It takes a while to turn a ship around

... but in the Richmond case it looks like Mayor Hales managed to do it, stopping the Bureau of Development Services from reviewing revised plans for the infamous building at Southeast 37th and Division. That debacle is still far from a success story, but at least it appears city government is responding to neighbors' concerns and not cutting backroom deals with developers unwilling to play by the rules.

For a time, the silt fencing disappeared at the Northeast Fremont site, offering much improved visibility for drivers and pedestrians. Then the silt fencing went up again, striking another blow for neighborhood safety. 

Last Friday, March 22, turned out to be a dark day for Beaumont-Wilshire as that's when the Bureau of Development Services issued the permit for the Northeast Fremont behemoth with no parking. I haven't looked closely at the plans but I wonder if developer Wally Remmers omitted closets for tenants, instead putting those Pod structures in parking spots around the neighborhood for tenants' clothes and other items. That's what he's doing with tenants' other possessions (vehicles), by pushing them out to public property instead of designing a self-sufficient self-sustaining building.

Many neighborhood residents are lucky to have and use off-street parking; nevertheless we vigorously defend availability of parking for bustling neighborhood businesses; friends who are not able to be bike riders, walkers, or transit takers; patrons of our small home-based businesses; caregivers; deliverers; and so on. Just because there is space available (and on one side of the block where the proposed project is meant to go, there are about seven spaces) does not mean that it needs to be filled to capacity as a car-warehousing area.

Looks like the only people enjoying these projects are the lawyers at Perkins Coie.