By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
WEST SEATTLE BIKE PARK: Reps of the organization went through a presentation about their idea, which first surfaced two and a half years ago (here’s our story from 2024). One of the group leaders, Grant Nguyen, explained the concept – it’s a dedicated area or facility specifically designed/dedicated for mountain-bike users. It would have a pump track for kids, as seen in Port Angeles. A skills area, “jump lines” trails, accessibility, amenities (picnic tables, drinking fountains), safety measures might be other features. Education and volunteering are among the other benefits the park would bring, he said. Existing bike parks in Seattle include the I-5 Colonnade and Beacon Hill’s Cheasty Greenspace. They’ve been engaged with Parks and Seattle Public Utilities to evaluate sites – Rotary Viewpoint, Riverview Playfield, Westcrest Park. Rotary was too steep, Riverview has potential “slope hazards.” but Westcrest Park would be “ideal.” You could compare it to a similarly sized park in Boise – roughly 180,000 square feet.
(Added: Here’s the Friends of West Seattle Bike Park slide deck shown at the meeting.)
What’s next? If the city gives them the green light, they’d apply for grant funding, and design and build it. They’re currently in “exploration,” seeking community feedback (though they don’t yet have a website). Yes, youth would be involved, they affirmed. They would also hope to partner with bicycling organizations such as Bike Works.
friendsofwestseattlebikepark@gmail.com if you have comments and/or want to get involved!
CONVERSATION ABOUT GLASSYARD COMMONS VICINITY: Nine months after we discovered the plan for an RV/tiny-house site in southeast West Seattle,it’s weeks away from opening, as reaffirmed by operator LIHI‘s leader Sharon Lee when we were covering the Cloverleaf Village opening Tuesday. Kirkpatrick stressed, “We’re really excited (about it) … however, our community has hosted folks at that site for 18 years now [since the original Nickelsville] …but we’re concerned not about the village but the overflow of people camping off to the side.” Close to 20 people were present for the conversation, including city reps from SPD, Seattle Parks, the Human Services Department, the Unified Care Team, and a staff member from Councilmember Rob Saka‘s office. LIHI did not have a rep present.
Co-chair Biondo noted that the greenbelt at the bottom of Highland Park Way hill already has “significant encampments.” She talked about city safety plans for similar sites and hopes of working “proactively … the city and community …” to see how vigilant they can be about” unofficial “satellite encampments” springing up in places like parking lots again. One city rep talked about space for people to bring personal vehicles onto the Glassyard site as well as RVs. It didn’t have an initial Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design evaluation because it’s been in the works a while but they can go back retroactively. Another city rep said they’d paid attention to village-surrounding areas and decided “what to do to proactively address those concerns.” They used that process before opening sites like Cloverleaf Village.
They also said the Community Advisory Committee that LIHI convenes for each village site is a way to surface concerns and engage with the operator.
They also addressed “local preference” for clients – who gets dibs on space at a site like this – minimum 30 percent of initial referrals will be from the community, HSD reps said. Some in attendance said they had heard LIHI say otherwise. No, the HSD reps said, there will be “local preference.” They are always evaluating to see “who’s out there.” What if someone’s offered shelter and says no? The reps didn’t really say.
Saka staff rep Michael Taylor-Judd cautioned that setting these aside for all D-1 people could be a draw for more people to come to our area. He also talked about the recently passed Vehicle Resident Assistance Program setting up a permit process. He also clarified what it means when someone’s refusing shelter that doesn’t meet their needs – maybe it would separate families, etc. “It’s not like they’re having fun out there camping,” he noted.
What about all those ecoblocks? If we’re serving RVs, they should not be needed, and most of them were placed by private businesses, Taylor-Judd noted.
Biondo asked Parks about the greenbelt problems along Highland Park Way hill – the car fires that burned trees, multiple cars dumped there, tires burned … “Why don’t we just close off that parking lot?”
But, asked an attendee, does Parks know what’s going on in there, where the encampments are?
Another said there are areas that simply look like a campground. “You guys need to do your job and protect the green spaces.”
Kirkpatrick said it would be important to know who to call when there’s someone in need of help. Residents walk in the area every day and see people and situations. Someone else reiterated that they need to know “Who do we call- who cares?”
Kirkpatrick added that fire danger is high – a dry summer is just adding, lots of growth.
If you’re not getting response from SFD, Taylor-Judd said, call Councilmember Saka’s office, They’re having conversations about responsiveness. He then brought this around to the Glassyard Commons-related concerns. How is the Human Services Department going to hold LIHI accountable? The HSD reps said they have regular monthly meetings with LIHI, and that there are HSD “set-aside beds.” They also brought up the “good neighbor agreements” that villages are supposed to have.
What happens if a person in a village is asked to leave because of problems? Not a clear process. HSD also said they might be able to refer someone to a better option.”We don’t have the solution yet, but we’re working on one.” The topic of satellite encampments and “not letting it become a total mess” continued to resurface, as no clear plan had been drawn up yet. Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Krista Bair says she’s heartened by the fact there’s ongoing reporting of problems. “If you have an issue, inform the right people.”
Along those lines, a Unified Care Team rep – that’s the team that carries out sweeps, among other things – said Find It Fix It is the best way to report something.”It takes an enormous amount (of work) to resolve a site,” to plan and to carry it out. They have inspectors out daily looking at sites and use GPS to track every place. FIFI is their “in-house work order system.” First there’s a three-day window to acknowledge a request, a 10-day window to go out and evaluate it … encampments vary, even if they look the same.” Community cooperation is vital.
A person loitering, or with a bed roll…”that’s not an encampment,” he said. “Not every encampment is going to be a violent hub of drug dealers and offenders … The challenge is how quickly folks repopulate .(after sweeps) … people ask how do you keep them coming back…there is no answer for that, but there are some things, activating spaces, People may all look the same but their stories differ. Building rapport does matter … Let us know what’s happening … ask us, push back.”
“We need that corner addressed. It cannot be left to rot as a campground,” said Kirkpatrick.
Tents? Structures? city reps asked. Reply: They are hauling things in to build.
Another attendee had suggestions for Parks: Signs, repairs … “Make it clear that this is not a campground.”
The Unified Care Team rep said, take a photo if you feel comfortable, to send with your report.”
Tom van Bronkhorst, also of the UCT, said the city can help support things like forest restoration – a resident said the unauthorized camping had been damaging to volunteer efforts. “If you’re talking about very specific area, we can help with that.”
Kirkpatrick talked about the dumped tires and a cleanup that couldn’t happen because “it was too wet.” So “let’s do it now.”
Finally the key question – what kind of a timeline could they expect for a a plan to deal with these concerns?
HSD’s Chris Klaeysen, division director of homelessness, said they could start conversations “tomorrow (Thursday).” The Cloverleaf Village plan had taken about a month. They said the complaints about the satellite encampments are “food for thought.”
Kirkpatrick said with three shelter villages in the area, “we’re doing our part.” HSD acknowledged that.
WHAT’S NEXT: No scheduled meeting for HPAC until next year, unless an issue arises – maybe even a followup to this conversation – requiring one. Watch hpaction.org for updates. (And see the latest update for a variety of community announcements beyond what was officially on Wednesday night’s agenda, including Delridge Triangle Park’s project team planning to be at Saturday’s last Delridge Farmers’ Market of the year.)