Category: General

Resources about the zoning change for the isthmus heights

Excerpted from email sent by Jeffrey J. Jaksich on August 19th

Triway Enterprises, which applied for the rezone, has materials about their proposed project on their website at http://www.triwayenterprises.com/land_larida.html. The eleven sections of their complete application are also available on the city’s website at http://www.ci.olympia.wa.us/cityservices/zoning/LongRangePlanning/Proposed+Comprehensive+Plan+Amendments.htm.

The city planning staff’s analysis of the application and recommended alternative are available at http://www.ci.olympia.wa.us/documents/2008CompPlanDSEIS052608Sections/Chapter7_4th.pdf

Friends of the Waterfront, which opposes the rezone, advocates the eventual inclusion of that land in the park, and wants an inclusive community process to work out a comprehensive vision for the waterfront, has a website at http://www.friendsofthewaterfront.org. Their objections to the proposal are at http://www.nuprometheus.com/friends/OPCTestimony.html.

Olympia 2012 supports rezoning Triway’s two blocks but having the city commit to removing the high rise there now and adding that land and the lots between Bayview and the Oyster House to the park eventually. Members of its steering committee have been meeting with a range of local and state officials to promote their vision for the city, particularly (at the moment) getting the State to give the City another one percent of the sales tax collected downtown for use in improvement projects that would eventually help generate more sales tax returns. Their website is at http://oly2012.org/ and their discussion of the rezone issue is at http://oly2012.org/page14.html.

20/20 Vision Olympia wants the city to do a full-scale community planning process about the future of downtown, run by an outside professional, starting next year. (They’re opposed to rezoning the isthmus, at least until the community goes through that planning process, a charrette.) Their website’s at http://www.2020visionolympia.org.

People for a Participatory City opposes the rezone and a number of other recent developments as steps toward the gentrification of downtown. They have a position paper which is available on the section of the Friends of the Waterfront website which attempts to keep up with other groups opposing the rezone, but no website of their own – as yet. (See http://www.nuprometheus.com/friends/groups.html)

A group which began as a discussion on OlyBlog about creating an inventory of all the stakeholder groups downtown and trying to bring them together, has rapidly turned into a weekly meeting attended by interested individuals from a number of other organizations involved with downtown, like the PBIA, the ODA, Olympia 2012, etc. They’re interested in doing an actual project downtown (like getting groups to each adopt and transform an alley), in Oly 2012’s tax-sharing plan, and in supporting a full scale charrette planning process for the downtown core. There’s information about what their meetings on the Everyday Olympia blog at http://everydayolympia.com/news/category/moving-forward/

Last, but not least, the Olympia Capitol Park Foundation is running an initiative campaign which would require the city to produce a report within five months estimating what it would cost to acquire the land across from Bayview and to create a park. (It would not include any land on Bayview’s side of 4th Avenue, just the land on the other side of that street, from the bridge through the row of buildings next to the fountain.) The report would also investigate ways in which the State and other public or private entities might share the cost. If they gather enough signatures, the Council will have to do the study or run a special election for the voters on the proposal. Their website and initiative petition’s at – http://www.olycapitolparkfoundation.org

SPEECH Releases “Envision Downtown Olympia” Report

A report documenting a recent community forum, “Envision Downtown Olympia,” has been released by the South Puget Environmental Education Clearinghouse (SPEECH). SPEECH submitted a copy of the report to the City of Olympia Planning Commission today for their consideration regarding the Urban Waterfront Rezone and Height Amendment Proposal submitted to the city by Triway Enterprises.

SPEECH, an environmental education non-profit organization, maintains a neutral position on the issue. The report was compiled by Michael Fraidenburg, a senior mediator with the Thurston County Dispute Resolution Center. Fraidenburg performed the role of notetaker during the forum.

Envision Downtown Olympia Forum Notes (PDF)

Relevant Links

Friends of the Waterfront (http://www.nuprometheus.com/friends/)

Olympia 2012 (http://www.oly2012.org)

Two Evergreen Master’s of Public Administration students are conducting a survey on Neighborhood Connections and Physical Activity in Olympia.

They would appreciate your help in gathering information for this study. You can help by taking the survey now. It only takes a few minutes. Responses will be accepted through March 3. They will keep your identity confidential, and your responses will not be attributed to you in any way.

If you know others in the neighborhood that would like to take the survey feel free to forward the information.

Thanks! (I’ve taken the survey, and it is short and easy.)

On March 29, the city’s Neighborwoods program will be planting 1000 trees throughout the city. At least some of those trees will be planted in our neighborhood, and you can help! Visit the city’s website to learn more about this project. Lucy Coffman can put you in touch with a volunteer liaison close to you. Volunteers can help identify locations, pick trees, or plant on March 29.

My name is Elaine Nelson, and I’m the 2007 ENA Board President.  I’ve lived on Frederick near Lions Park for five years, and volunteered with the ENA as webmaster for the last few years.  Last week I decided I’d start posting some regular notes about things going on in the neighborhood and with the neighborhood association.  I’ll try to keep it interesting and frequent.

Today’s note….

Early this morning I rode around in a truck with Lee and Ron from Public Works.  We stopped every few blocks along the edge of the neighborhood, yellow lights blinking and me with my cameraphone, setting the final locations for the neighborhood welcome signs.

If you came to the picnic, then you’ve seen the signs.  Otherwise, just visualize the logo on a white, slightly reflective sign with rounded corners. Those signs are going up at visible entry points to the neighborhood, with help from a City matching grant.

It turns out that mostly we can put them up on existing poles, pretty much all light poles.  (Which is sort of annoying, because we bought posts & set them in cement last year, and we’re only going to need a couple, with a few more for backup!) They should have great visibility, too.

We dropped one of the locations: that entrance point at 7th & Boulevard is just too complicated already! But in general, everything’s looking good. The board is reviewing the location information now, and we should be able to hand off to the city by early next week at the latest. (I need to get the pictures from my Windows Mobile phone onto my Macbook, though, which I haven’t done yet and am sort of dreading.)  There’ll be an opportunity to see at least one of the signs installed and get pics, and then every time you drive into the neighborhood — at least along the busiest routes — you’ll be greeted by a lovely Eastside sign.

The study and comment information can be found at the City of Olympia Web site:
http://www.olympiawa.gov/cityservices/par/parkprojects/

Comments on the draft are due by July 7.