Coyotes are trying to eat your cats and dogs!…

Written by Randy Corman 2 Comments

In Today’s Seattle Times there is an important warning about the local coyote population. Coyotes are kind of cute, in their wild-doggy sort of way, but many pet owners do not realize the threat these wild animals pose to their cats in particular. Cats that have been raised with dogs are actually in the most danger, as they have generally become accustomed to the behaviors of domestic dogs and are taken completely by surprise when a meandering coyote suddenly charges and lunges at them on your street after dark.

Renton’s coyote population is rising, and many of my residents have noted that Renton sounds like the Arizona prairies on some evenings after dark. Howooooooo……

You can spot areas in Renton with high coyote populations simply by looking at the telephone poles….the more signs you see for lost kitty’s, the more coyotes there are. Raccoons also are a threat to cats, but they are less likely to attack them, and when they do they will leave the body for the very sad family to find. Coyotes, on the other hand, take the body back to their den, and leave their grieving owner posting reward signs for their lost kittys….too sad.

Renton animal control has come across dens with the remains of up to 50 kitty-cats, sometimes with collars and tags in the mix!

What can you do?

First, please do not hurt or harass the coyotes. This may get you in legal danger and physical danger.
Here is a list of steps from today’s Seattle Times…

To keep coyotes away

.. Keep pet food and water inside.

.. Keep cats inside.

.. Keep wild bird seed elevated and in feeders designed for birds, and clean up spilled seed from the ground; coyotes can either be drawn directly to the seed, or to rodents drawn to the seed.

.. Keep fruit trees fenced or pick up fruit that falls to the ground.

.. Minimize vegetation near children’s play areas to avoid attracting rodents and small mammals that will in turn attract coyotes. Keep clusters of shrubs, trees and other cover and food plants away from buildings and children’s play areas.

Source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

And here is the Complete Article…..


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Saturday, October 28, 2006 – Page updated at 12:18 AM

Pets vanish as Seattle’s coyote sightings increase

By Tan Vinh

Seattle Times staff reporter

Coyotes’ local habitat is shrinking.

At first, the stories sounded like playground lore .. coyotes snatching house cats around Beacon Hill neighborhoods in the middle of the night.

But then Tub, Teenie and other felines weren’t coming home at night. More than the usual number of fliers about missing tabby and Siamese cats began showing up on utility poles and community bulletin boards.

By summer, reports of sightings were becoming frequent on community e-mail listserves and at neighborhood crime-watch meetings in this South Seattle community.

In late July, resident Tina Miller said, two coyotes mauled and killed the family’s beloved 3-year-old cat in her backyard. Two weeks later, Miller said, her son saw a coyote trying to snatch a stray cat near her house.

“It was traumatizing,” Miller said. “We had no idea there was such a big problem with coyotes.”

Continue reading →

So nice….HCA is back in our Neighborhood program!

Written by Randy Corman 0 Comments

I received this note from Terry Persson today, along with similar notes from Inez Peterson and City Hall. This is great news. Our Neighborhood Program’s split with Highland Community Assocication (HCA) was stressful all around….its sooo nice to see a reconciliation.

Randy for your information. The HCA is now Officially Recognized. Worked with Norma for about an hour this morning, and all is well.

Thanks for the help…

Terry Persson

————– Forwarded Message: ————–
From: “Norma McQuiller” <nmcquiller@ci.renton.wa.us>
To: <tpersson@comcast.net>
Cc: <angelSandel@aol.com>, “Alexander Pietsch” <apietsch@ci.renton.wa.us>, “Suzanne Dale Estey” <sdaleEstey@ci.renton.wa.us>
Subject: HCA Application
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 18:40:50 +0000

Dear Terry,

Congratulations on the Renton Highlands Community Association becoming an Officially Recognized Neighborhood under the City of Renton Neighborhood Program.

Because HCA has met the eligibility requirements, based on your application and by-laws, you will have the opportunity to enjoy the many benefits of the program.

Per our conversation, it was reassuring to know that we have the same commitment for Renton: promoting a positive communication and building viable partnerships between the HCA and the City.

As an officially recognized organization HCA will receive a city liaison to work with your association, eligibility for funding for neighborhood grants and picnics and have contact information about your association on the City’s web site.

I look forward to working with you in the future to continue to make Renton a great place to live.

Sincerely,

Norma McQuiller
Neighborhood Program Manager
City of Renton
425-430-6595
Fax 425-430-7300

Burlington Northern/Dinner Train discussion on Wednesday Morning

Written by Randy Corman 0 Comments


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The Burlington Northern Right-of-Way finally comes before our city council Transportation Committee this Wednesday morning, Oct 18, at 9:00, at City Hall (7th floor, council conference room).

The public is invited to watch the discussion, and I will be there with two of my council collegues to review the city’s options. We may also be able to accept a small amount of public comment, but we would not be able to take very much testimony because of the meeting format and time alotment. Mostly, this will be our last-best opportunity to determine whether the city can and should take any actions to block the abandomnent process that will end the run of the dinner train.

This meeting is being held as a result of a motion I sponsored two weeks ago (see my email below)


—–Original Message—–racorman
From: Corman, Randy
Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 4:06 PM
To: Julia Medzegian; Citizens to Council Via Clerk
Cc: Jay Covington; Kathy Keolker
Subject: Severing the Burlington Northern Line at Wilburton

Tonight I plan to move that we place the subject of the severing of the
Burlington Northern Railroad track at Wilburton into the Transportation
Committee for review. It appears that the federal abandonment process
will probably be initiated within the next month, and all parties
(including Renton) will have 45 days to respond. Given that we have
hundreds of industrial acres on this track that will be severed from the
rest of the Eastside by lack of a single bridge over I-405, and given
that the track is currently in active use, I feel that council should
take a pro-active involvement in this topic. I believe that the
abandonment process gives us more rights and leverage than we have
discussed, and we owe it to future generations to deliberate this issue
carefully.

I have coordinated with the Transportation Committee chair about this,
and she is supportive of bringing this into her committee.

Thanks,

Randy

 

The Landing Website is online

Written by Randy Corman

I’m posting this email to you because I know this new Landing website will be of great interest to many of you. However, I am not taking comments on this article, as the Landing is has been appealed to City Council and under the rules of “Quasi-Judicial Preoeedings” I should not engage in dialogue on the topic prior to the hearing.

From: Natalie Quick <nquick@feareygroup.com> [ Save Address ]
To: rcorman@ci.renton.wa.us
Subject: The Landing Community Website has launched!
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:15:31 -0700

Hi Councilmember Corman,

Hope this email finds you well. We wanted to let you know that we’ve officially launched The Landing’s community website, which you can view online at The Landing Website

The site is dedicated to bringing Renton residents up-to-date information on everything related to The Landing. From updates about construction progress and tenant announcements to the latest news and information regarding the appeals from our neighbor to the south, this is the place to go for all of the facts.

The homepage is set up in a blog format so community members can instantly access new information, log their views and opinions and even send a message directly to Westfield. Once there, the community can access all media coverage and get updates and information on events.

You can also go to the “Get Involved” page and sign up for regular updates and place your name on a list of supporters of the project.

Please feel free to forward this information to those in the community that would like to stay informed on what’s happening at The Landing. And, as always, if you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to phone or email me.

www.thelanding-renton.com

Best,

Natalie Quick

Yay! Great council meeting last night! Thanks council!

Written by Randy Corman 0 Comments

We resolved several important issues last night. We successfully chartered the Highland Citizen Advisory committee with a good cross-section of representatives, which seemed to meet with satisfaction from most parties. In addition, we passed a motion requesting the Administration to confirm that HCA now meets the criteria to enter back into the city’s neighborhood program. Considering HCA is one of Renton’s oldest, largest, and most active community associations, I believe this renewed formal relationship will be a relief for citizens and city employees alike.

The Highland Citizen Advisory Committee had their first meeting this morning, so they are now off and running! I wish them all the best as they work toward developing the plan for rejuvenated Renton Highlands.

The best part is, the council took all of the above actions unanimously, which left spirits high all around. Thanks council! What a great night.

Oom Pah Pah… (Renton Highlands)

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment


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One of my favorite broadway musicals has always been Oliver the Lionel Bart adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic Oliver Twist. (My wife and I even made a point of seeing this show performed live in London a few years back.)

One of Bart’s catchiest and most memorable musical numbers is Oom-Pah-Pah. Here are some of the lyrics and the chorus…

…If you’ve got the patience,
Your own imaginations
will tell you just exactly what you want to hear:

Oom-pah-pah! Oom-pah-pah!
That’s how it goes,
Oom-pah-pah! Oom-pah-pah!
Ev’ryone knows…
They all suppose what they want to suppose
When they hear oom-pah-pah

I noticed my lovely wife singing this tune as she made coffee this morning, and the lyrics struck me as very relevant to our efforts to keep the highlands revitalization moving forward.

It seems to me that parties on all sides of our highland controversy, including both elected officials and citizens, are letting their imaginations tell them exactly what they want to hear about one another’s agendas and motives. Heck, I’m even doing it too, and I have open lines of communication to both sides of this dipute.

I’ve recieved sooooo much email this weekend about the Highlands Advisory Committee that I know we will all have to make a special effort to make this committee a success. I have a few ideas, and I will try to implement them, but after that I need to ask everyone to pull together on this.

Membership:

There are seven councilmembers, and I think they hold seven different ideas about the perfect composition of this committee. As I stated publically at last week’s Committee of the Whole, I would personally like to see us lean toward inclusiveness. However, there is another perspective that anytime you form a working committee too many members can bog down the committee’s progress.

Having said this, for those of you in the community that would like to see more HCA representation, I believe I MIGHT be able to get council support for adding one more HCA member. If I do, it probably won’t be unanymous and I will really have to push to get the votes. The HCA member who was next on P&D Committees list is Sandel, because of her long history of leadership in the highlands and her constant involvment in city meetings on this topic (including her presence at the P&D committee meeting where the advisory committee was being defined).

Taping of the Meetings:

This subject is a bit trickier than taping Council Meetings or Planning Commission Meetings, both of which I always advocate strongly for. Planning Commissioners, City Council Members, and the Mayor are all public servants with authority, and Open Public Meetings act supports complete openess of their actions. So government taping and distribution of the above meetings is the best way to go in my book.

Update on 10/11/06: Renton citizen Inez Peterson posed this question to the State Attorney General’s office, and she recieved a response which clarifies that taping of this forum is permitted. Read part 1 of the official response here …and part 2 here. This information is being forwarded around city hall.

To make any progress here, we will all have to try to ignore the usual music that begins whenever we talk about the highlands…:-)

Oom-pah-pah! Oom-pah-pah!
Ev’ryone knows…
They all suppose what they want to suppose
When they hear oom-pah-pah

Last night’s quake…

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

My dear mother in California never misses news of an earthquake. I think she even keeps the National Seismograph Network in her internet favorites!…perhaps this is pretty sensible when living just over some hills from California’s famous San Andreas Fault.

Anyway, like clockwork she emailed me about yesterday’s earthquake near Mount Rainier. Here is what I wrote back on the subject….
____________________________________________________________________

Hi Mom! Yes, I totally felt this quake! I was sitting on my couch with my laptop computer, reading emails about the latest controversy at city hall, and I started feeling like I was jiggling around as in an airplane. I called “earthquake” to Cathy and my kids, but most of the kids had been rough-housing and didn’t notice it. I began to wonder if I had been simply feeling the floor thump from the kids, until I saw the news.

Love Randy

_____________________________________________________________________
And here is today’s Seattle Times Story

Quake near Mount Rainier registers 4.5; no damage reports

A light to moderate earthquake was widely felt in Western Washington about 7:45 p.m. Saturday. Police in Pierce, Snohomish and Pierce counties had no reports of injuries or damage.

The magnitude-4.5 quake was centered 17 miles north of Packwood, Lewis County, or about eight miles east of the Mount Rainier summit, said Tom Yelin, a geophysicist at the University of Washington seismology laboratory

Yelin said the quake’s size was relatively uncommon for Western Washington and that the quake was about 2 miles deep. He said it probably was not related to volcanic activity on Mount Rainier.

There were two small aftershocks late Saturday, and Yelin said small aftershocks could continue for a few days but likely would not be felt.

The Nisqually earthquake on Feb. 28, 2001, was magnitude 6.8 and was about 27 miles deep. It injured more than 400 people and caused more than $2 billion in damage. It was centered near Olympia.

Why I advocate for Highlands and HCA members

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

I’ve been asked why I seem to stubbornly and consistently advocate for Highland residents and Highland Community Association members in their issues with our city.


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Here I am with HCA leaders installing the Highland gateway signs in 2003.

Here are a few reasons I continue to advocate for them…

(1) Renton residents, including HCA members, have elected me four times to represent them

(2) I recieve a salary to advocate for all the people who elected me

(3) I have always been an advocate for neighborhoods, and this one happens to be mine

(4) I have worked successfully with HCA for many years

(5) I often agree with HCA and other highlands residents’ views on proposed zoning changes

I hope this clears things up!

Randy

P.S. This is not at all new. I’m in my fourth 4-year term. To get a better picture of my long history advocating for neighborhoods, please read this Seattle Times story from almost exactly ten years ago concerning the Winsper neighborhood (opposite end of town)… Continue reading →

Open Letter to our Great Firefighters in the City of Renton

Written by Randy Corman 2 Comments

Dear Fire Department Employees (every single one of you including the Chief),

Some of you have had the extreme misfortune of innocently walking into political cross-fire between the Mayor and the Highlands Community Association. Because of the lingering distrust between these parties, every email, invitation, interaction, RSVP, etc is viewed with extreme suspicion right now.

I, and the other members of the City Council that attended the HCA Picnic, are absolutely confident that you had the very best intentions for the Highlands Community, the city overall, and to your employer as you managed your events calendars on September 23, the day of the HCA picnic. I feel that any further review of your actions is a waste of money, as it seems painfully obvious to me that there were conflicting directions and expectations being transmitted down to you from elsewhere in city hall. I am also confident that Sandel Demastus of HCA acted in good faith and with due-diligence as she scheduled the firefighters visit to HCA’s wonderful picnic.

Thanks for your continued excellent service to our community.

Randy Corman

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Community-

At this point, there is only one simple thing missing, and that needs to come directly from the Mayor, not from the firefighters.

If the Mayor is not surprised that Renton firefighters missed the picnic, she should be honest about that, and accept responsibility for any role she had.

If she regrets that Renton Firefighters missed the picnic, she should say so, and apologize to the citizens of HCA.

Regardless of how people felt about our former Mayor Jesse Tanner (a personal friend of mine), you could count on honesty and candor from him. He would have said something like…”you bet I cancelled the firefighters visit to your picnic…I don’t recognize your association and I don’t even like you that much…” or he may have said…”Nope, it was not me, but I can’t say I really care” …or “No, I didn’t cancel it. While I disagree on our politics, I won’t micro-manage my department and I won’t disappoint kids.” And everyone would have believed him.

By comparison, Mayor Keolker’s management approach shifts the blame, questions, and hurt feelings to members of her staff who do not need or deserve it. While Jesse could be a bit loud sometimes, Mayor Keolker’s silence feels deafening by comparison.

The Straw Man

Written by Randy Corman 4 Comments


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As an elected official, I hold many truths to be self-evident….

Among them, elected officials should:

Treat all the citizens we serve with dignity and respect
Conduct our decision making openly
Make our records readily available to the public
Include citizens in our decision making
Run city hall as efficiently as possible
Minimize the tax burden
Protect and honor private property rights

Since these are widely held views, I rarely find that my disagreements with citizens last very long. Generally, I find that a candid discussion or a well-run public hearing, with the above truths in mind, will resolve just about any misunderstanding. The best part is, these truths will withstand a direct frontal attack by any other elected official, or group of officials. The truths are so fundamental to American culture that a public official would be a fool to argue against them openly. I would happily argue Renton’s cause on Capital Hill or the US Supreme Court, by standing on the above truths. No Senator or Supreme Court Justice could back me down.

But lately I have researched this question….what if an elected official did not necessarily agree with with me about these truths, or at least did not agree to put these truths ahead of other interests? In such a case, since these truths are capable of withstanding direct frontal argument, a more insidious approach to work around them would be necessary. Such an official could chose from a variety of time-proven misinformation approaches, such as a variation of the straw-man argument.

In this case the manipulative official would identify someone other than me who advocates loudly for all of the above truths, and then do everything possible to try to convince the public that the target (the straw man) is nothing more than evil. If the public will agree with the manipulative official that the straw man is evil, then all of the causes the straw man supports can then be assumed to be suspect. i.e. convince the public that the above truths are really just the ravings of the straw man, marginalize the straw man, and then you can then ignore the truths. The more you criticize and humiliate the target (straw man), the more likely you are to get the target to respond back in ways that seem irrational. It’s effective, and you can read about it by doing a google search or in wikipedia by clicking here . It works especially well if the target is somewhat vulnerable to begin with, and has only modest resources (e.g. a senior citizen on social security might be very effective).

The good news is that defeating the straw man argument is simple if you recognize it for what it is. You defeat the straw man argument by simply staying focused on the issue. You say,” I don’t care who else talked about this idea, I think it is a good idea /bad idea, and here is why.”

What you would not want to do is sign a letter saying “I hate the straw man too, and therefore sign me up as opposed to everything the straw man stands for.” Such a letter would only perpetuate the illogical straw man argument and confound further debate on the real issues. It may also leave others with the impression that you are opposed to the above truths.

A Fun, Fun, Fun Beach Boys Concert!

Written by Randy Corman 0 Comments

Growing up in Califonia, I always loved the sounds of the Beach Boys. Their song “Surfin Safari” inspired my first efforts to surf at Redondo Beach in my teens…”Lets go sufin now, everybody’s learnin how, come on a safari with me…..”
Never able to purchase a 409 (“she’s real fine my 409”), I used to satisfy myself by singing outloud to Cathy “she’s real keen my 318 “(referring to our 1968 Plymouth Belvedere)…
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One of the first concerts Cathy and I attended in our teens was a fantasitc, sunny, spirited Beach Boys concert in Berkely California. Man they made the place rock. And even back in 1978, they were appealing to multiple generations, as parents were dancing with their kids at the concert.

 

So needless to say we really enjoyed seeing them perform last night at the Puyallup fair. They sounded the same as ever, since two of the original lead singers Mike Love and Bruce Johnston are still with the band, and the Beach Boys have a history of people coming and going that dates back to 1964. Their band had incorporated some younger talent as well, and we saw some very hot guitar playing and drumming last night.

 

I had just been born when the Beach Boys recorded their first hit Song “Surfin” while the were young adults living in Hawthorne California.
In the 80’s their drummer Dennis Wilson drowned, and was given an honorable buriel at sea funeral arranged by Ronald Reagan himself, to appologize for a hurtful comment his Interior Secretary James Watt had made saying the Beach Boys were a bad influence. It turns out, Ronnie was a fan. In the 90s, Dennis’s brother Carl passed on. Through the years their brother Brian Wilson has struggled with anxiety attacks and resultant addictions, but never stopped turning out such prolific and inspired music writing that put him in the top echelon of all-time musical genius. Cathy and I were forntunate to see Brian perform with the band at the concert in our teens.
I attended this concert with my wife Cathy, kids Andy, Kenny, Danny, Susie, and Katie, son-in-law Brandon, our friends Debra, Jake, and Mike (from next door), and Susie’s friend Emma. We also stumbled upon our friend Vera, who joined us in watching the concert. The Beach Boys played nearly all their Endless Summer hits. The encore included Kokomo, Good Vibrations, and a sing along of Help Me Rhonda where the crowd provided the chorus. Fun times!



Continue reading →

We do not have to lose the Dinner Train!..

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment


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We’ve been told we will lose the dinner train as a result of I-405 widening in South Bellevue. Recent reports give the impression that this is already agreed to by the State DOT and Burlington Northern Railroad. Meanwhile, Puget Sound Regional Council and the King County Executive’s office are both working to develop future proposed uses for the Burlington Northern Corridor, leaving many members of the public confused as to what is really going on and who is making the decisions.

But we actually have more control over the situation than it first appears. Railroad rights-of-way include a mix of fee-simple property (outright owned by the railroad)and easements often obtained by eminent domain power. Because the Federal Government utilized broad condemnation power to complete these rights of way for railroads, rail lines can not be bought and sold for other uses, or simply abandoned to whoever asks for them, without an extensive and public abandonment process per Title 49 CFR 1152.27. This abandonment process is established to expressly prevent loss of valuable lines as a result of short-term thinking, as I feel we are seeing here.

In the current case, Burlington Northern is agreeeing to split 30 million dollars with the State DOT by taking a short linkage of rail line out of service. The 30 million is coming from DOT savings realized by not replacing the I-405/rail crossing tunnel when I-405 is widened. Even though the project budget allowed for rebuilding the tunnels under and over I-405, our state Department of Transportation and Burlington Northern propose instead that the they simply split the money, and take the active line out of service. I’m personally irritated by this, because I served four years on the I-405 Executive Committee which oversaw funding for this and other I-405 projects, and we never ONCE considered eliminating this railroad crossing.

One of the options in Railroad Abandomnent Law is that any other person, business, organization, or jurisdiction that cares about the continued use of the rail line can make an “offer of financial assistance” to keep the abandoned line open. By law, an arbitrator must determine that the offer is in fact sufficient money to keep the line open. In this case, the abandoned portion of the line is only a few hundred yards long, and the DOT is already budgeted and authorized to replace it, so I think an offer of one dollar along with the allocated state $30,000,000 should be acceptable to prevent abandoment. I think Renton, Newcastle, Bellevue, or perhaps even a citizen that eventually wants to have a train station named after their family, should consider pursuing this step to halt the abandoment.

Now you are probably asking yourself, “why would Renton want to own or subsidize a short piece of a railroad….sure, the dinner train is cool, but do we really want to become railroad barons just to save the dinner train?” The answer is we would not be just saving the dinner train, we would be saving an extremely valuable rail corridor that could be worth billions of dollars to future generations in our area. Over the next few years, the State DOT and elected officials like me will be asking you to spend many billions of dollars widening I-405 so that we can get people and freight in and out of this super-rapidly growing east-side urban area. Under such circumstances, it makes no financial sense to sever a forty mile rail line along this exact same corridor to save 30 million on a tunnel. Especially if a substantial part of the 30 million is still going to be paid by taxpayers, but paid to Burlington Northern as compensation for losing their line. I can’t blame Burlington Northern for wanting to take the money (it’s difficult for a publicly traded company to refuse free money), but I don’t feel we taxpayers and residents should let this happen.

You may also be saying to yourself…”I hear Ron Sims wanted to make this a bike trail, or a monorail line, or something cool like that….maybe I want the rail to be gone so we can have these uses instead of noisy diesel trains”. My answer to this is that Ron Sims, and the King County Government he manages, is closing parks and pools because they are tens of millions of dollars in the red. They do not have enough money to patch holes in existing trails, let alone build new ones like this. And Sound Transit Phase 2, which represents light rail planning for the next two decades, is planning no money for a commuter rail along the 405 corridor… the way things are shaping up Renton will be lucky if we can get expanded bus service on our over-crowded I-405. And let’s not forget, a few mile-long diesel trains loaded with freight, if properly managed, can get hundreds of big trucks off of 405 during the peak hours. And Puget Sound Regional Council’s work has shown that the corridor can actually support the existing heavy rail and a trail/bike path….all it takes is a chain link fence down the middle to keep walkers and bikes from getting too close to the danger zone. I believe the best way to preserve these possible uses for the future is to keep the line operating as is, get the tunnel rebuilt at 405 with the money budgeted for it, and keep the dinner train rolling…toot, toot.

So please join me in telling the State DOT to quit taking short cuts, and build that tunnel for the train. And if they don’t listen to us, let’s look at Renton buying the “abandoned” section for a few bucks, to force the DOT to build a tunnel for BN instead of handing them the cash. Finally, if we can’t keep the rail line this way, contact me if you want to get some citizens together ourselves to buy the line out of abandonment using a dollar or two of our own, plus the state’s 30 million, and put the line back in service for our grandchildren’s sake.

HCA “Spirit of the Highlands” neighborhood picnic

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

 

YIPEE! ONE LAST SUMMER FLING! FREE PICNIC SATURDAY AT 1:00!….

Please bring your families and appetites, and come on down! Food, entertainment, fun…and everything is provided free of charge, thanks to very generous sponsorship by Highlands Community Association.

I’ll be there with my family on Saturday, and I hope you will too!

Randy

__________________________________________

HCA “Spirit of the Highlands” neighborhood picnic
FREE * Sat, Sep 23rd, 1-4 pm * FREE
Highlands Neighborhood Center, 800 Edmonds Ave NE
a “BILL’S BODACIOUS BARBEQUE” day just for you!
Chicken & Ribs . . . Kids’ Games/Prizes . . . Live Music
Children’s Fire Safety Program . . . Great Company
Flag ceremony is at 1 p.m.

Call 206-339-8210 ASAP to make your reservations for the greatest picnic Renton has ever seen.

We need to know:
Number of Adults
Number of 6-12 years old
Number of kids 5 and under
so we can plan the food.

Rain or shine we’re having chicken n ribs and all the fixins’ barbequed on site by Bill’s Bodacious Barbeque.

More information:

You are cordially invited to the greatest get-together of the Harvest Season, the HCA “Spirit of the Highlands” neighborhood picnic. We’ll have plenty of Bill’s Bodacious Barbeque (chicken & ribs), beans, coleslaw, rolls/cornbread, fudge brownies, peach and berry cobbler, sweet potato and pecan pie, and ice cream for the kids. Ummmh, good! Cooked right before your eyes–can’t you smell those chicken and ribs now? And to go with this fabulous food, we’ll have kids’ games, lots of prizes, a live band, and great company. And it’s all FREE, compliments of your HCA Board of Directors.

The Renton Fire Department will teach the children fire safety; it’s one of the most entertaining gigs you’ve ever seen. Hank & Eulaine’s Ozark Music & Ozark Broom Company will provide the music. What a day it will be!

The HCA Board thanks the property owners and residents of the Highlands Study Area for coming by the hundreds to City Hall to attend the multiple public hearings regarding Highlands Redevelopment. Because of YOU, eminent domain as part of a Declaration of Blight is “off the table”; and a majority of the City Council now support involving property owners and residents of the Highlands Study Area in the planning process to determine future “land use.”

The “coordination effort” is far from over; and you now have a rare opportunity to determine the zoning which will directly affect the value of your property. Come and meet City Council members such as Council President Randy Corman who lives in the Highlands. Council members have the final vote in determining the value of your property. They need to hear what you have to say. We’re inviting them all, and they’ll have name tags so you can’t miss them.

Please arrive in time for the Boy Scout Flag Ceremony at 1 p.m., and the food will be on the bar-bee. In order for Bill’s Bodacious Barbeque to prepare the right amount of food to feed everyone, please RSVP at 206-339-8210 and leave a message with your name, your telephone, number of adults attending, number of kids 6-12 years old, and number of kids 5 and under. Again, please RSVP at 206-339-8210

Invite your neighbors in case we missed anyone. Let’s party, rain or shine! –Your HCA Board of Directors

Highlands Community Association, PO Box 2041, Renton, WA 98056

It’s getting better, but some confusion still remains in Highlands

Written by Randy Corman 1 Comment

Some questions surfaced during our last council meeting (9/18/06) regarding Renton Highlands revitalization planning. The Planning Commission is reviewing zoning and text amendments that support Highlands revitalization, but we have not yet assembled the citizen advisory committee that is supposed to produce the vision for this area. A few citizens in attendance at Monday’s meeting spoke to this concern. City staff’s response was essentially that staff had considered the advisory committee an implementing committee which would work with the community to find ways to execute on the plan, but that the Planning Commission, Planning and Development Committee and Council would do the zoning and text planning. This explanation did not sit well with the citizen speakers, and considerable council debate ensued. I expressed my view that the advisory committee should complete it’s vision for the area first, and then we should align the zoning with the proposed vision. I also stated that this did not have to hold up revitalization; council could simply lift the building moratorium immediately, and allow anyone wanting to build at ten units per acre or less to immediatly get started. Finally, Denis Law moved that the issue be placed in a Committee of the Whole meeting, which I strongly supported. This motion, and it’s implications, was then hotly debated for a few minutes; but the motion passed.

Another issue raised by the above debate was the interrelationship and timing of the zoning, the Comprehensive Plan, and the zoning text amendments. Our city staff is working to have all three of the above documents updated by the end of this year…a noble goal, but increasingly unlikely given that the Highlands Advisory Committee has yet to be appointed. The zoning has not been the biggest issue. Sure, the zoning maps keep changing, which has been generating some confusion (and a bit of criticism), but there seems to be a general consensus that a reasonable up-zone in the Highlands study area would be okay so long as existing homes in good condition also remain conforming. Similarly, I have not seen the wide-spread challenge to those proposed comprehensive plan revisions that are not targeted at the Highlands study area. So the only area of great controversy, at least for now, seems to be the zoning text amendments that accompany the proposed highland zoning maps. Unfortunately, these text amendments have become so voluminous that they currently fill 93 pages, and essentially create some new zoning categories and requirements that have not been used or seen before. Considering the entire council has yet to be briefed on these amendments, and I (for one) will be looking for extensive public involvement and concurrence, it is looking extremely sporty to imagine these text amendments being ready for adoption in two to three months.

This is what I think we should do:

(1) Immediately lift the moratorium and allow builders to begin tearing down and replacing buildings in Renton Highlands under the current density limitations of 10 units per acre in the outskirts, and 20 units to the acre near Sunset.

(2) Jump-start the Highlands Advisory Committee, and include those citizens and businesses that have been outspoken on all sides of the issue as well as those that have been quietly watching and have something to add. Ask this committee to work to find their common ground (I know it exists), and then build a vision for a revitalized Highlands based on that common ground. Ask the committee to distill the vision into a narrative that the public and the council can understand (as opposed to cryptic zoning acronyms and ever-changing maps)…then get council and public buy-in.

(3) Ask staff and the Planning Commission to finalize zoning and text recommendations that support the vision established above.

(4) Council review and approves the final package.

Lifting the moritorium would infuse immediate life by getting low density reconstruction going again. Then, we could take the time to get the higher density Center Village planning right…so that all parties felt good about the process and the end result. I’m certain we can achieve revitilization faster this way than by fighting about it for another year ot three.