Phinney development design-review meeting on tonight

My Ballard reader Diane emailed in to let us know that the second city design-review meeting on the planned redevelopment at 68th and Greenwood on Phinney Ridge is on tonight from 6:30 p.m. at Ballard Community Center (6020 28th Ave NW).

According to Diane, last week’s Phinney Ridge Community Council meeting drew a crowd of 60 people who were upset about the number of mini-studios being approved in the area.

“Greenwood and 85th is a designated urban village and big residential buildings there and north and south keep being built, but the promised mass transit improvements are lagging behind,” writes Diane.  

Those present at last week’s meeting expressed the following concerns about the development planned for the north end of Phinney Ridge:

• The #5 METRO is the only mass transit to and from downtown that serves the neighborhood. During peak commuting hours the buses heading into downtown can be so full that they don’t stop at Phinney Ridge stops. The Northbound #5 can be so crowded when it hits the Westlake stop downtown that it sometimes cannot take on passengers. The bus is slow and unreliable as is, because it’s mixed in with regular traffic and only spends a brief time in the special Aurora Ave. bus lane (which will be non-existent or greatly reduced over the next many months or years due to the tunnel project.)
• Some neighbors are upset that a high-density building (at least 55 tiny studios approx. 300 sq feet) is being allowed because it will add to Phinney Ridge’s transit problems.
• Others are raising the common objections of a 4-story building going up right next door to single family homes. The man next door to the project is upset because the building is currently designed to be 2 feet from his existing garage and he doesn’t know how he will put a ladder up to repair/maintain his existing garage.
• Others are concerned that the units have no parking in an already crowded neighborhood. Some volunteers are in the middle of a Phinney Ridge parking study.

All members of the community are welcome to attend tonight’s meeting to express their concerns in relation to the development.