White Center Now: The blog about White Center

That’s one of the fireworks stands that officially opened Tuesday – as of today, they can be open 9 am-11 pm through Monday, but fireworks can only be used 9 am-midnight ***on*** Monday. More details in our story from earlier this week. (And remember, fireworks are banned on both sides of the unincorporated area – Burien and Seattle.)

White Center Now contributor Deanie Schwarz covered today’s King County Library Board meeting, and says board members have decided again to put off a decision about potentially consolidating the White Center and Boulevard Park branches. This time, they say they want to wait until there is more information about Burien’s annexation intent; as reported here earlier, Burien is now studying the possibility, with financial feasibility updates expected later this summer. More details to come.

(Photo courtesy White Center Community Development Association, used with permission)
Next time you’re at 16th and Roxbury, take a close look and appreciate the freshened-up planting areas! Nhan Nguyen of the White Center Community Development Association shared the news today that a small group went out on Sunday to beautify the corner. He says that nearby Pho Lynna and Decoraciones Ely have ” volunteered to take care of regular watering.” The planting, according to Nhan, was led by Erika and Clark from Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle and WCCDA member Judy.

Want to be part of an occasional “mini-cleanup” in the business district? WCCDA would love to hear from you – and Nhan says they’ll supply the trash bags, trash pickers, and gloves!

With White Center’s King County Sheriff’s Office deputy-less at last check, you might be interested in a news release from the county today – about restoration of funding for a deputy in the Skyway storefront, and county assistance as the West Hill area moves toward annexation. Read the news release here.

Just a week till the 4th of July – and we noticed fireworks stands are up and waiting in the unincorporated areas (White Center, Top Hat, etc.). So it’s a good time to remind you: In the unincorporated areas, fireworks can be sold starting noon-11 pm Tuesday, and then 9 am-11 pm daily through July 4th – but even though you can BUY them before the holiday, you can only USE them on the 4th, 9 am-midnight.

As for official professional fireworks displays – there’s the Seattle show over Lake Union, visible from north-facing West Seattle, and Three Tree Point, offshore. But you might just decide to wait for the sure-to-be-spectacular-again Jubilee Days fireworks at Steve Cox Memorial Park on July 13th.

By Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for White Center Now

Alfred Lopez, owner of 9625 16th SW and the now-dissolved entity that did business there as Club Evolucion, has confirmed to WCN that he has a new plan for the space.

He confirms that he has entered into a formal, as-yet-unnamed and unincorporated partnership with Danny Yarbrough (at right, above, with Lopez at left; he’s owner of Citrus) that will develop the former Club Evo space into a Latin “banda” entertainment venue (for 18 and over) and eventual restaurant and lounge.

The partners finalized their agreement this past week and spoke to WCN about the development of the property, which was placed under a permanent injunction through the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office Civil Division in May. The partners have begun in earnest, having already met with DDES, contacted the city of Burien Police and Sgt. Rodney Chinnick, the head of the KCSO’s Gang Unit, as well as contacting the Police Guild about off-duty deputy security coverage.

“We will make sure we get all of the proper licenses and permits before we do anything. We had a meeting with DDES about what we need to do. The first step is the sprinklers and Fire Department inspections. Then the public entertainment and public dance permits and the state of Washington master business license,” Yarbrough explains.

The partners also spoke of in-the-near future plans for outreach to various community organizations to (re-)introduce themselves and their proposed business model. They’re looking at the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council, the White Center Community Development Association, the White Center Chamber of Commerce and the newer White Center Business Owners of Sustainable Support mixer group.

The club was shut down for noncompliance last year and soon after, the property went into foreclosure proceedings. But, the property was not put up for sale as a foreclosure, says Lopez, because he found a group of investors to assist in paying off the 10-year note to the previous owner.

Lopez is very clear to state that the first compliance task is to meet the requirements of the injunction before any business of any kind is to operate at the space in the heart of the revitalizing White Center business district. Those requirements will include any and all of the proper county and state licenses, but in order to apply for licenses, the site’s sprinkler system must be given occupancy approval by the North Highline Fire District fire marshal.

The sprinkler system installation was completed in November 2010 by an approved contractor; however, a completely new and separate water line and meter needs to be approved and installed by Seattle Public Utilities. The Fire Department ordered specific work to be done such as closing up exposed walls and will not be back till the meter and water lines are installed and approved to inspect the sprinkler system.

King County has approved the sprinkler plans on paper and Lopez believes the County will be forwarding them shortly to SPU. If and when SPU approves the plans, the meter installation will be scheduled six to eight weeks out, depending on the backlog of work.

The problematic history of the former Club Evo goes back a number of years and Lopez says emphatically and repeatedly that the space will never be like the former Club Evo again. Once all compliance work has been met and all appropriate licenses have been approved, they intend to open one night a week – Saturdays – as an 18-and-older dance venue with live “banda” music – Mexican country music — Yarbrough says, with salsa and meringue dancing. They plan on operating about four to six months with this schedule to generate initial revenue as they design the 16th Ave facing side of the property for a restaurant/lounge. That work will require major remodeling, including the installation of a kitchen and hood. They say they will not be serving alcohol on the premises during this period.

Lopez is living with his two teenage sons in the upstairs apartments while he finalizes the partnership agreement and oversees the remodeling and compliance work. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Washington, mostly occasional personal-injury cases for friends, he says, but lives most of the time in Southern California. He said that he plans on being in White Center as much as possible as this new business model is undertaken. “I want nothing to do with the old Club Evo. Believe me, “ he said. As if to make his point, he went outside the building and removed the old exterior signage as our interview concluded.

A new coat of paint was put on a few days later.

After the sprinkler system and meter are approved, the next phase of the partnership will be the design work with new partner Yarbrough who, in addition to being involved with Exposure, a promotions company, owned a Belltown restaurant prior to selling it and purchasing the former TGIF site on Lake Union to develop Citrus development in 2010. Yarbrough also worked for Consolidated Restaurants (Metropolitan Grill, Union Square Grill and Elliott’s Oyster House) as a bookkeeper after college, as well as a bartender and assistant manager. He also worked in real estate during the boom market in Seattle and began to “flip” commercial properties soon after.

Lopez told us, “We want to eliminate any problems we had before, the biggest prior one being a hip-hop crowd on Friday nights.“

“This will be a salsa and meringue crowd – cowboy boots and hats and Mexican country music,” Yarbrough added.

“We will be eliminating any issues we had before with minors. And the most important measure, aside from having off-duty officers on site both inside and out, is that a strict dress code will be enforced,” said Lopez. “I forbid gang-related attire.“

“If they don’t come dressed appropriately and are unwilling to undergo a full-body pat down, they will be asked to leave and maybe come back another time,” said Yarbrough, who says he will be acting on site as Operating Manager. He will also be hiring civilian security staff.

They discussed plans for eventually multi-purposing the large dance hall section for rentals, for quinceañeras or graduations, bar mitzvahs or community events and the like once compliance has been achieved and the restaurant has been built out. The dance area will have new flooring and a stage installed, as well as a new lighting system. The hoped-for eventual design phase will include menu development and extensive reworking of the 16th Ave. SW. side of the property to include new bathrooms, kitchen and lounge area.

If everything goes as they have planned, they hope to be open in two months.

The White Center Library Guild‘s yard sale IS on today, till 3 pm – 1110 SW 116th – rained out last week but today, so far so good! (Thanks to Gill for the photo.)

From White Center Art Walk organizers:

For the month of July, we are hosting as many local artists as we can for a Live Painting extravaganza! We are doing an open call for local artists that may be interested in participating. This will be a great opportunity for them to get out, meet new faces and make more contacts with our consistently growing art community.

Last month we hosted a highly successful ‘Mini-Film-Festival’ that brought us a bunch of new faces. They toured our list of participating artwalk venues and were treated with 3 different film
venues that showed a wide range of short films. Everyone-had-a blast.

This coming month we are hoping to do something similar while
highlighting some of our favorite local live painters.

We are looking for a wide range of artists that are willing to paint at one of our participating venues. The artwalk takes place July 16th, from 6-9pm. Participators are asked to show around 5:30 pm to set up. We are happy to provide drop-cloths if they don’t have one and will make an effort to rustle up an easel if need be.

Interested? Call Devrim ASAP. 206 484 0399.

Throughout its third-anniversary-celebration day on Monday, Full Tilt Ice Cream in White Center was hopping – we took the photo above at 8:30 that night! And as noted here, they were planning to donate to the White Center Food Bank the equivalent of the ice cream sold that day. So, the verdict’s in, according to the WC Food Bank Facebook page – “Results are in: 200 pints of ice cream are coming to WCFB from Full Tilt’s Monday anniversary celebration/ice cream raiser for WCFB. Thanks to Full Tilt and everyone that came out to buy ice cream!”

P.S. WC Food Bank is one of many local nonprofits that you can support with an online $ donation today through the Seattle Foundation’s one-day GiveBIG drive. Find them (and other eligible White Center orgs, including WCCDA) on this list – and follow the links there to donate today and make them eligible for “stretch” dollars – gotta do it by midnight!

The August 16 primary is less than two months away, and local groups are making their endorsements. Both of the legislative-district Democrats’ groups in this area have now made their endorsements. King County Council Position 8 will be on the August ballot since there are three candidates (the top two advance to November). The 11th District Democrats have just posted their endorsement list (read it here) – they have endorsed both Joe McDermott and Diana Toledo in that race. The 34th District Democrats held their endorsement meeting earlier this month and endorsed McDermott (here’s the list on their site; here’s our coverage on partner site West Seattle Blog). Not sure whose district you’re in? Here’s the map for the 11th District; here’s the map for the 34th District. (Any Republican groups have endorsement meetings just past or

Here’s what the overnight police presence in downtown White Center was all about. From King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart:

Two men apparently shooting at each other last night (June 21st) left one man injured and no one under arrest. One gun was recovered however.

The incident occurred just after 10:00 PM. A 25 year-old man was at Papa’s Pub … He reportedly went out outside to have a smoke. There was an altercation, shots were fired, and he was hit at least once. He ran to a nearby minimart, bleeding profusely. Police were called.

Reports from witnesses say two men were shooting at each as they ran down the street. However it is unclear if the injured man was one of the shooters or an uninvolved bystander.

Sheriff’s deputies found a semiautomatic handgun in a dumpster near the shooting scene.

The injured man was taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment, during which suspected rock cocaine was pulled from his rectum.

There have been no arrests and the investigation is continuing.

3:38 PM NOTE: As pointed out in comments, the original KCSO news release had an erroneous address for the pub. The address at 15th and Roxbury was actually the minimart to which the victim ran. We have taken out the erroneous address reference above and replaced it with ellipses.

“So here we are,” Burien city manager Mike Martin began as he opened a quick recap of where the issue of North Highline annexation stood, before tonight’s scheduled Burien City Council discussion.

No council action was taken – they voiced opinions, as you will read below.

First, Martin described Seattle’s recent decision to table annexation till February as a “major departure” from where things had stood previously. That wasn’t the only factor sparking a new Burien council discussion of annexation, however, he said, mentioning the King County Library Board’s discussion of potentially consolidating the White Center and Boulevard Park libraries.

Martin also mentioned commissioning a financial study with an organization that he says does this type of study and already has “a tremendous amount of information about the (prospective) annexation area.” He says the financial data should be available in late July/early August.

Councilmember Gordon Shaw followed up Martin’s briefing by voicing skepticism about the financial viability of annexation, given a previous study, but said he would like to see the study showing the effects of a changing economy, and what he said was apparently a lower population: “I think they’ve lost 3,000 people up there.” He also said he would like to know how it would affect the city overall.

Councilmember Lucy Krakowiak asked what kind of educational outreach is planned for citizens. Martin said “Council will be taking comments at every council meeting they have until they make a decision – identical to last time.” She also wondered if information was available about major developments planned in the potential annexation area.

Councilmember Jack Block, Jr. talked about the difference between the perception and the reality of White Center. “if you take a drive through White Center, there are virtually no empty storefronts – I wish we could say that here in Burien.” He described WC’s “vitality and growth” as “homegrown” and expressed a hope that it would be emulated in Burien.

“If we don’t vote for it, we don’t have control over that area, and the density could increase, crime could increase, a bunch of public housing is put in there because historically that’s how Seattle does things,” Block suggested, worrying about a “spillover … Think about protecting our community. Do we want to have a say in that area, or just let whatever happens, happen up there?”

He noted that Burien has a budget surplus, while King County has been dealing with a budget shortfall, and, in his view, has put unincorporated North Highline problems “on a back burner.” He also voiced concern about county housing projects in the works, and whether they might unduly burden Burien.

Councilmember Gerald Robison pointed out that he has been working on the annexation issue “for a long time” and says “there are a lot of perceptions out there that I don’t think is accurate.” He contended that it’s “simply not true” that the area is made up of a large population of people who require government services. “What they need is good government, and that’s what they’ve been lacking up there,” he contended, adding that he believes Burien could provide that “good government.” He echoed Block’s point that White Center has a lot of thriving businesses, “the kind of independent businesspeople who are exactly what we are talking about in our mission statement.”

But “I won’t even vote for annexation if it means raising taxes on the rest of the residents in Burien,” Robison vowed. And he said he believes it’s important for Burien’s “survival” to take a look at annexing the area if it can be done. The area doesn’t need Burien, he acknowledged, but “if their options are going to Seattle or going to Burien, I think for the sake of Burien and the sake of the people in North Highline, if we can manage it, we should do it.”

Councilmember Rose Clark said she agreed wholeheartedly with Block and Robison. She said she also believes that if there’s a continued effort to “concentrate poverty” in the greater Highline area, it will “break” the community – and she says what happens in White Center (etc.) will affect Burien too. “The only way to address that is to take a good hard look at North Highline and what we can do to mitigate” the concentration of poverty to which she referred. “If all of that (financial analysis) pencils out, we have to look at what that area becomes” with King County services dwindling.

Deputy Mayor Brian Bennett discussed his roots going back generations in the North Highline area, and saying that while that area likely would prefer to be left alone the reality of county and state laws and finances are that, they cannot be left alone – “they’re going to be incorporated somewhere … If Seattle does take over Area Y, what their incentives are going to be in how they treat Area Y , and whether the decisionmakers for that area are going to be impacted by what happens there, or are they going to be in the north side (of the city) and not affected.”

Councilmember Krakowiak then said “This is a big issue before us and it behooves us to take our time.” She said she would be a likely “no” vote if they were voting on it right now.

At the start of the meeting, in a public-comment session that lasted more than half an hour, seven people expressed opposition to or concern about annexation – with a common theme, if Seattle says it can’t afford annexation, how can Burien? – while two familiar White Center community advocates, Liz Giba and Rachael Levine, spoke favorably about it. (We will add details of the comments later.)

In case you missed the story on our partner site West Seattle Blog late last night – today, Full Tilt Ice Cream is celebrating its third anniversary. (WCN didn’t launch till later that summer, so our first report about FT was on WSB, and it seemed fitting to publish the anniversary story there.) Right now, they’re open Mondays for the first time – and they’re going to donate the equivalent of today’s ice-cream purchases to the White Center Food Bank. You’ve got till 10 pm to go be part of the tasty fun.

By Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for White Center Now

Saturday night’s drizzly cool weather might have kept a few folks from venturing outside, but lots of art lovers were evident at the monthly art walk in the White Center business district, which included a few firsts.

For one: Joining the art walk this month was Herbal Legends, the medical-marijuana dispensary which recently opened on 16th Ave. SW. Owner Chris Cody removed the marijuana from the premises and opened the doors to the community — the only venue to offer complimentary food and beverages. Five artists were showcased in the dispensary, which was designed specifically to display local artists’ work.

Rich Lehl, a Highland Park resident, showed his oils at Company.

Café Rozella owner Leticia Martinez debuted her couture-influenced fashion sketches. Leticia has training in fashion design and worked for couture and bridal designers before opening Cafe Rozella. More of her work can be found at the cafe, along with artist Renee Bacino‘s work.

Winning accolades from business owners and viewers alike for their efforts in bringing a free film festival with lots of local filmmakers to White Center, White Center Art Walk organizers Amanda Kay Helmick and Devrim Ozkan are shown here at the last film venue of the evening – Big Al Brewing.

With the theme of “Fairytales,” the evening’s first venue was Southgate Roller Rink, where the young and young-at-heart enjoyed a number of independent artists who shared their visions and stories with an appreciative audience.

Miranda Taylor, a High Point trustee and activist, was one of the five directors to show their films at Full Tilt Ice Cream. (Miranda’s short film “The Good Food Truck” is also available to view on Vimeo.)

The full listing of filmmakers is viewable at whitecenterartwalk.blogspot.com.

As first reported here in our coverage of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting earlier this month, the Burien City Council plans to discuss White Center/etc. annexation during its regular meeting tomorrow (Monday, June 20th) night. NOT a vote, nor an introduction of a resolution – the agenda item is listed as a “general discussion.”

From the supplementary “packet” (which you can find linked from this page) – it’s what Burien City Manager Mike Martin told NHUAC they planned to do – with some new information: A study on the financial viability is under way:

PURPOSE/REQUIRED ACTION:
Staff would like direction regarding the best way to frame the future discussion of annexation.

BACKGROUND:
The annexation of the so-called “area Y” in the North Highline, including White Center, has a long history that council is well aware of. In short, Burien and Seattle in 2009 agreed to bi-furcate the North Highline Area into areas; “X” in the south and “Y” in the north (see attached map). Each city agreed it could advance annexations in adjacent areas without opposition until January 2012. Burien successfully annexed area X in 2010 and that area is now part of Burien. In March 2011, Seattle declared it was not interested in advancing an annexation in area Y but adopted a resolution stating it might at a later date, perhaps February 2012. The resolution also allowed Burien to advance an annexation in area Y if it wished.

Council has long expressed interest in resolving the question of annexation in the North Highline area. Seattle’s recent decision not to annex now and perhaps not in the near future, along with peripheral issues regarding construction of library facilities in Burien or the North Highline area, make it timely for the council to take up that discussion again.

Staff has entered into a contract with Berk and Associates to conduct a study testing the financial viability of annexing area Y. That study is scheduled to be complete no later than August 1. Staff will bring council draft information prior to that date if it is accurate and reliable.

But while that financial data is central to the question of annexation, staff understands it is not the exclusive one. In an effort to anticipate additional areas of interest, staff is soliciting other lines of questioning council would like us to explore.

The annexation discussion will predictably be iterative and require information to be acquired as talks progress. The intent of this agenda item is simply to begin that discussion and ensure it progresses in as linear a fashion as possible.

OPTIONS (Including fiscal impacts): N/A
Administrative Recommendation: Discuss the general question of annexation and give staff direction on issues it wishes to have explored, along with a timeline.
Committee Recommendation: N/A
Advisory Board Recommendation: N/A
Suggested Motion: None required.

You can review the recent history of annexation in our coverage archive here. Among the key recent actions – the Seattle City Council decided in March to put off a final decision on “interested or not interested” until early next year, while saying that if Burien decided to proceed with annexation in the meantime, they wouldn’t object. Tomorrow night’s Burien Council meeting is at 7 pm, 400 SW 152nd; if you can’t be there, you can watch online here.

Story and photo by Deanie Schwarz
Reporting for White Center Now

“Sarap” is Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines) for delicious! Formerly located at Pratt Fine Arts in the Central District of Seattle, Sarap Café partners Vic Arao and Vilma Vere are now serving a few Filipino favorites including sotanghon – a chicken noodle soup – and lumpia.

“But we are in America, so we want to serve other things too,” says Vilma. They offer milk shakes, hot dogs, and a variety of cold-cut-meats sandwiches and nachos. A sandwich platter is available for catering.

The truck opened this week and is permanently stationed in the Chevron gas station at 16th SW and 100th SW. It’s open 11 am-6 pm Mondays-Saturdays, (253) 709-2429.

If you went by the site of what was scheduled to be the White Center Library Guild fundraising yard sale today – sorry, they decided to postpone it because of the rain. The Guild is tentatively looking at rescheduling it for next Saturday, but will send official information when the decision’s made.

From volunteer coordinator Audrey Zemke at White Center Food Bank:

We still need 3 or 4 volunteers for June 18 from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm. Volunteers will be settting up for food distribution, handing food out to clients, and helping clean up. Please let us know by Friday, June 17 at 5:00 pm at audrey@whitecenterfoodbank.org or 206-762-2848 if you can help.

As reported on our partner site WSB yesterday – B & D Aquarium will indeed move into the White Center Eagles-owned property identified as a possible new home. They’re planning a work party this weekend, but say they have all the help they need for to make the move. WCN contributor Deanie Schwarz is working on an update that will include the latest on the move and how long they might be closed during the transition.

Just in from Sgt. John Urquhart of the King County Sheriff’s Office:

A Sheriff’s deputy suffered a severely broken wrist while chasing and trying to arrest a suspected drunk driver. The deputy went to the hospital and the driver escaped.

The incident occurred about 12:30 AM this morning (June 15th) in the White Center neighborhood of unincorporated King County.

The patrol deputy tried to stop a 1993 Cadillac DeVille for possible drunk driving. The car, with four people on-board, took off and refused to stop for lights and siren from the police car.

The chase lasted only a couple of minutes before the car suddenly pulled over and the driver took off running. However the deputy was hot-on-his-heels and managed to grab hold of his jacket. The man turned suddenly and the deputy went to the ground, fracturing his wrist. The suspect kept running. The other occupants of the vehicle were interviewed and released.

The deputy has been with the Sheriff’s Office for three years and is 52 years old. He was treated at Valley Medical Center and released.

The suspect is as a black male in his 30’s about 5’ 10” and 130 lbs. If anyone has information they are asked to call the King County Sheriff’s Office at (206) 296-3311 or 9-1-1.