Cafe Flora in Madison Valley is offering a delicious four-course Valentine’s Day menu that’s not only masterfully vegetarian, it’s also available as vegan and gluten-free.

Dinner starts with a Scallion Pancake, flavorful with ginger and sesame eggplant, peanut sauce, and rice wine vinaigrette; a salad course of Pomelo and Blood Orange Segments with bitter greens, pine nuts, ricotta cheese and a pomegranate reduction; and a third course of Chickpea Socca Fritters, asparagus and haricot vert, roasted purple carrot, spiced tomato sauce, sour cherry and green mango chutney with a citrus and maple dressing. An indulgent choice of desserts rounds out this experience: Pistachio Cake with Raspberry Mousse, with chocolate glaze and macarons, or Huckleberry Cheesecake with candied pine nuts and a Meyer lemon compote.

The Valentine’s Day menu is available Tuesday, February 14, starting at 5 p.m. The four-course menu is $75 per person. Reservations are required for all parties by calling 206.325.9100. 

Cafe Flora
http://cafeflora.com
2901 E. Madison Street, Seattle.
206.325.9100

Sen Salon (formerly Hoa Salon) marks the third generation of family-owned and operated nail and beauty services in Madison Valley! After six years serving as the manager at Hoa, Lam Huynh has taken over for her cousin with a passion to carry the torch of tradition while making improvements to the beloved neighborhood store! Already, she has created a fresh new look for the interiors, adopted new, all-natural products, and is planning to expand the service offerings.

Of course, Sen carries on the family’s tradition of providing friendly walk-in service with detailed and personalized care. In fact, the word “Sen” means Lotus in Vietnamese, and is the perfect evolution of “Hoa” (which is both the name of her Aunt who founded the store, and the Vietnamese word for flower!) Sen Salon has maintained all of the core nail technicians and aestheticians from Hoa and is committed to providing a supportive and rewarding work environment for its growing staff.

Over the last 12 years, Lam and the staff of Sen Salon have developed many friendships within the Madison Valley Neighborhood and have established themselves as an integral part of its blossoming business district. Sen Salon is proud to build off of the foundation of its long-standing predecessor, and continue to offer its neighbors new innovations in nail and beauty care.

Sen Salon
2900 E Madison St
206 322-3546
[email protected]
http://www.senmadison.com

This morning residents walking along the business core discovered acts of vandalism that occurred during the night. Several planters on East Madison Street between 27th and 29th were overturned, two ceramic pots in front of Jae’s Bistro broken, a large wine barrel planter in front of Voilà! upended, plants in front of Jarbo pulled out, and planter boxes in front of Avenue Properties overturned. 

Fortunately, there were no break-ins. By early evening most of the mess had been cleaned up by merchants. 

Valerie at Jarbo showed me the shrubs pulled out of the planter boxes in front of her store. She graciously planted these during the neighborhood Spring Clean last year. 

Still some cleanup to do in front of Voilà!, but the barrel has been righted. 

While chatting with Jae about last night’s activities, I noticed the graffiti on the fence between Jae’s and the dry cleaner had been painted in the past few days. Thank you, Jae, for taking care of the graffiti!

The 3rd Early Design Guidance meeting for the new PCC project was held on Wednesday. The review board passed the project, and now it moves on to the next step in the process. For a detailed summary of the meeting see this on the Capital Hill Blog: http://bit.ly/2kDKc8L

For a summary of the changes made between the second and the third design review meeting see: http://bit.ly/2k60Yci

Hello and Happy New Year! Please join us for our annual clearance sale this Saturday, Jan. 28th. Doors open at 10 am, fall & winter merchandise will be reduced 30-70%! We are brimming with inventory, Burberry, St. John, lots of cashmere, designer handbags and so much more! The sale will run for two weeks, and then we start to put out new spring arrivals.

Fury
Extraordinary Consignment
2810 East Madison St.
Seattle, Wa 98112
206-329-6829
Send Email
Open Tues–Sat 10–5:30
You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.

City Council is hosting Urban Village Community Design Workshops to help inform City Council and the Office of Planning and Community development about how our Urban Villages should look, feel, and function in support of important citywide goals for increased affordability, design quality, and more diverse housing options throughout Seattle.

The format of the workshops is an opening overview presentation about the Mandatory Housing Affordability program followed by small facilitated conversations. Each small workgroup conversation is supported by a facilitator and note taker.

We welcome a lively interchange of ideas and opinions on the recently proposed zoning changes for your neighborhood, including where the boundary for urban villages should be drawn, what mix of zones best support the context and conditions of local areas, and how to encourage more housing options and elements of livability (including neighborhood amenities such as frequent and reliable transit, community-serving businesses, parks and schools).

RSVP Required. To RSVP, please contact Spencer Williams at [email protected] or by phone at (206) 384-2709.

Meeting Locations:

Central Area
Tuesday, Jan 31, 6–9 p.m.
Garfield High School 
400 23rd Ave

Madison-Miller
Tuesday, Feb 28, 6–9 p.m.
Miller Community Center
330 19th Ave E.

Seattle Housing Affordability and Livability
Urban Village Draft Zoning Changes

Here are the Council, OPCD and SDCI Land Use notices in the past three weeks for communities from 18th Ave. to Lake Washington and E Union St. to SR-520.

2925 E Madison St - Design Review
Design Review Early Design Guidance proposing a 4-story mixed-use building consisting of 26,600 sq. ft. of retail space and 75 residential units. Parking to be provided for 156 vehicles below grade. Existing structures is to be demolished. Zone: Single Family 5000, Arterial within 500 ft., Steep slope  (>= 40%), Liquefaction prone soils, Neighborhood Commercial 2-30′ Pedestrian, Neighborhood Commercial 2-40′ Pedestrian

January 25, 2017 8:00 p.m.
Seattle University
901 12th Ave
Pigott Auditorium — Note new location

Campus Map
Notice of Design Review

1833 25th Ave
Streamlined Design Review proposal for two, three-story buildings containing two residential units each (for a total of four units). Surface parking for four vehicles to be provided. Existing single family residence to be demolished. Zone: Lowrise-2, Steep slope, Potential slide area
Notice of Streamlined Design Review 

1630 43rd Ave E
Shoreline Substantial Development Application to enclose existing covered driveway and install a new boat lift. Project includes a new in ground covered pool, landscaping, and interior and exterior alterations to existing multi-family building. Parking areas to be reconfigured to add additional barrier free spaces and one additional parking space for a total of 80 spaces. Zone: Urban residential, Zoning special st. within 100 ft., Archaeological buffer area, Lowrise-3, Wetland, Conservancy recreation, Arterial within 100 ft., Special grading requirement
Notice of Application

1512 19th Ave
Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into two unit lots. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots. Zone: Lowrise-1, Arterial within 100 ft.
Notice of Application

152 20th Ave E
Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into two unit lots. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots. Zone: Lowrise-3, Urban Village overlay
Notice of Decision

139 22nd Ave E
Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into four unit lots. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots. Zone: Lowrise-3, Scenic view within 500 ft., Urban Village overlay
Notice of Decision

154 20th Ave E
Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into two unit lots. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots. Zone: Lowrise-3, Urban Village overlay
Notice of Decision

Resources

Land Use Information Bulletins
Property & Building Activity Interactive Map 
Design Review Board
Buildings in Design Review Map

Hurray! 

We have two wonderful volunteers from our community who have stepped up to care for the Julia Lee Park located at MLK Jr Way just south of Madison. 

Volunteers Farrel and Nancy with Parks Dept gardener Sara Franks

Today, Nancy Jordan and Farrel Oglesby braved the chilly and steady rain to meet with Parks Dept gardener Sara Franks to review their duties. They will receive close support from Sara as they learn how prune trees and care for the plants. Farrel has an association with Bailey-Boushay and is able to borrow tools from their supplies.

Nancy and Farrel will do general tidying, plant annuals, rake leaves and participate in the planning to enhance the park’s beauty. They expect to rally more support from the community. The annual Spring Clean, sponsored by the Madison Valley Merchant Association, will include the park in their agenda this May as additional support.

Thank you to Nancy and Farrel! Neighborhood citizens who volunteer their talents enhance the living experience for all of us.

This coming Wednesday January 25, Velmeir Companies will return to the Design Review Board for the third time with their proposal for the City People’s site. Overall, the new designs have retained the most positive elements of the project while addressing several key ongoing concerns about the pedestrian realm, light and access, with one significant update: the addition of housing along Dewey Place.

New Townhomes

The project’s complete overhaul of designs on Dewey is the most striking change in the packet. Whereas the previous iteration had extra-deep setbacks and greenery, the current proposal includes a row of five two-story townhomes. This updated design appears to address the Design Review Board’s previous concerns about dark, inactive spaces and would create a lively residential use, matching that of existing single-family homes across the street. This move also effectively closes off the garage to Dewey, eliminating neighbors’ noise concerns.

Spaces for People

The project’s updated designs not only retained but enlarged the pedestrian and sidewalk spaces along Madison, providing a minimum of eight feet and up to 10 feet of sidewalk. This move reflects community input and the Design Review Board’s comments that the project will act as a neighborhood gathering space. Further, the garage access point on Madison now includes decorative screening, vastly improving the appearance of the entryway. On Dewey, along with the new 11-foot setback of the garage to accommodate townhomes, the retaining wall was lowered so as to create people-scale views back and forth between the homes and passers-by.

Access

At the Madison Valley Community Council’s big community meeting in May 2016 and at the previous design review meetings, concerns were raised about the most appropriate access options: should vehicles enter from Dewey, from Madison, or Velmeir’s preferred configuration — use split access? In the months since the last Design Review Board meeting, a traffic study was performed to help answer this question. The study demonstrated that split access minimizes the traffic impacts to both streets, and this is shown in the proposal.

Lighting

Neighbors expressed concerns about 24-hour a day garage lighting; the current design addresses this concern entirely. The addition of five townhomes abutting the back side of the parking garage along Dewey not only eliminates the possibility of car noise and fumes, but light as well.

The design packet shows that Velmeir has tackled four key issue areas head-on in their new proposal: treatment of Dewey Place, spaces for people, access, and lighting. If you’d like to view the packet, it can be found here.

The new owners at City People’s will re-open very soon, and will operate for the remainder of the year while the redevelopment seeks approvals. This is wonderful news for the community and for City People’s business. However, if you agree that the Velmeir project has made significant strides to address concerns and mitigate any issues, consider voicing your support in moving this project forward and staying on schedule. To do so, you can:

• Send a note to [email protected] referencing the project address (2925 E Madison)

• Attend next Wednesday’s meeting at 8:00pm at:

Seattle University
901 12th Ave
Pigott Auditorium — Note new location
Campus Map

On Tuesday, January 17th, the Madison Valley Community Council was honored to loan their Bill Cumming painting Two Figures Running to the Meredith Matthews YMCA. Everyone involved with the project was thrilled.

Jerry Sussman with the painting.

Many years ago, the famous iconic northwest artist, Bill Cumming, gifted one of his favorite works to the Council. Bill had a close relationship with the founding members of the council, most notably Pearl Castle and Jerry Sussman. He donated the painting with the stipulation that it be exhibited in a public space for the enjoyment of the community.

For many years, the painting was hung at the MLK Jr Elementary School. When the school closed, a MVCC committee was formed to oversee the painting’s future. Lead member, Jerry Sussman took the painting to the artist for consultation. Bill was astonished by his work.  “I’m a much better painter now!” he said. “I will retouch the painting”. He reworked the canvas, bringing the image of two running children to life with the brilliant color for which he is famous. Again he entreated Jerry that the painting be displayed for the enjoyment of the community and not be sold to a private collector.

Happily, the African-American Museum had recently opened and they were more than delighted to receive the work for their permanent exhibit. Many visitors enjoyed the painting for several years.

Last year the museum closed its permanent exhibit in favor of rotating art. The painting was put into storage. Although it was safely stored, this was not in keeping with the artist’s intention. The committee began to search for a new home.

The local neighborhood YMCA was identified as an appropriate recipient and from then on, all moved quickly. The painting was retrieved from the museum and taken to Baas Gallery for refurbishing. The frame and mat were restored and a new Plexiglas cover was installed. Owner Karrie Baas was able to give the committee a generous discount on the work since the committee’s members paid for the work privately.

Thank you, Karrie Baas!

On January 17th, the painting was officially loaned to the YMCA. We had a little cookie reception with a brief historical talk by Jerry Sussman. Both the staff and Y members enjoyed the celebration.

Bill Cumming was a member of the Northwest School of artists who were engaged in the modern art movement of the mid-twentieth century. He eventually developed a style of vibrant color depicting everyday life of ordinary people in a somewhat abstract attitude. He made his home in Seattle’s Central District and the African-American community greatly inspired his work. The MVCC painting depicts two children running toward the viewer, their faces in shadow, with brilliant color and movement. It is considered one of his best works.

Bill’s personal life was somewhat chaotic. He had ongoing health issues due to tuberculosis and spent years at the Firland Sanatorium here in Seattle. As a member of the Communist party, he experienced the blacklist along with so many other artists. Although he was always an activist for civil rights, he broke off all relations with organized politics to focus on his art.

He eventually achieved great success and enjoyed solo shows at both the Seattle Art Museum and Frye Museum. Both private individuals and institutions have collected his work. He was a teacher at the Burnley School of Professional Art (now, Art Institute of Seattle) and at Cornish. He taught into his 90s, including private workshops in his home. At his death, a special tribute was published in our local Real Change publication.

The MVCC is truly humbled and proud to be the guardian of such an extraordinary work of art by an extraordinary artist.

Bill Cumming Painting Committee:

Charles McDade
Cathy Nunneley
Eli Stahlhut
Jerry Sussman
Lindy Wishard

The first four months of 2016 saw relatively high numbers of Madison Valley incidents being reported to the police; nearly 70 per month. After that, however, the monthly numbers fell to around 45 per month. December continued along this pattern, with 47 incidents. As usual, reports of car prowls and vehicle theft constituted the largest category, and although car prowls were down a bit from November, vehicle thefts were up. Five burglaries were reported in December.

1. On Dec. 1 between 4 and 7 PM a burglar entered the garage of a home on 28th near Mercer and stole a bicycle worth approximately $2000. There was no evidence of forced entry to either the garage or the home, and although the burglar left a small flashlight at the scene, the police found no fingerprints on it or on other surfaces in the garage.

2. Shortly after 5 AM on Dec. 2 police responded to an alarm at a convenience market near E. Madison and 29th. When they arrived, they found that the doors of the market had been broken down and that there were marks on the floor indicating that something had been dragged from the store. Further examination of the premises showed that the cash registers in the store had not been tampered with, but that it appeared that an ATM had been torn from its moorings on the floor and dragged from the building. At 5:25 AM the police at the scene learned that an ATM had just been found in an alley in the 2800 block of E. Harvard Ave. Around 7 AM police returned to the store at the owner’s request and viewed a video of the burglary that had been recorded by a security camera. The video showed that at 5 AM a white van had pulled up in front of the store and that two men then unsuccessfully tried to force the doors open. At this point the van rammed the doors open and the two men entered, pushed over the ATM, and dragged it into the van. The van, apparently driven by a third person, then drove away. The owner of the store identified the ATM found in the Harvard Ave. alley as the one that had been in the store and opened it with a key he had been using for that ATM. The burglars apparently were unable to open the ATM because the police report indicates a loss of only one dollar as a result of the burglary whereas the ATM contained a substantial sum.

3. Sometime during Dec. 11–12 a burglar broke into the basement of a home on E. 24th near Ward. The home is being remodeled and the resident was ill and bedridden during the time of the break in. The burglar rummaged through the basement, which was being used as a storage area during the remodeling, and stole a custom bicycle.

4. On Dec. 15 between 8 AM and 10 PM a burglar broke into a home on Washington Place E. near Ward by smashing a back-door window and reaching through and unlocking the door. The burglar then ransacked the house and stole jewelry of undisclosed value, $2000 in cash, and spare keys to the owner’s car. Police found no fingerprints at the scene.

5. On Dec. 16 sometime between noon and 4 PM someone took a package containing personal documents from the secure lobby of an apartment complex on 23rd near Howell. There was no evidence that the burglar forcibly entered the lobby, but video footage of the incident was not available at the time of the police report.

Finally, there was a robbery in December.

On Dec. 20 at about 6:30 PM a robber, described as a white male around 25 years old and 5′11″ tall, grabbed a backpack and a wallet from a woman exiting the Safeway store at 22nd and Madison. The woman snatched the backpack back, and in doing so spilled its contents on to the floor of the store, but the robber retained the wallet and ran out of the store heading east on Madison. Two other people at the scene chased the robber, but were unable to catch him. The victim was injured when she fell while attempting to grab the backpack from the robber. The incident was recorded on the store’s security cameras.

Lowell Hargens is a Madison Valley resident and former University of Washington professor of sociology specializing in the statistical analysis of data.

MoveMend is excited to announce the addition of Dr. Carly Catanese to our growing team. Carly earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Cleveland State University in 2011. She is new to Seattle so please come by and welcome her to Madison Valley. 

MoveMend is changing the model of health and fitness by bridging the gap between physical rehabilitation and personal training. We’re here to serve your personal training and physical and occupational therapy needs. 

MoveMend
2818 E. Madison St., Seattle (Next to FastFrame)
Phone: 206-641-7733
Website: MoveMend.info
Email: [email protected]

Here are the Council, OPCD and SDCI Land Use notices in the past three weeks for communities from 18th Ave. to Lake Washington and E Union St. to SR-520.

Winter Open House
Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods, Office of Planning and Community Development, Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, and Seattle Department of Transportation are hosting an open house where folks can check out draft neighborhood affordable housing maps and talk about HALA (Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda), Parks (Parks 2017 Development Plan), transportation, sustainability, and more.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017, 6 – 8pm
Optimism Brewing
909 E Union St.
Event Details

2301 E Union St -Design Review Meeting
Early Design Guidance on proposal to allow a 7-story apartment building with 440 units above ground floor retail. Parking for 482 vehicles will be provided below grade.  All existing structures (4) to be demolished. The design proposal can be found here. The initial proposal was presented at a community meeting, reported on here. This proposal requires a rezone from Neighborhood Commercial 2 with a 40′ height limit (NC2-40′) and Neighborhood Commercial 2 with a Pedestrian Overlay and 40′ height limit (NC2P-40) to Neighborhood Commercial 2 Pedestrian with an 85′ height limit (NC2P-85).

Wednesday, January 4, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Seattle University
1000 E James Way, STCN Student Center 210 (campus map)
Notice of Design Review

3607 E Madison St
Land Use Application to allow a single-family residence with an attached garage. Zone: Arterial within 100 ft., Single Family 7200
Notice of Application

134 26th Ave E
Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into six unit lots. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots. Zone: Lowrise-2
Notice of Application

1823 20th Ave
Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into four unit lots. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots. Zone: Scenic view within 500 ft., Urban Village overlay, Neighborhood Commercial 2-40′
Notice of Decision

224 27th Ave E
Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into three unit lots. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots. Zone: Lowrise 1, Potential slide area
Notice of Decision

2814 E Union St
Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into three unit lots. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots. Zone: Lowrise 1, Arterial within 100 ft.
Notice of Decision

1917 E Denny Way
Land Use Application to subdivide one development site into two unit lots. The construction of residential units is under Project #6457058. This subdivision of property is only for the purpose of allowing sale or lease of the unit lots. Development standards will be applied to the original parcel and not to each of the new unit lots. Zone: Scenic view within 500 ft., Urban Village overlay, Neighborhood Commercial 2-40’
Notice of Decision

Resources

Land Use Information Bulletins
Property & Building Activity Interactive Map 
Design Review Board
Buildings in Design Review Map
Seattle In Progress