SEATTLE At another Night Out gathering in Ravenna, a plan to renovate a neighborhood eyesore is the focus. Run-down houses near Roosevelt High School are about to get torn down, but not everyone's happy about the plans.
The question isn't so much whether to build, but how high to build and how far. Plans before the city's Department of Planning and Development go sky high.
But neighbors hope to bring things down to earth a little more.
Seattle's sleepy little Ravenna neighborhood is quietly readying itself for war.
The area around 15th and NE 65th is blighted by run-down homes that have been destined to be torn down for years, said Jim O'Halloren, Roosevelt Neighborhood Association. The owner had let them go and soon they'll be gone for good.
Future light rail near there has now put new development on the fast track.
This area around Roosevelt High is poised to reach new heights, he added. Neighbors just don't want to see things go too high.
Developers want to build several highrise apartment buildings up to 16 stories, and all within about a five square-block area. And all to support light rail.
That's not how Jim O'Halloren sees it. He says the neighborhood association plans to present to the city its own growth plan - one that doesn't set its sights quite so high.
But the battle over building has just begun. City council woman Sally Clark is chairs the city's land-use committee, so she is actively involved in the process.
Public comment on the developer's environmental impact statement ends Wednesday. The neighborhood association hopes to have its plan heard early next year.
