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Soundings
Council Gives Soundway Supporters More Time
Renews Commitment to Fund ACRS, African American Museum and Wing Luke Museum Projects
August 17, 2005
Last fall, I broke out my REI hiking boots - the low ones with the lug soles - and set out to see, first hand, why all the excitement over Soundway, a vacant seven-acre parcel of land in West Seattle.
The land - at first glance, an overgrown urban jungle - is owned by the city. It was acquired years ago as a possible freeway link to Vashon Island, an idea long since abandoned. To the East, it abuts the Duwamish Greenbelt; to the North, Seattle Community College.
I was met by my guide, Nature Consortium executive director Nancy Whitlock. She explained, "Soundway adjoins the West Duwamish Greenbelt, the largest remaining contiguous forest within city limits.
It was then - and may still be - an endangered piece of wilderness. At the time that I took my field trip, there were imminent plans to offer the seven acres for sale to a developer as a building site for, perhaps, 40 homes.
Whitlock and many of the locals believed then and continue to think that would be a shame. Neighbors and nature lovers want to preserve the property as open space.
On that fall day, Whitlock guided us along a wilderness trail. Lush vegetation quickly cloaked us, making it seem as if we were hiking through pristine forest land. More than 250 local volunteers had been at work, clearing away invasive vegetation such as ivy, blackberry and holly. They'd unearthed a wetlands and a stream that was literally choked with ivy. They'd planted hundreds of native plants and evergreens.
It was a memorable stroll, one I've often thought about since.
During consideration of the 2005 budget - one of the tightest in recent memory - concerned Seattle City Councilmembers reached a compromise on the sale of the Soundway property.
The boot-strapped compromise offered a respite of nine months to the Nature Consortium to come up with the $1.3 million the city was asking for the property. That money would then become seed money for three groups the mayor and councilmembers promised to support: the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, the African-American Museum at Colman School and the Wing Luke Museum.
Since the 2005 budget passed, Soundway enthusiasts have obtained a $500,000 matching grant from the Washington State Legislature. It's a daunting job for a small group. They're working hard, applying for grants and other gifts. So far those efforts have netted only $6,000.
With the nine month deadline about to expire, volunteers have been asking for more time. Activists like Whitlock point out that it takes lead time to apply for and, hopefully, receive grant money.
Councilmembers Richard Conlin and Tom Rasmussen proposed extending the Soundway time frame until the end of 2006. While I agreed with their proposal to give the neighbors more time, I was uneasy with the prospect of leaving the three organizations with uncertainty about how resources would be found for their capital projects.
I was distressed that many years of struggle and hard work might have to be put on hold. Once again, three worthy community projects would be awash in uncertainty. To help one worthy effort might unintentionally doom three others. To help three worthy efforts, it would doom one.
There were those who were urging the sale, arguing that the land is needed for housing. And, while I am convinced there is a need for greater density in the city, I'm also swayed by the fact that once open space is gone, it is gone forever.
Surely, there must be a better solution to save all four projects.
Fortunately, recent forecasts for city revenues are looking rosier. With that in mind and with support from Councilmember David Della, I offered a substitute resolution giving the Nature Consortium until December 31, 2006, to come up with money for Soundway and adding language protecting the appropriations for the three nonprofits in the 2006 budget.
Councilmembers backed the substitute language, the resolution passed unanimously, giving the Soundway dream a second lease on life, while affirming the council's resolve to honor its promises. It won't be easy to find that money, even though the economy is improving. Consider this my pledge to see that these projects get the funding they were promised. I am committed to putting the needs of people first in the city budget.
And so ends - or maybe only begins - a fall afternoon's walk in the city's largest contiguous urban forest.
Seattle City Councilmember Jean Godden is a former columnist for the Seattle Times and now chairs the Council's Energy and Environmental Policy Committee. You can learn more by going to http://www.seattle.gov/council/ratereview.htm. |
