protect the future of that type of governance/development, including adequate safeguards for the future, and ongoing interaction with the adjacent neighbors and the community at large.

I had an opportunity yesterday to spend 45 minutes at one of the Tilaris open houses and I asked why my neighbors further into the neighbor hood were not included in the mailing. There comment was that they were addressing the periphery neighborhoods first. I asked how they were contacting people. They said they were relying on the LCC to get the word out by email and thru the news letter. Not everyone in this community and adjacent property owners are on the LCC mailing list let alone email. Shouldn't the developer be sending out info to all residence who will be affect by this project?

Apparently this project has been brewing since the approval of the Children's Hospital expansion.

When I asked what studies had been done regards to impact on schools the response was "that the design was created to provide housing for UW students and employees of Children's". No study had been done as yet regard to school aged children.

The majority of units are 600 square feet with a few potential larger corner units. Rents would begin about $1500 with the possibility $3000 for the larger units. The carrot is preservation of the pond and green space to the South as a 'legacy'. If you build homes you destroy or limit the 'legacy'.

At 240 units say 2-3 students renting together, 500 to 600 bodies and cars? I don't agree with that at all. Environmental impact the noise the cars and traffic. Doesn't sound very much like a neighborhood setting to me.

When asked about condos as part of the development we were told that it was not a viable return to the investors and that the maintenance would be an issue. Same with single story homes.

When asked to cut the number of houses in the second offer we again were told that for the investor to get a return he needed to keep the volume high. It was also implied that if they built fewer more expensive homes that it would become a gated community and that the rest of the community may not have access to the 'legacy' area.

I asked that if the POD were approved what was to keep the developer from buying up adjacent land and continuing to expand the project. There was no answer. They literally pressed their lips together and said nothing. What's on their future agenda?

In my opinion the investor is out to get his money, does not really understand or sympathize with the neighborhood. I felt somewhat intimidated when I went up to the display board and suggested the removal and rearrangement of some of the 90 house idea. I was told that by siding with single family houses "that I was not interested in preserving the 'legacy' ". They used that word a lot. It made me mad.

Some of my biggest concerns is the loss of neighborhood and open space. If I wanted to live in a high density environment I could move downtown!

I sure hope that LCC and the surrounding neighborhoods are able to put a halt to this high density, transient type of building in this location. Hopefully the city council will stand behind our community.

Talk about the gradual decline of single family housing just to suit big business! I think of the area surrounding the UW especially north of 45th and Greek row, There use to be beautiful single family homes, people I knew. They have left, their homes are not rentals and not well maintained. Is that where we are headed?

George Thurtle loves to use the words "low impact' and high rise " apartments" in the same sentence, though that is quite an oxymoron. There is absolutely nothing low impact about extra traffic, square footage, taller, cheap contruction units, and 350 transient residents at the foot of one of Seattle's 100 year old neighborhood.

If you were unable to attend an Open House, send comments to George Thurtle, the lead development consultant, at (206) 713-3355 or george.thurtle@comcast.net

George Thurtle, let us know that answers to the questions that neighbors submitted to the Laurelhurst Community Club and that we posted last week have been answered in the new FAQ section of the Talaris Living website. 

 

Hospital's Small "William Boeing Park and Garden Walk" To Open In The Spring

A small park, named The William Boeing Park and Garden Walk, is being built at the corner of 40th Avenue NE and NE 45th Street and will open in the Spring along with the new building.

Here is more information from the Hospital's Construction Blog:

The naming of the park honors the Boeing family’s eight decades of commitment to Seattle Children’s – including a recent $1 million gift from William Boeing Jr. and his wife, June, in support of our Building Hope expansion.  

William Boeing Sr., who founded The Boeing Company in 1916, began the family’s legacy of support for Children’s by making crucial donations in the 1930s. Anonymous at the time, the donations helped the hospital remain financially stable. The younger Boeing has since followed his father’s example and been a steadfast supporter of the hospital’s mission. 

The park will include walkways, benches and outdoor art surrounded by lush and colorful native plantings, providing a place for people from the hospital and from the community to pause, relax and enjoy the outdoors.

Don't Miss Talaris Re-Development Open Houses That Continue This Week



The Talaris Open Houses have been going on the last 2 weeks, regarding the future re-development of the Talaris Conference Center, and conclude this week.

All are welcome to attend to see the exhibits showing the proposed two options, meet with George Thurtle with John L. Scott, and lead Consultant to 4000 Property owners, give input, share concerns, and have questions answered.

The Open Houses are held in the Willows Building, the central building cluster at the Talaris Conference Center and the dates and times are:

February 4th, 3-7pm

February 7th, 3-7pm

February 9th, 11-2pm

4000 Properties who purchased Talaris in 2000 from Era Care Communities for $15,630,000, developed the site into Talaris Institute which focused on infant and early learning research of the brain.

Talaris was sold by the owner earlier this year, and the owner is proposing potential new development for the site as depicted in the two options on the developers website, Talaris Living.  

The Laurelhurst Community Club, has been involved with the site once known as Batelle, for over 30 years, in ensuring the property is well integrated with the neighborhood by closely monitoring any proposed development.

The Laurelhurst Blog has previously received numerous comments from those who attended the November Laurelhurst Community Club Board meeting where the two options were first presented.

Since that meeting, LLC has received many questions from the community which George and the team, including Brent Carson, Van Ness Feldman Gordon Derr, and Read-Waggoner, an agency 4000 LLC  hired that "provides community outreach on planning, design, public facilities and policy" have recently answered on their website.

If you are not able to attend any of the Open Houses, you can always call or send comments to George Thurtle, the lead development consultant, at (206) 713-3355 or george.thurtle@comcast.net.

(photo courtesy of Talaris Living website)

New Banners At Hospital Construction Site Replace Green Panels



Sellen Construction, the general contractor working on the Hospital Building Hope construction site,  has moved the temporary fencing surrounding the new building a bit further out to screen construction of the permanent fence, according to the Hospital Construction Blog.

And the temporary chain link fences have been covered with colorful banners that " incorporate imagery from the new campuswide wayfinding system that was introduced last week.  Green plywood panels once surrounded the construction site and were removed in September.
.

Trailers Being Removed From Building Hope Construction Site

The trailers, set up more than two years ago on the Children's Hospital construction site, used by Sellen Construction are in the process of being removed.

The Construction Blog says:

Some trailers are being demolished and recycled while five will be taken apart and hauled away in sections next week.  

Some of the trailer sections will be moved to 40th Avenue NE during the day before being hauled away at night because they are oversize.

Upcoming Neighborhood Talaris Development Meetings And The New Informational Website

 

 
 

The developers of Talaris Conference Center (4000 NE 41st Street), the 18 acre property, located in Laurelhurst, have set up several neighborhood open houses "to share information about the options, answer questions and hear what neighbors think."

 

Also on hand will be exhibits and information on the upcoming revedevelopment as shown on their new  website, Talaris Living, which shows both background on the project and the options under consideration.

 

It states that the new development will "provide a housing option for residents seeking to downsize, for employees wanting to be part of a walkable community and for young families wanting to raise children in a safe and vibrant neighborhood."
 

The general information states that "underlying zoning allows for 5,000 square foot single-family lots. And after considering a number of site plan concepts, we discovered that Talaris presents a unique opportunity to both preserve the site's legacy landscape and make the property financially viable."

 

There are two options being considered for the property with rough drawings posted on the website.
 

Low impact residential option:

• the website doesn't state exactly what this entails as far as how many new buildings will be constructed.  Only states that "new building foundations (will be placed) in strategic locations".
• George Thurtle told us:

"We are  evaluating a Low Impact Residential land use concept as an alternative to developing a single family plat as allowed by the existing SF 5000 zoning. The overall goal of the Low Impact Residential concept is to achieve the same economic return as a single family plat but preserve the character and aesthetics of Talaris. The present SF 5000 zoning does not allow those goals to be achieved. "

 

Single Family housing option:

• The property will be subdivided into 90+ new single family residential lots in a master planned development.
• A new homeowner's association will be formed to govern the look and feel of the development.
• The plan meets current zoning restrictions and critical area constraints and has a clearly defined permitting process.
• The other option is to default to the underlying zoning and build another single family subdivision.

Here are the dates and times of the community "Open Houses":

 

• Monday, January 21st, 3-7 PM
• January 22nd, 3-7 PM
• January 24th, 3-7 PM
• January 28th, 3-7 PM
• January 31st, 3-7 PM
• February 2nd, 11-2 PM
• February 4th,3-7pm
• February 7th, 3-7pm
• February 9th, 11-2pm

 

All the open houses will be held in the Willows Building in the central building cluster at the Talaris Conference Center.

 

At the November Laurelhurst Community Club Board Meeting, George Thurtle, John L. Scott, Consultant to 4000 Property LLC; Brent Carson, Van Ness Feldman Gordon Derr,  presented presented one of their concept plans for development of the property to almost 50 neighbors who attended.

 
The Laurelhurst Blog received numerous comments from those who attended the meeting and from those who didn't know about the meeting.
 
For more information or to give feedback contact  George Thurtle, the lead development consultant at (206) 713-3355 or george.thurtle@comcast.net. 


(photo courtesy of Talaris Living website)

 

Hospital Constrution Activities This Week

Here are the construction related activities happening at Children's Hospital this week:

Pedestrian and Traffic Disruptions
Due to the high volume of construction activities along SPW, 40th Ave NE and NE 45th St, please walk, bike and drive carefully.

Street Improvement Work
Work is progressing along SPW between 40th Ave NE and Penny Drive. There will be a new sidewalk, cycle path, and Metro stop with shelter.

Hartmann Street Frontage
At the Hartmann Building, Sellen crews have completed frontage construction. The Children’s Grounds crew will now be installing irrigation and landscaping. Street trees will be set this week. In the next few weeks Metro will also be installing a bus shelter.

40th and Sand Point Way Signal Project
This project has begun. There will be a lot of activity on all four corners, and safety during this time is a primary concern. Please be careful and follow the directions of signage and flaggers!

Building Interior Work
Crews are onsite completing the metal stud-framed walls and gypsum wallboard that make up most of the interior partitions. They are also completing duct work for the air handling units which have been installed, and running conduit for all of the power and lighting systems. Crews are also installing the fire sprinklers on all of the floors. Besides these basic systems, we have a pneumatic tube system, medical gas systems, and many low voltage wiring systems for all of the specialty equipment being installed.

Helen Lane
Near the disabled access ramp up from Sand Point Way NE there is a temporary construction fence with work proceeding around the connector road tie-in. Please be careful in this area.

Building Exterior Cladding
At the site elevator, near the Giraffe entrance, exterior framing is complete and the windows are installed. Crews are now installing the metal siding and roofing.

New Sidewalk Completed Near Hospital and Cycletrack Planned

Sidewalk at NE 50th Street

Children's Hospital has recently completed a new sidewalk on the north side of NE 50th Street, as part of the Livable Streets Initiative included in the as part of the Major Institution Master Plan. The Intiative is a $4 million plan over the next 20 years to improve bike/pedestrian connectivity throughout Northeast Seattle.
 

The new sidewalk includes curb bulbs on the northwest and northeast corners of the intersection with 40th Avenue NE to shorten the long crossing. The northeast curb bulb is extended to accommodate a Metro bus stop. The improvements make the crossing safer between the hospital, Ronald McDonald House and the nearby Burke Gilman Trail.
 

A cycletrack is also in the works on the east side of Sand Point Way NE. It will run in front of the hospital between Penny Drive and a new traffic signal,, currently under construction, at 40th Avenue NE.
 

The 10-foot wide cycletrack will have separate lanes for each direction. The cycletrack and nearby sidewalk should be completed early next year, helping pedestrians and cyclists move between the two entrances to the hospital, as well as reach the Burke Gilman Trail by a ramp which will be built west of the traffic signal near the Hartmann Building.

 

Cycletrack

 

 (graphics courtesy of Hospital website)

Laurelhurst Resident On City Panel To Discuss Development of Tall, Skinny Houses on Single Family Lots Tomorrow Night

The Department of Transportation and Development (DPD) is having a panel discussion, representing different views, to explore some potential permanent standards on developing small single-family lots, tomorrow from 6-7:30pm in the Bertha Knight Landes Room at City Hall.

A Blog reader told us that Laurelhurst resident John Taylor, whose home is directly impacted by developer Dan Duffus' tall skinny house currently under construction at 4812 NE 40th Street, is the neighborhood representative on the panel. The reader said that he "is extremely knowledgeable and articulate, and will represent Seattle homeowners well."

"While there won't be an opportunity for public comment at the meeting, it should be a good discussion of the issue by three panelists," another reader commented.

The developer's house, southeast of Laurelhurst Park, sits on a piece of property 30 feet wide, which was segmented out of a larger one, only 80 feet wide. Many of Duffus' houses sit only 3 feet from the next door neighbor's house.

Dan Duffus is well-known around the city for building these tall skinny houses on very small lots, of which the houses are modern in style, towering over the established homes beneath them and don't fit in with the character of the neighborhood.

Tomorrow's panel discussion information says:

Please join us for a panel discussion about the City of Seattle's effort to update standards and exceptions for developing on small lots in Single Family zones.

DPD recently determined that development under current standards is often out of character with the surrounding neighborhood. Interim measures were put in place to prevent additional permits on these small lots while this issue is being studied.

The panel presentation will discuss the issues that we will address when the code is amended. Panel participants will include a neighborhood representative, and representatives from the King County Master Builders and the Seattle Planning Commission.

Online comments and written comments will be accepted from the public through December 3. 

As Duffus began to buy numerous lots througout Seattle to build his tall,skinny houses, a number of Laurelhurst residents as well as otherresidents throughout the city affected by this type of developments,joined a multi-neighborhood Seattle wide movement called One Home Per Lot.

Their website explains the issue in detail, shows how to get involved and details Duffus' track record and lists the effects these projects have had on neighborhoods like Laurelhurst, Fremont, Wallingford and Montlake, to name only a few throughout Seattle. Here are photos of Duffus' homes throughout the city.

Nick Jenkins, a Laurelhurst resident, who lives next door to a tall, skinny house in Laurelhurst posted his experience on his family Blog this summer, with the new construction home right next door to him.

Following tomorrow night's panel discussion, DPD will prepare recommendations for code amendment legislation, likely available for public review by mid-December. Around March of next year, City Council will be holding a public meetings on the issue.

The emergency ordinance will remain in effect until the new rules/regulations are implemented (and the emergency ordinance can be extended if need be). The legislation requires lots to be at least 50% of the size of a legitimate building lot and restricts the size of houses in lots smaller than 3750 square feet to that of an accessory dwelling unit. Here is an article in the Seattle Weekly about the legislation.

(picture courtesy of DPD site)

Weigh In Tonight On Potential New Development At Talaris

Tonight at 7pm, developers who own Talaris Conference Center (4000 NE 41st Street), are going to present one of their options for development of the 18 acre property, to the monthly meeting of the Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC). This meeting is open to the community.

One resident who lives near there told us that their initial plan is to develop the site as a combination of retail/multi-family units or single family homes.

Another neighbor is concerned they may have plans to rezone and that the new development would not be in character with the neighborhood. And  there is also concern that that the homes could be rentals, thus not people invested in the neighborhood.

One neighbor wrote to us saying "If this development or the impact on Laurelhurst is of interest to and you love and enjoy this property as much as I do,  I hope that you’ll consider attending tonight.

"I think it would be great to have a large body of neighbors there so that they can see that a lot of us care about what happens to the property," another neighbor added.

"We are not only concerned with this upcoming redevelopment and the long term impact on those residents living so close to this beautiful sprawling property, but also the impact on the environment of the wildlife living there. Formany years we have watched eagles nesting year after year in the same trees, ducks and other birds enjoying the lake and the peacefulness strolling through the quiet grounds. 

And another neighbor commented "Some neighbors are getting concerned about what it could bring...people and traffic wise."

"Please spread the word! This is SO important, and I imagine it is the ONLY chance that we’ll get to be seen by these representatives," another reader wrote to us.

Here is the full agenda for the Laurelhurst Community Club Board Meeting to be held at the Laurelhurst Community Center in the Fireside Room:

7:00 Update on Talaris Redevelopment Plan: George Thurtle, John L. Scott, Consultant to 4000 Property LLC;  Brent Carson, Van Ness Feldman Gordon Derr

8:20 Calls and Concerns from Neighbors, Treasurer's Report, Announcements

8:40 Crime in the Neighborhood, Sock Drive

8:50 520 Update

9:00 End

(photos courtesy of Talaris website)