Month: April 2009

This afternoon my family and I visited the Sanctuary Apartments at the Landing. They run from $925 for a studio, to about $1900 for their most expensive unit with the best view. So far, about 30 units are occupied, about 60 more are ready for occupancy, and the remaining 350 units in the Sanctuary will be ready soon. Meanwhile, the adjacent project, called “The Reserve” is a few months later in the process. It will feature more lake views, and prices will be slightly higher. All together, there will be 880 units, with two swimming pools, and two groups of common spaces. (One for The Sanctuary, one for The Reserve).

The common areas at the Sanctuary include outdoor swimming pool, second floor garden (not yet planted), clubhouse with bar, coffee bar, business center, workout room, game room, and general sitting/visiting areas. All of it is very inviting, and will provide vibrant social living spaces for the residents.

The apartments themselves are beautiful, and provide some unique views of the Landing, Boeing, the Airport mountains, the lake (in a few cases), parks, and city lights.

To me, one of the most attractive qualities of all is the proximity to restaurants and the park. A quick walk through the Landing will offer just about any environment and food choices the residents may want, to mingle, visit, dine, etc. And Coulon Park, our most beautiful park with a mile of meticulously groomed lakefront, is just a few minutes walk from the Sanctuary, so there is something for everyone.

These apartments are sure to be a hit. Here are pictures from tonight’s visit. They are open daily until about 7:00 PM, although they close a bit earlier on Sunday.

In addition to offering tremendous housing options, these apartments will also help the Landing maintain a bustling nightlife, and together with the Boeing day crowd, ensure the restaurants and shops have plenty of core customers in addition to those of us in the surrounding parts of town.

 

And a quick pizza dinner at the Rock completes the afternoon… Continue reading →

Here is a recent email chain started by former Renton Councilwoman Theresa Zimmerman, a North Renton resident. ( Her note is on the bottom of the message, and a response from our Alex Pietsch, our Economic Development Director, is above it.)

I agree with Theresa and Alex that we should do whatever we can to keep this post office (as well as the one in Fairwood).

——————————————-
From: Alexander Pietsch
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 4:24:37 PM
To: ”Theresa Zimmerman
Cc: Suzanne Dale Estey; Jennifer Davis Hayes; Denis Law; Jay B Covington;
Council; Julia Medzegian
Subject: RE: Downtown Post Office
Auto forwarded by a Rule

Ms. Zimmerman,
Thank you for your email. Please let me first say that we could not agree with you more. We are very concerned about the potential relocation of the Downtown Post Office and are working hard to try to find a way to influence the Post Office’s decision. Unfortunately, this process is somewhat difficult to understand. The USPS is a quasi-Federal entity and has a lot of authority to do what it wants to do without consulting the City.

On a positive note, in our limited conversations with them they have assured us that:

1) Even if they were to close the post office as we know it, they would maintain a smaller “retail” branch where you could still mail a letter/package, have a PO Box, etc (They just are contemplating consolidation of the mail sorting and distribution functions). This would not be a post office within another business. It would be a full service post office, but in a smaller space, without all of the back office operations they currently have Downtown.

2) There will be some kind of public process before any final decisions are made. We will be watching this closely and intend to stay on it.

Meanwhile, your support for Renton’s Downtown is much appreciated.

—–Original Message—–
From: ‘Theresa Zimmerman
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 2:30 PM
To: Alexander Pietsch

Subject: Downtown Post Office

Dear Mr. Pietsch,
I am sending to you comments that I made online at the Renton Reporter regarding the possible closure, relocation of the United States Post Office in downtown Renton. I would like to be informed when any meetings concerning this issue arise.

“As a resident of North Renton, one who encourages people to do business in the Downtown whenever possible, I am dismayed to see that an anchor such as The United States Postal Service branch on Williams Ave. is under consideration for a possible action of some type, I read “relocate”.

The term used to discuss the idea of changes to a heretofore icon of stability “in play” sounds as if we are involved in a sporting event , when in reality we are engaged in some serious community building and standard of living issues. Why on earth would I want to drive to NE 4th, an incredibly busy arterial, to post a package or conduct official postal business when presently I can walk 5 minutes down the street and accomplish that task? Why would anyone? The more errands or tasks that I can do at one time in the Downtown area the longer I stay there, the more likely I am to eat there, shop etc.

The City of Renton has gone to great lengths, and I applaud them, to create and maintain an environment friendly toward residents in the traditional city proper. We have many lovely new multi-family housing units, we have residents maintaining and upgrading and in some cases building single family dwellings. It is beyond ridiculous to support these efforts to get people to locate in the downtown community and then to pull the rug out from under them by moving basic and local services such as the USPS branch somewhere else.

Currently due at least in part to the unusual economic times my neighborhood is reeling from the loss of grocery stores, retail outlets, restaurants, and the like; I can only wonder, what retail outlet would the post office relocate to? How on earth would the Postal Service guarantee it’s availability to residents in the case of failure of the retail merchant? When you consider the costs of keeping a branch open, consider the costs of keeping a retail merchant open in order to keep the post office functioning!

It is not as if government services such as the post office are trends or whims, they are fundamental core services and the work done there carries with it serious legal ramifications.

Get a grip, do not pull up anchor, we in the downtown need the ready accessibility of core services and yes even some symbolic sign of stability in these unnerving times.”

Thank you for your attention,

Theresa Zimmerman

Renton, WA 98057

A Renton area resident has written to the council a few times asking us to please dredge the mouth of the Cedar river. The resident has pointed out that sediment has built up a new shallow delta, and logs from recent river flooding have covered the area. The end result is a hazard to boating, as well as an apparent increase in lower-river-stretch flood risk.

But, we’ve had to inform him that we are unlikely to dredge this section of river anytime soon. We tried this in the early 1990’s, and it turned out to be highly expensive and largely ineffective for long-term flood relief. If I recall correctly, city taxpayers shelled out more than half a million dollars, and the state more than matched this amount, for an effect that seemed to disappear after the next flood season refilled the lower river stretch with new sediments.

It’s physics… when a flowing river runs into a still body of water, it drops its entrained sediment.

We did finally give ourselves flood relief in this zone. We built flood walls and berms the reach several feet above the high water level, and several feet above the elevation of the lake, so that we can keep the cedar river contained and flowing fast all the way until it reaches Lake Washington– regardless of how much sediment it deposits along this stretch of river bottom.

With regard to the logs, we’re working with other governmental agencies to get rid of those. The Mercer Island Police, who provides marine patrol services to Renton under contract, will occasionally tow dangerous floating logs, one at a time, to a temporary holding facility. But it’s up to the state to ultimately keep the waterways safe.

Here are some pictures I shot of the current situation:

The Cedar River dumps into Lake Washington right below the Boeing airplane bridge, seen above.

Logs and sandbars populate the area around the Cedar River delta, creating a hazard for unwary boaters

These logs get washed down by the Cedar River from upstream in Maple Valley or Renton, and left in the mud and sand at the river mouth. Department of Fisheries likes the habitat provided, but boaters can get in trouble if they are not careful.

And here is an email our Public Works Director sent to the City of Seattle last week, with additional information on this topic:

: Gregg A. Zimmerman
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 7:52 PM
To: Pat.Lee@Seattle.gov
Cc: fmandrews@aol.com; Don Persson; Jay B Covington; Lys L. Hornsby; Ronald Straka; Julia Medzegian
Subject: Cedar River Access Facility

Dear Pat Lee:

I have been following the e-mail exchanges between FM Andrews and you regarding the question of dredging the Cedar River delta. I just wanted to add a couple of clarifying points from the City of Renton’s perspective.

Over the last 15 years the City of Renton has been involved in two large dredging projects, one within the Cedar River Delta and the other along the lower channel of the Cedar River.

The earlier of the two projects was the dredging of the Cedar River delta. The delta dredging project had an unsatisfactory outcome in several respects. Renton was not able to obtain the required permits for important elements of the project due to concerns raised by the environmental resource agencies and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe. The City of Renton went forward with the delta dredging portion of the project even though these other key elements had to be abandoned. Dredging of the Cedar River delta was extremely expensive and did not prevent or alleviate flooding of the river in Renton during high river flow events. In addition, within several years sediment transport in the river caused the delta to re-form. The City determined that the costs of this project far exceeded the benefits, and decided that it was not in the City’s interests to dredge the delta again.

A few years later Renton partnered with the Army Corps of Engineers in the lower Cedar River Flood Control project that included dredging of the lower channel of the Cedar River and the construction of flood walls and berms along the banks. This second project has proven to be a highly effective flood control project, as evidenced by the fact that the river did not overflow its banks during the severe January 2009 flood event. The City remains committed to periodic maintenance dredging of the lower channel of the Cedar River in order to preserve channel capacity and to prevent future flooding.

This maintenance dredging does not include the Cedar River delta. With the exception of a project (currently unfunded) to dredge a small portion of the lake at the north end of the Renton Municipal Airport in order to improve safety for sea plane operations, the City of Renton has no plans or funding for future dredging of the Cedar River delta. Furthermore, the City of Renton does not have jurisdictional authority or responsibility for dredging the Cedar River delta.

I hope these clarifications have been helpful.

Sincerely,

Gregg Zimmerman, P.E.
Public Works Administrator
City of Renton
1055 South Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057