SAVE OUR LITTLE SAIGON
Show your support by signing this petition now
4
people have signed. Add your voice!
1%
Maxine K. signed
just now
Adam B. signed
just now
BACKGROUND: Seattle’s Little Saigon is a social, cultural, and economic hub for over 70,000 people of Vietnamese descent in the Puget Sound area. This neighborhood was rejuvenated about 30 years ago when the first wave of Vietnamese refugees opened up shops and restaurants in an area that was mostly abandoned to urban decay and neglect. Over the course of a decade, these hardworking entrepreneurs built up a vibrant business district without much if any investment from the City of Seattle. Besides being a vibrant business district, Little Saigon serves as a symbolic center for South Vietnam’s resistance against communist oppression.
Recently, the City has made zoning changes that could threaten the very existence of this neighborhood. First, the Livable South Downtown rezoning, passed by the City Council in 2011, increased heights in Little Saigon up to 15-story level buildings (150 ft.). Now, the proposed redevelopment of the Seattle Housing Authority’s (SHA) 30-acre property at Yesler Terrace could have buildings rise as high as 30-stories. This is a particularly drastic increase in zoning considering the current height limit is 3-story level buildings.
Economics dictates that increasing the height limit of a property will correspondingly increase its value. Being right next door to Little Saigon, the drastic upzoning of Yesler Terrace will directly impact property values and therefore the rents for small businesses. Just about all vibrant small business districts in Seattle have height limits at or below 65 feet or 6 stories; for example Capitol Hill, Madison Valley, Fremont, Wallingford, Ballard, Queen Anne and Columbia City. Yet the Mayor and City Council is fine with upzoning Little Saigon to 15-story level buildings and they are about to allow Yesler Terrace to be upzoned to 30-stories?
We support a reasonable and gradual increase in density. This means gradual increases in zoning and development potential so that small businesses can adapt to market forces instead of being torn apart by them. The redevelopment of Yesler Terrace has the potential for being a great example of how equitable transit oriented development should be done. The current proposal by SHA and the Mayor does not lead us down that path.
Finally, noticeably absent in SHA’s Yesler Terrace redevelopment proposal is the lack of investment in Little Saigon. Arguably, this neighborhood will be the most impacted by this redevelopment. A redevelopment of this scale and scope MUST incorporate investments in all of its immediately surrounding neighborhoods, especially the ones that would bear the brunt of the impact from this drastic rezone.
SAVE LITTLE SAIGON PETITION: We, the undersigned, call on the Seattle City Council to support us on the following initiatives:
1. Build a mixed-use development in Little Saigon that will serve as an anchor for the community. This development would include: a cultural center, affordable senior housing, and affordable small business space. SHA to contribute the parcel in Yesler Terrace or Little Saigon.
2. Percentage of proceeds from sale of Yesler Terrace to market-rate developers to fund open space and infrastructure improvements in Little Saigon.
3. SHA to include Little Saigon in future grant funding requests such as the HUD Choice Neighborhood program.
4. Allow free co-usage of parking on the weekend in the new Yesler Terrace developments for the first 5 years by neighborhood businesses.
5. Identify funding sources for small business technical assistance that includes neighborhood marketing, small business trainings, and new business attraction.
6. Refine SHA’s proposal to that of a medium-density redevelopment where the height is limited to 85 feet, to be ideal for fostering a lively and diverse mixed-income community, supporting environmentally-friendly objectives, and remain relatively affordable for small businesses.
This petition was initiated by Friends of Little Saigon, a grassroots organization started by a group of concerned community members. We aim to work with all like-minded individuals to improve Little Saigon and to make it a place that will truly showcase the vibrancy of Vietnamese-American culture. You can follow us at www.friendsoflittlesaigon.org.
Links
www.friendsoflittlesaigon.org
Share on Facebook
Comment
See More 0