Eastside Neighborhood Association – Page 38 – Representing the Eastside Neighborhood of Olympia, Washington

Survey Footnotes – Community Connections

These footnotes belong with the Subarea Plan Community Connections Survey.

Whereas many Olympia neighborhoods are within easy walking distance of community parks and open space amenities such as Priest Point, Watershed, Mission Creek and LBA Woods, Eastside residents are limited to two small neighborhood parks, Lions Park and Madison Scenic Park. The 2016 Parks, Arts and Recreation Plan found there is a strong demand for trails and natural open space areas. The study also showed that water quality, wildlife habitat, public access and scenic value were important reasons to preserve open space. Olympians requested that the City “Buy open space/natural areas” and “Buy land while it’s still available.”

The Eastside has just this type of opportunity. From its origin in Bigelow Lake, Indian Creek flows approximately 3 miles to Budd Inlet. It crosses under I-5 near the PSE facility on Pacific Avenue, follows the Woodland Trail, re-crosses I-5, passes through the southwest corner of the neighborhood, and enters an underground pipe near 12th Avenue and Eastside Street. Like many urbanized stream corridors portions of this one have been degraded. However, the portion of the creek which runs through the southwest corner spreads out and forms a large wetland. Because of the limited development in this area this stream and its associated wetlands presents an excellent opportunity for habitat preservation and restoration.

There are four parcels totaling about 9½ acres. Three of the parcels are owned by one party. With the addition of an undeveloped right-of-way the area available is a little over 10 acres. These mostly undeveloped lands need to be set aside from development to protect their special characteristics. They could provide a close-in opportunity for the community to experience and connect with flora, fauna, and natural habitats, including substantial stream and aquatic habitats. Trail development could allow public access. Less sensitive portions of the site may be appropriate for recreational activities such as a community garden or dog park. The neighborhood and the rest of the City should work with the Parks Department to develop an appropriate long-tern plan to acquire and preserve the land and its resources.

A “Neighborhood Hub” is a small attractive lively shopping area serving two or more residential neighborhoods. A primary purpose is to provide spaces where residents of nearby neighborhoods go to shop, eat, drink, hang out and socialize. The subarea plan proposes establishing a Neighborhood Hub west of Boulevard Road, near 4th Avenue E and State Avenue NE. It would serve primarily the Eastside, Bigelow Highlands and Upper Eastside neighborhoods.

Olympia’s Comprehensive Plan identifies 17 Neighborhood Centers. However, none are located in the Eastside neighborhood. Olympia’s Neighborhood Centers are generally zoned Neighborhood Retail. This designation limits Neighborhood Centers to one acre. The proposed Neighborhood Hub would be larger than a Neighborhood Center, possibly two acres or more, appropriately-sized to encourage neighborhood-serving pedestrian-oriented businesses.

The Comprehensive plan recognizes the need to build a roundabout to replace the signalized intersection at Pacific Avenue and Boulevard Road. Such a project has the potential to profoundly affect traffic on 4^th Avenue, State Street, Martin Way, Wilson Street and others. In turn the traffic improvements could fundamentally change the nature of the business community. Instead of an area people pass by on their way to somewhere else, they will be inspired to stop and shop, congregate and connect.

This area is currently within the 4^th and State High Density Corridor which extends a half block north of State and south of 4^th. The three High Density Corridor zoning designations (HDC-1, 2 & 3) allow a wide variety of office, commercial and residential land uses. To date, this area has experienced only limited high density residential development. A Neighborhood Hub would attract future high-density corridor residents while, at same time, increased residential density in the area would encourage businesses to locate in the Neighborhood Hub.

Neighborhood Meeting Minutes March 2019

3/20/2019 Swantown Inn 7-8:30 pm

Attendees:

Board members – Sheena Pietzold, Brian Brannies, Jim Sweeney, Roger Horn, Nathan Allan

Others – Cheryl Bayle

1. Variety show update: Roger hasn’t heard back from Salvation Army about the date availability yet. Bigelow Highlands neighborhood wants to partner. We are looking at May 18th or June 1st but prefer June 1st. Roger will meet with Angie Warner-Rein from Bigelow Highlands to talk about getting performers, logistics, etc. We think partnering will help get more people, more performers, and more volunteers.

2. Sub-area update: Roger provided some background on what has happened so far. On the first survey (of four to get feedback on what’s been done so far), some of the comments were somewhat discouraging. There were 29 responses (the survey was 44 questions). We still think doing this kind of outreach is a good thing and the right thing to do. A tentative schedule for the rest of the planning process was discussed. We’ve gotten 11 responses so far on the second survey (the survey is 27 questions). The Core team is looking at the Vancouver subarea plans for examples and ideas. City staff have not been as helpful as we’d like, but no one person is currently devoted to helping with the subarea planning process right now. The next really big date for the subarea plan process is June 8^th when we’ll hold a town hall. We’ll ask Paul Horton if he’ll facilitate and look at the Elks Lodge similar to the first town hall we had.

3. Mural update – Brad submitted the Neighborhood Matching Grant for the mural.

4. CNA report: Jim Sweeney – Dave Marty on the CNA suggested putting in a grant to the RNA (recognized neighborhood association) for facilitated training to make the CNA run more effectively/smoothly. There was an update/debrief on the snow storm from Public works and PSE. From what folks heard, positive take-a-way included people getting to know their neighbors, getting outside and walking around, etc. The more negative take-a-ways were mostly related access (like the kids couldn’t go to school because they couldn’t walk without going in the roads). There was also an update on the Homeless response plan (9-month timeline) that’s just getting started.

5. Picnic and block parties: Discussed dates for these events – picnic will be August 17^th, 4-7pm, block parties will be July 12^th, 5-7pm. Brian will work on securing the shelter and insurance for the picnic as well as donations from the Co-op and Ralph’s, Nathan will talk to Big Tom’s. Roger will coordinate with past block party hosts.

6. Treasurer report: Sherry unable to attend. Brian needs to get login info and can then fill in for Sherry.

7. Other business

– Any place we can archive past ENA-related docs? Example, past newsletters, etc. particularly hard copies. Perhaps a volunteer would be interested in helping scan and catalog these. Maybe we can check with city to see if we can use their facilities for scanning.

– Letter about armory – Jim S. will move on finalizing the letter, Brian as new president will sign.

– Plum Street village – we do have a seat on the advisory board, but things are moving a little slower than expected. The village is only about half-full right now and is taking a little longer than expected to fill the spots.

– Need to update the website with new board members and send the city the updated info, Sheena will be Secretary (voted in tonight). If we don’t get 2 more board members by next month, then we may need to update bylaws. Discussed doing a post on Nextdoor, website post, and email to the mail chimp account list to recruit more board members. It’s also a possibility to update the neighborhood boundaries to include the area from Eastside to Plum as well.

– County Courthouse Location special election is supposed to be in August, so if we wanted to host a forum, we would need to do it in July. City Council Candidate forum would need to be in late September or early October to be ready for the for the vote in November.

ENA Sub-Area Plan Survey #3- Crime Prevention & Safety Enhancement

Dear Eastside Neighborhood Neighbors,

The Eastside Neighborhood Association (ENA) Subarea Planning Team is developing four action plans based on input received from neighborhood town halls, surveys, and events. We are doing surveys for each action plan.

It contains 28 action plan recommendations. For each recommendation you can indicate whether they should be included as they are, included with modifications, or left out of the Plan. A box is provided below each recommendation so you can propose a modification or make any comment. Do as much of the survey as you’d like. Please submit Survey #3 by Sunday, April 28th.

Here are the four action plans/surveys:

Surveys #1 and #2 were distributed in February and March. The links are still available on the ENA website. Survey #4 will be available after the Survey #3 due date.

We will present all four action plans to the ENA Board for their review and approval by the end of June. After it’s approved by the Board, we will send it to the City Council for their review.

THANK YOU for providing your feedback and ideas! Our hope is to create future actions that will improve the quality of our neighborhood!

Any questions? E-mail us at: president@eastside-olympia.org