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

Last week we reported that Metro is considering replacing the city’s warn down fleet of electric trolley buses with diesel ones, which are cheaper to produce and thus less of a budget constraint.

The county is holding an open house tonight, Tuesday, June 22 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Plymouth Congregational Church, located at 1217 6th Ave, and invites the public to take part in the discussion. The meeting will cover the Trolley Bus System Evaluation, a study that will examine the 14-route trolley system and “help the county make an informed decision about the best vehicle technology to use on these routes as the current trolley buses wear out.” For more information, check out the City of Seattle’s electric trolley bus network data (.pdf).