Supporting Documentation:
Opportunity Fund application

Related Links:
Seattle Parks Website

As Greenwood grows and property value increases, opportunities for public space will become more rare.  The park is seen as serving several important purposes including: Providing an important pedestrian circulation node and destination along an already identified Neighborhood Green Street; Providing an safe link between Greenwood Elementary and residences south of 85th with Sandel Park and commercial development to the north of 85th; Serving as a gathering space & urban park for patrons of local restaurants and retail stores; Providing an active urban space for neighborhood gatherings, markets and festivals.  How that happens is addressed through the design.

The application to the Seattle Parks Department was submitted April 2nd.  Over 100 applications were received by the Parks Department.  Those projects deemed top tier by the Parks Oversight Committee will have a chance to present their project.  There is $7 million available for this 2010 round of the Parks and Greenspaces Levy to be split among the projects selected by the Oversight Committee.  This includes park acquisitions and development.  More information can be found at the Seattle Parks website under “Related Links” at the top of this page.

This was an agenda item for the 2010 January, February, and March GCC meetings where we explained the process and asked for input before the application was due on April 2.  Attendees expressed support for the acquisition and offered some suggestions for potential uses.  There are no plans to vacate the alley though it was suggested by one of the attendees.  There is the possibility of expanding the park to the south parcels if owners are willing to sell, which would increase frontage along the Green Street and increase sun exposure and allow better visibility of the site.  Currently, this has not been discussed with those owners.  We will provide a updates at upcoming general membership meetings.

The chairperson of the greenwood advisory group, Evan Bourquard, wrote a letter to address community concerns about the group’s proposal to rezone single family housing adjacent to the Greenwood town center.  Click “more” below to view the letter.

Dear neighbors,
I’m writing on behalf of the greenwood advisory group (GGDDAG) to apologize for our lack of attendance at the recent Greenwood Community Council meeting and to let you know what changes are being made to the current Town Center rezone proposal as a result of the clear input we received from that meeting.

We are a volunteer organization of design and development professionals, working hard to bring our unique skills to bear on large projects for the good of the larger neighborhood. The initial rezone proposal was an offshoot of our efforts over the past year to engage and improve the pending Fred Meyer development by working directly with the developer, owner, and Northwest Design Review Board. During that process, it became clear to members of our group that the underlying auto-oriented C1-40 zoning was lowering the “starting point” for future and current development on this important site. To improve this situation moving forward, the rezone proposal was created and developed at a series of stakeholder workshops that were held last summer. However, it is clear that our initial proposal (which included the perimeter up-zones to promote higher density development around the central site) was more aggressive than it needed to be.

So, as a result our group has decided to remove both the perimeter up-zone of the single family (SF) parcels and the up-zone of the neighborhood commercial (NC) parcels south of 85th street from our current rezone proposal. We will actively lobby City Council and the City to remove these supporting “layers” from their own versions as well. The main goal of the larger rezone has always been to change the zoning on the Fred Meyer site from commercial (C1) (parking lots and gas stations) to neighborhood commercial (NC), which we feel is more in keeping with the character and future of downtown Greenwood. We plan to continue to urge City Council and the Mayor to provide the necessary funding to study and develop a final legislative rezone based on our proposal.

We hope to present the revised proposal at a future Greenwood Community Council meeting, and we are working with Trevor to stay connected. In the meantime, if you would like to receive regular updates on the activity of our all volunteer team, or if you are a design professional that would like to contribute, please email us at .

Thank you again for your passion and continued engagement.

Evan Bourquard, Chair
Greater Greenwood Design & Development Advisory Group

CLICK HERE to download the GGDDAG’s letter in PDF format.