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The Sunset Terrace Redevelopment Concept Master Plan is one of several projects that could improve Renton Highlands. This concept and other projects were discussed at Renton City Council Committee of the Whole on Monday night
On Monday night our Senior Planner Erica Conkling gave us an update on Renton Highlands Revitalization Planning efforts. She and her colleagues have been working on a district-wide Environmental Impact Statement for the Sunset Corridor in the vicinity of Harrington Avenue, which will facilitate some attractive and much-desired redevelopment. There are some promising projects already being sketched-out by property owners in this area, and others are more likely to come forward once the EIS is complete. Furthermore, the competed EIS will make it easier for us to obtain grants for public infrastructure improvement in the area and/or make the area eligible for other state-sponsored economic incentives. Ms. Conkling and the team have done excellent work, and the presentation was great. Her Department Director, Alex Pietsch, also assisted in the discussion Monday night. It’s clear that Highlands revitalization remains an Economic Development/Planning Department priority in sync with the City Council.
Here is Ms. Conkling’s presentation from our Monday Committee of the Whole meeting. (It’s a large file, so it may take 30 to 60 seconds to load on your computer)
I see the plans include 15,000 sq ft of library space. Why? KCLS doesn’t want a library in the Highlands and wants to close it down from what I’ve heard. Why you voted for this Corman is beyond me – you’ve screwed us here in the Highlands.
I have a two part response to the above comment. First, the vote to annex to KCLS was a vote of the people. My vote was worth no more than that of the other 12,000-plus people who voted in that election. Second, KCLS DOES want a library in the highlands. The plan remains that the 40-year-old highlands library will be getting replaced by a larger, brand-new library, of approximately 15,000 square feet. While the exact location is still being finalized, I am confident that the final product will be very popular and convenient for Highland residents.
Randy, you know has well as the next it is easier to pass on unsubstantiated rumors then to admit that the “truth” maybe something you don’t want.
That’s a cop out – you’re one of the six council members that voted for KCLS and then endorsed the KCLS campaign. It’s ok to make a mistake, just have to own up to it.
Randy, that’s not what I’ve heard: About three weeks ago in the council of the whole, Bill Ptacik notified the council that KCLS wants to shutdown the Highlands library and open up a new library somewhere out in the boonies on the plateau.
The KCLS reasoning was that the Highlands could be best served by the Newcastle library.
UnionHat had pinned down the new KCLS location – If I remember right, it wasn’t even in the city limits.
Two thoughts…
1) I would like point out that Randy was the only one of the six pro-KCLS council members that was interested in getting to the truth of the numbers – without Randy, the city never would have retracted their bogus numbers.
2) The excuse from the six council members that “We just wanted the people to vote on it” rings false as they intentionality scheduled the election on a non regular election and put in in an emergency election where they knew voter turnout would be lower.
Randy, if the city goes with the “fancy” plan – will all 500 units be Section 8 housing? If so… yuk. That’s the last thing the highlands needs.
One Section 8 renter ruined the peace and quiet for about a square city block here in North Renton – I’d hate to see what 500 can do.
Thanks for the question Ben. Others have probably wondered the same thing.
While I can’t speak for Renton Housing Authority (they are not part of the City of Renton government), I have worked closely with them through the years.
My understanding is that this concept is for a mix of market rate housing and subsidized housing. In general, Renton Housing Authority recognizes that citizens in subsidized housing have the best experience and get along best with their neighbors when the subsidized units are part of mixed income housing.
Having said this, the Renton Housing Authority has done a pretty admirable job of managing it’s own buildings, even when all the units are subsidized, where the buildings are properly designed for the use. I can think of one apartment complex for instance that got significantly cleaned up after the Renton Housing Authority purchased it. And RHA has some really nice facilities for low-income seniors, such as Houser Terrace, where I would be happy to have my mother live.
Where RHA owns buildings that are not as well designed, such as any of the buildings that were built as temporary residences during World War II, the results are not as good. These are the ones they would like to tear down.
Section 8 is actually a somewhat different arrangement, where, per state law, RHA does not manage the property but instead oversees the distribution of a state subsidy to pay rent on a private residence. The results with Section 8 can be all over the map. I personally would like to see a change to this program, where the state (or its designees–perhaps the local housing authorities) would have greater responsibility to manage the tenants and the property when they provide a section 8 voucher, specifically because of the types of situations you mention.
Some problems I see with the current system is that the tenants have essentially provided little to no deposit, which reduces the landlords leverage for encouraging the tenants to keep the property clean and in repair. In addition, the tenants have little money to repair the things they have broken (baseball through the window, etc), and so these things can remain unrepaired. There is a somewhat cumbersome process for landlords to recover unpaid damages from the state, but this is not nearly as quick or effective as having tenants clean/repair their own messes. Finally, the program bases eligibility on reported income. If residents have unreported income, such as income from illegal activities, the system would not recognize this income and these applicants could effectively rise to the top of the needs list for Section 8 housing. So you may not always be getting the hard-working family that needs Section 8 to make ends meet, and instead get people who make money illegally and like getting free rent to boot.
The leases are then 12-months long, which makes it hard for a landlord who suspects (but can’t necessarily prove) illegal activities to evict their tenants. The eviction process usually gives tenants several opportunities to remedy whatever the complaint is, and then the process starts all over. It’s not like having someone on a month-to-month lease, which many landlords and tenants prefer, because either party can be done with the other if the relationship is not working out.
IN SUMMARY, the short answer is that I would expect this to be a professionally-managed mix of market-rate and subsidized units, in attractive buildings; This would replace “temporary” 4-plex buildings that are left over from World War II and occupied by 100-percent low-income residents. To make sure I am right, I will ask about this and let you know here in my blog if I am mistaken on this point.
Thanks for the amazing response. That sounds much better than what we’ve had to put up.
Looking at the history of Section 8 housing – it seems to have been an attempt to get people out of the projects and into the real world. Too bad the theory doesn’t work.
Looking at the plan in detail – this looks like this would provide the Highlands with a much needed core. I have to admit that there’s a part of me that doesn’t like seeing so much local/state/federal funds going to things like this – but I rather spend the money here than make Paul Allen even richer like we’re about to do up near the lake.
The quickest way to devalue a nice piece of real estate is to throw in some section 8 housing. It starts out as a cough then turns into a full blown virus that infects all. Look at what happened to Avalon Ridge behind Fred Meyer downtown. They added section 8 housing and the honest, hard working residents became victims of burglaries, thefts, robberies and moved out. More section 8 came in and eventually took over. Crime was going crazy down there. The majority of these recipients of government handouts don’t take care of something that they get for free.