The city is offering free trees to Seattle residents for their yards or planting strip next to the street.

Applications are now available for the trees as part of the reLeaf program. There are ten species to choose from and the trees can be planted anywhere in a residential yard.

Here are some rules:

• Permits are required if planting street trees – reLeaf staff will coordinate acquiring permits. Receiving a permit is not guaranteed. No permit is required for yard trees.
• You must be present at the planting training to pick up your tree(s). All trees should be planted shortly after receiving them.
• The number of trees approved for your yard may be fewer than the number requested. Please note that tree availability is not guaranteed.
• If you do not own your home, you must obtain the permission of the homeowner.

Trees are limited and applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. The application deadline for street trees (for the planting strip next to the street) is September 1. Yard tree applications are due October 24th. Attend a planting and care workshop and pick up your tree(s) on either October 30th at the Carkeek Environmental Learning Center or November 12th at the Garfield Community Center.

For more information and for the application, click here.

Queen Anne’s Trolley Hill Park was covered with red graffiti last week, and according to one neighbor, Vicki, so far nothing has been done to fix the extensive damage.

“Last week I noticed some red spray paint tags on real estate signs and parking signs near my apartment building (on Taylor Ave, right where it merges with 5th Ave.). Then when I was walking my dog in Trolley Hill Park I came across the saddest sight. Huge amounts of tagging on all the wood tables and benches, and down the entire length of a large tree’s trunk. Things like “Bloods” “Crip Killers” “KKK” and anarchy signs,” she wrote Queen Anne View. “Likely not really anything gang related, probably just some brats with some spray paint. Still SO sad.”

Trolley Hill Park is tucked away on the east side of the hill at 5th N and Blaine Street, and because of this it is more secluded and one of Queen Anne the neighborhood’s lesser known parks. The park includes a natural kids play area, a picnic area with tables and benches, a community P-Patch, and a beautiful view. It was named after one of the main trolley lines leading up Queen Anne Hill , which was in operation from 1890 to 1940.

In all cases of vandalism, officials recommend swift and and thorough action. When vandalism takes place on public property, as in this case, the City of Seattle takes on the responsibility of cleaning it up. Graffiti found on public property can be reported by calling the City of Seattle’s Hotline at (206) 684-7587, or filling out this online report form.

The graffiti at Trolley Hill Park was reported to the city’s response line this morning, and crews will be looking into the incident, though they were not able to provide a definite timeline for when the graffiti would be removed, though the city says that action will be taken in a timely manner.

For graffiti on private property, the city provides a number of resources to help residents respond. If you find vandalism on your property, the city recommends you document the vandalism for insurance purposes and call the Seattle Police Department’s non-emergency number (206) 625-5011 and file a report. If you witness an act of graffiti or vandalism in progress, it is recommended that you call 911, as vandals must be caught in the act to be prosecuted. For more information on what to do about vandalism in the community, check out the city’s resources here and here.

“Property with graffiti that has not been removed in a reasonable amount of time may be subject to fines under the Graffiti Nuisance Ordinance,” according to the Seattle Police Department website.

Though the city will be handling the incident at Trolley Hill Park, Vicki says she’s ready to take some action in the meantime.

“I’m going to head over to the park at 11 a.m. on Saturday to try and do some scrubbing, if anyone wants to help they are more than welcome to join me,” she wrote. “I go to this park every day and its just infuriating to look at.”

Even when city crews tackle public graffiti, they often ask for community volunteers to help them with the clean-up, so Vicki’s efforts are very much welcomed. Get more information on how to organize a Volunteer Graffiti Clean-Up Event here to keep a four-block area in your community graffiti free (Seattle Public Utilities provides the supplies and waiver forms needed for the event), or learn more about taking part in SPU’s Summer Paint Out program in July or August (again, SPU provides free paint  in white, brown or gray, and rollers, brushes, scrapers, and gloves).

Supplies can be picked up at the Seattle Public Utilities warehouse (3633 E Marginal Way S) on the following Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
-July 2
-July 16
-July 30
-August 6
-August 20

In order to receive the supplies, you must register first – use the link, email daniel.sims@seattle.gov or call 206-684-7790.

* Thanks to Vicki for the tip and pictures!

The City of Seattle’s new Online Boost Project is designed to help neighborhood groups do more effective online outreach and foster online engagement. The OBP is looking for 15 projects that will receive up to $1,000 in matching funds, and will get training from social media experts through workshops.

From the press release:

The Online Boost Project is designed to enhance skills and proficiency on the use of online resources for community groups with workshops, mentorship and seed funding to implement and/or increase their web presence. In coordination with the Seattle Communities Online initiative, we are seeking opportunities to enhance:

• Increased awareness of community issues;
• Increased community participation in problem solving; and
• Increased interaction with government.

Online Boost grantees will have access to:

• Up to $1000 mini-grants for a quick, specific project to be completed within 3 months.
• Workshop (required in order to receive funding) where participants would leave the workshop knowing what resources are out there, what their plan of action will be, and how to go about implementing.
• Mentorship and networking opportunities

Deadline to apply is July 12. Applicants must register ahead of time in order to access the online application. If you have already registered for another grant with the City, you can log in with your user ID and password and select “Funding Opportunities” and then “Online Boost Grant.”

It goes without saying you don’t want to let your unpaid parking tickets pile up. However if you already have, the city of Seattle is going to give you a little bit of incentive to get them squared away.

Starting July 5th, any vehicle that has four or more unpaid parking tickets will be “immobilized,” which is a fancy way of saying you’re going to get The Boot.

Once booted, to get the vehicle released you will have 48 hours to pay all parking tickets, default penalties, interest, collections agency fees, and a boot fee. If you do not pay within 48 hours of being booted, the vehicle will be towed and impounded. To release the vehicle from impound, you will need to pay all fees and fines, plus tow fees.

Finally, if your vehicle is not claimed from impound within 15 days, it will be sold at auction to help pay your debts.

Yikes.

So what if you’re not sure about any unpaid parking tickets? Check the Seattle Municipal Court – Public Information Web Site to see if your vehicle has unpaid tickets and then get them sorted out poste haste!

Image via City of Seattle.

It’s that time of year again – Seattle’s annual Spring Clean event is coming up in April and May. And as part of the preparations for the citywide clean-up, the city is looking for community organizations and members to set-up community service events in their neighborhoods.

From the Spring Clean website.

Spring Clean provides opportunities for citizens to clean up Seattle’s public open spaces of their choice with city support, including planning assistance, gloves, safety vests, disposal bags, transfer station passes, and waste disposal. Typical volunteer projects include litter pick ups, invasive plant removal, storm drain stenciling, graffiti removal, and general area beautification.

To find out about participating events, or start your own, contact Gretchen Muller at gretchen.muller@seattle.gov. If you’d like to register your own event with the city, fill out this sign-up form (.pdf) and send it to Gretchen. More information here.

The City of Seattle and the organizers of the annual cannabis festival and reform rally Hempfest have reached a resolution regarding a dispute over permitting for the 2011 festival.

In February Hempfest organizers filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Seattle, Mayor Mike McGinn, the director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, the director of Seattle Center, and the chairperson of the Seattle Special Events Committee, claiming that the city was unlawfully delaying the permitting process and scheduling a conflicting construction project that would prevent the festival from taking place at its usual site at Myrtle Edwards Park, or the proposed alternative location, the Seattle Center.

Festival goers gather at the booth-lined Myrtle Edwards Park at Hempfest 2009.

In a statement released today city officials announced that the two parties have reached a collegial agreement, which will bring Hempfast, which draws some 100,000 people to the waterfront festival annually, back to Myrtle Edwards Park for its 20th anniversary this summer. From the press release:

Under the March 18 agreement, the City will issue a permit for Hempfest 2011 to occur at the waterfront park on Aug.  19, 20 and 21, subject to the conditions placed on the permit by the City’s Special Events Committee. In turn, Seattle Events, which puts on the festival, will dismiss the pending lawsuit in U.S. District Court.

Planned construction of the Thomas Street Overpass project in Myrtle Edwards Park this summer created a potential conflict with the festival, prompting Hempfest to file a lawsuit. The City and Hempfest quickly reached a compromise where Hempfest agreed to postpone its request for immediate relief from the Court and the City agreed to solicit alternative bids for the project that would allow Hempfest to be held in the park. When the bids were announced on March 16, it was clear that the construction timetable would not interfere with the festival. The City and Hempfest then entered into a memorandum of understanding that will allow the festival to proceed at Myrtle Edwards Park in August 2011.

City Attorney Pete Holmes noted his appreciation that Hempfest organizers agreed to put the litigation on hold while the City worked on a solution for the scheduling conflict.

For more information on the lawsuit, see our past coverage here.  For more information on the West Thomas Overpass Project, click here.

Queen Anne loves its street food. There’s plenty of food trucks that come and go, some stay longer than others and almost all of them bring tasty food with them.

However it’s a tough racket to run a food truck in Seattle. Restrictive city laws make it hard for many small businesses and impeded the growth of the street food scene in neighborhoods like Queen Anne.

That may be changing very soon, according to a report by The Seattle Times.

New legislation is expected to go before the City Council by the end of the month, detailing changes that would make it easier for street-food vendors to set up shop and, in the process, help bring more economic vitality to neighborhoods.

“Urban neighborhoods are where we want our growth,” said Gary Johnson, center-city coordinator for the Department of Planning and Development, which helped craft the proposal. “A street-food scene can help brand a neighborhood in a positive way.”

Outside of the sunnier months and the Seattle Center grounds, you don’t see many sidewalk vendors in Queen Anne. Right now, street cart vendors in the city of Seattle are limited to mostly selling coffee, popcorn and hot dogs. Under the new guidelines, the city would “allow everything on the push cart except raw proteins.”

The Seattle Department of Transportation also wants to designate zones where curbside vending would be allowed. Right now vendors have to work out deals with business owners, which is why you always see food trucks in parking lots or outside local companies.

The flip side of this possible change is that local restaurants could see their business decrease, especially if a like-minded food is available down the block on a food cart.

Here’s the full rundown of the proposed changes. We’ll keep an eye on how this unfolds as we hear more.

Seattle’s annual cannabis festival and reform rally, Hempfest, has filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle, Mayor Mike McGinn, the director of the Seattle Department of Transportation, the director of Seattle Center, and the chairperson of the Seattle Special Events Committee over permitting issues for the 2011 festival, the group announced in a press release this week.

Festival goers gather at the booth-lined Myrtle Edwards Park at Hempfest 2009.

The suit, filed in United States District Court Thursday, “seeks relief under the U.S. Constitution and the Washington Constitution, and was filed in an effort to obtain a 2011 permit to produce the annual free speech rally to reform America’s laws prohibiting cannabis,” the group wrote.

The festival, which has been an annual event in Seattle since 1991, has been held on the waterfront at Myrtle Edwards Park since 1995. Last year the Seattle Special Events Committee requested that the group seek out alternative locations for the festival in 2011–it’s 20th anniversary year. From Hempfest:

Upon the suggestion of the Special Events Committee, Hempfest contacted the Seattle Center in October 2010 to see if that venue would be suitable for 2011. After a few months Seattle Center representatives decided the center could not adequately host Hempfest until 2013 because of pre-existing reservations on some facilities as well as planned Seattle Center construction.

When the group filed a permit to host the festival at its usual spot at Myrtle Edwards Park, they were told that a conflicting construction project (the West Thomas Overpass Project, a pedestrian overpass that will link Lower Queen Anne with the waterfront, and was given the green light back in August) may interfere with the group’s plans to hold the festival in late August, its usual time.

Artists rendering of the West Thomas Overpass project, which would run from Thomas Street on Queen Anne all the way across to Myrtle Edwards Park.

From Hempfest:

The suit asks the city to issue an appropriate permit for Seattle Hempfest in August 2011 and, if necessary, to enjoin Seattle from implementing the “West Thomas Overpass project” in such fashion as to interfere with the use of Myrtle Edwards Park in August 2011. Planned summer construction of the sky-bridge in Myrtle Edwards Park, the location of Hempfest since 1995, has displaced the mammoth event which routinely draws more than 100,000 attendees annually.

Well aware of the slow-moving nature of the Seattle Special Events permit process, Hempfest submitted its special event application earlier than ever, in early November 2010, hoping for a decision within the 60-day period set forth by law. However, after months of negotiations Hempfest organizers find themselves with neither a date or a venue for the annual summer “protestival,” which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

“It is with heavy hearts that we take this action against the city that we love,” Hempfest executive director Vivian McPeak said in the release. “We thoroughly wanted to spend the months leading up to Hempfest’s 20th anniversary working on the best event ever. Without a date or a venue that is almost impossible.”

“We are very excited about the prospect of a new foot bridge into Myrtle Edwards Park, but after initially being told by the city that the project would not impact our event, we were suddenly informed we needed to hold the event in June or take Hempfest somewhere else. We’ve been, and we still are looking for alternatives to Myrtle Edwards Park. However, there are few venues that are adequate and after many months of meetings we are simply running out of time. We hope we can work with the city to find a workable resolution soon and get back to producing our event,” McPeak added.

Hempfest organizers are holding a members party tonight, Friday, February 11 to discuss the lawsuit and other organizational news. The event will take place at Studio 7 in SoDo, at 110 S. Horton St., starting at 7 p.m. More information about this event can be found here.

A Queen Anne neighborhood clean-up event will be held Saturday, February 12 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in honor of Seattle’s 17^th annual Neighbor Appreciation Day.

The Uptown Alliance’s decade-old Clean and Green event will have different out-door clean-up projects in Upper and Lower Queen Anne, such as raking and pruning and litter removal. The event kick-off will be held at Counterbalance Park with Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith giving opening remarks.

The event began to receive support from the City of Seattle last year, according to Neighborhood District Coordinator Christa Dumpys, and tools for the projects will be supplied by the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation. In addition to the Uptown Alliance and the City of Seattle, the event is sponsored by the Church of Scientology Environmental Task Force and the Greater Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce.

This story first appeared on our sister site My Wallingford.

In the spring, Seattle’s rain encourages blooms and beauty, but in the winter that wetness brings on the season of potholes. Is it our imagination, or are the hazardous holes particularly prolific this year?

If you see a pothole, be sure to report it to the city, either online or by phone (684-ROAD). The “Pothole Rangers” should be out to fix it soon, but keep in mind they’re very busy, as KING-5 reported a couple of weeks ago.

The mayor’s office asked to spread the word that free toilets — with free installation — are still available for income-eligible owner-occupied households through the City of Seattle’s Water Conservation Program. The program was launched in March 2010, with this press release:

According to Seattle Public Utilities, replacement of older toilets with high efficiency models can save a family of four up to 24,000 gallons of water and $140 each year.

“For some homeowners, the cost of replacing old toilets is prohibitive,” says Irene Stewart, director of the Seattle Mayor’s Office for Senior Citizens. “That’s why we’re collaborating with Seattle Public Utilities and Senior Services’ Minor Home Repair to provide low-income homeowners with free toilets. Toilets offered by Seattle Public Utilities flush well, help conserve water, and save homeowners money.”

If you meet the following criteria and income guidelines, you can qualify for free toilets and installation by a licensed professional plumber:

• You are a homeowner of any age with a Seattle Public Utilities account.
• You currently live in the home you own.
• Your existing toilets were manufactured before 1994.
• You meet income guidelines for your household size (examples below).

Household Size	Annual Income	Monthly Income
1	$ 28,560	$ 2,380
2	$ 37,344	$ 3,112
3	$ 46,140	$ 3,845
4	$ 54,924	$ 4,577
5	$ 63,708	$ 5,309
6	$ 72,492	$ 6,041

To sign up or get more information, contact Minor Home Repair at 206-448-5751 (TTY 206-448-5025) or e-mail UDP@seattle.gov.

The city is sprucing up Counterbalance Park (no pun intended).

Over the last week nine new trees have appeared at the gravel and concrete laden ‘urban park,’ most of which have yet to be planted.

The new trees make me wonder if we should trade in some of that gravel for fresh grass? What do you think?

Just in time to enjoy the nice(r) weather, the city of Seattle—or at least its Department of Transportation—is asking its residents to cut two car trips a week in July by taking the Walk Bike Ride Challenge, which runs from July 4 to July 31.

Maybe for someone like me, who drives my car nearly everywhere, this might be a good incentive to follow the example of our bike riding mayor and take out my two wheels, or use public transportation more, or walk, whether it’s for work or play.

Seattleites can register any time to start cutting car trips as early as Independence Day. Each time someone reports a week they are entered into a drawing to win one of two $250 REI gift certificates, a one night stay at the Pan Pacific Hotel Seattle, or a $175 Zipcar package.

Businesses can go to the same Web site and pledge to support their employees in taking the challenge.

Walk Bike Ride is a multi-year initiative. As part of the initiative, the city will update the Transit Master Plan, implement projects like the Dexter Avenue N buffered bicycle lanes project, keep freight moving, engage the public, focus on future funding, protect and expand transit, integrate Walk Bike Ride principles into neighborhood planning, and promote sustainable transit-oriented communities with thriving business districts.

As part of an ongoing effort to make crime reports more readily available to the public, the city and the Seattle Police Department have created an interactive map that displays all manner of crimes, including robberies, homicides, to theft and graffiti.

This screenshot shows incidents recorded in Queen Anne and Magnolia from Tuesday, June 22 to Tuesday, June 29, and almost all fall under the category of property crime/theft.

Different crimes are represented by color-coded icons. And according to the city, crimes should be visible on the map within 12 hours of being first reported to police. (For up to the minute updates, see SeattleCrime.com’s interactive crime map). Along with the map of a particular incident location, a pop-up dialogue box also offers a brief description of the crime and a police report number that can be used to look up the report on the SPD  crime report website unveiled last month.Q

Queen Anne View reports on most crimes in the neighborhood, including car prowls, vandalism and break-ins. However, we don’t always find out about everything. If you know of a crime in our neighborhood, please email us at tips@queenanneview.com