By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog 

With new leadership at the helm, last week’s Fauntleroy Community Association board meeting featured updates about neighborhood events and areas of concern and opportunity, along with (as the new board chairperson put it) a “spirited discussion” about the zoning implications of the One Seattle Plan.

The hybrid meeting at the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse was facilitated by Frank Immel with assistance from Dave Follis (more below on their planned roles for the year), in the first meeting since former president Mike Dey stepped down last month after 11 years. Meeting notes below:

SPD UPDATE: After opening meeting remarks, introductions and approval of minutes from the prior meeting, Officer Michael Bateman from the Seattle Police Department (attending online and filling in for crime-prevention coordinator Jennifer Satterwhite) provided some crime updates and statistics:

• For the Fauntleroy area, year-to-date, crime overall is down compared to last year (and is historically low this time of year). Theft is down 50%, motor vehicle theft down 60%, no burglaries reported.
• At the “macro level” (West Seattle’s Southwest Precinct as a whole), the statistics also show overall lower crime comparing year-to-date numbers with numbers from the same time period in 2024. For violent/property crime, there were 427 crimes last year during this time period, this year 392 (8% decrease). A significant reduction in assaults (down 32%) and motor vehicle thefts (down 35%). There has been a slight uptick in theft (property, vehicle prowls, etc) of 10% (217 year-to-date last year, and 238 this year).

A question from attendee Chris Lampkin (who serves on King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda’s staff, but was there on “personal capacity” Wednesday night because he’s a Fauntleroy neighbor): What’s the process for school lockdowns? When safety issues are occurring, schools may not be aware of what’s going on. Bateman: The first priority, of course, is for officers to make the scene safe. After that occurs, dispatch is notified to open the school and to provide overall status.  Follow-up Q:  How do they coordinate between schools? (there are a lot of them in/near Fauntleroy). Bateman: Generally, there is a lot of communication. And just because there’s a border line in the area (between Seattle and unincorporated King County) it doesn’t mean that there won’t be notification and coordination.  Other meeting attendees then discussed recent criminal activity in the area (such as the gunfire incident at the Barton St. 7-11 store) and law enforcement activity at a home in the area (WSB coverage here).

What about hiring trends for new officers?  Bateman said the trend is very good, with a “fully hired unit” of 25 additional SPD officers this year — “that’s a lot; exceeded our expectations.” He said SPD is working hard to get the new officers processed and trained, and then “they’ll go to wherever needed most.”  Attendee Lampkin added that King County is also working hard to fill the vacant storefront deputy position (serving White Center and vicinity). How about overall SPD morale? Bateman said that morale seems very good (which aligns with similar comments from Satterwhite in FCA’s January meeting), and he knows that “SW Precinct is a coveted precinct to be assigned to — generally, great morale.”

Q about what hours the SW Precinct is open for people to drop by — Bateman said it varies (the desk clerk position is one of last positions to be staffed), and people should call ahead to be sure, but generally there are officers there during business hours.

Q about whether SPD still hands out locks for steering wheels — Bateman said he’s not sure, but will check and get back to the group’s leaders.

ANNUAL MEETING & “FOOD FEST”: Board member David Haggerty reported on planning for the group’s March 18 annual meeting (6-8 pm) and “Food Fest” (local vendors serving small plates and drinks).  He noted that FCA, as a non-profit, is required by law to have an annual meeting with neighbors, and the group adds the free-food element, along with collecting money for annual dues and hosting info tables with representation from various. community groups. FCA also holds a brief “business meeting” during the event, to vote in new board members.

Immel emphasized that “this is our largest event, and a great chance to talk to people” and that important for the event to be welcoming and inviting for neighbors and potential new FCA members. Board member Bruce Butterfield offered a bit of history, noting that the origins of FCA were rooted in the “Fauntleroy Environmental Association” (FEA). Board members agreed that they’d make an effort to invite local elected officials, and would use the FCA website and email system to get the word out. Treasurer Alan Grainger said that he had increased the event’s budget from $2,000 to $2,500, to cover expenses.

ZONING AND SEATTLE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: Follis provided an update about the City Council’s recent February 5 public hearing (which we previewed here) on the city’s proposed rezoning plan and other elements of the One Seattle Plan. He said that while he wasn’t able to attend in-person, he watched the complete video online (which you can too, all 5.5 hours of it, on the Seattle Channel page), and there were about 120 speakers. The proposal includes the creation of Neighborhood Centers (a new type of zoning) throughout around the city — here are maps of various areas, including the proposed NCs, for District 1 which includes West Seattle.

Some notes and observations from Follis: Almost 60% of people in Seattle are renters. Comments included both older homeowners and younger renters (even some younger kids) and everyone in between. Lots of concerns about tree cover and losing it to development, people angry at developers for building/charging too much.

Follis and other board members said that for FCA and the Fauntleroy area, the unique concerns are for the Fauntleroy Creek watershed (which has decreased in size over the years) and the salmon-bearing streams, and the increased risk of slides and environmental disasters (especially in the event of seismic activity) if development isn’t handled properly in the watershed areas. Board members also suggested that while FCA’s stance isn’t anti-development (and shouldn’t be, because it’s important to acknowledge that more housing is needed), perhaps the emphasis should be “we don’t want anything upzoned along the creek” and that development should focus on arterials with existing infrastructure (such as the 35th Ave corridor).

Haggerty and others noted that FCA’s next steps should focus on getting more input from the community, via discussion at upcoming events, surveys, etc.  Attendees discussed various aspects of the zoning plan, the ideal role of FCA going forward, and the balance between wanting FCA to advocate for the quality of the neighborhood while “not coming across as a ‘NIMBY’ organization” and wanting to make it feasible/affordable for new families to move to the area. Most board members agreed that while it’s understandable for the city to want to have a consistent approach to zoning across all of Seattle, there also needs to be consideration for unique neighborhood realities — “for Fauntleroy, the differentiation is the creek.”

Immel thanked the group for the “spirited discussion” but noted that the meeting needed to proceed with other agenda topics, and he agreed that he would follow-up with an email to board members to propose and vote on next steps for getting input from Fauntleroy neighbors regarding the zoning plans.

BUDGET AND FINANCE: Grainger (treasurer) handed out copies of FCA’s latest budget and financial report, and walked through some changes to the way transactions are categorized. Board members then discussed the particulars of accounting for dues vs donations when receiving annual payments for FCA membership, and talked about financial support for the annual Fauntleroy Fall Festival (which is a separate entity, but linked to FCA in several ways). The board moved, seconded and voted to pass the budget as-written.

TRANSPORTATION AND FERRIES: Board member and transportation rep Marty Westerman gave an update on light rail plans from Sound Transit, expressing concerns about costs and logistics (noting, for example, that the West Seattle leg of the project won’t run downtown until after the Ballard segment is built). Westerman mentioned his involvement with the Rethink the Link group (see WSB coverage of their January 25 event) and his past advocacy for a gondola system serving West Seattle rather than light rail. More updates from Sound Transit are expected by the end of the month.

Westerman and other board members also briefly talked about ferry updates, noting the upcoming Washington State Ferries online community meetings (which have since taken place — WSB coverage here). There is an upcoming online meeting on March 11 in which plans and options for the dock rebuild will be discussed. Current plans still call for a new signal by the dock to be worked on this fall.

FAUNTLEROY FALL FESTIVAL: Save the date! The popular annual event is planned for October 19, 2025.

FCA LEADERSHIP PLANS: As we reported on from FCA’s January meeting, which was the final meeting for longtime president Mike Dey, the group’s plan had been for board members Dave Follis and Frank Immel to take over as co-presidents, with Immel leading meetings and Follis focusing on operations. However, on Wednesday night, Follis and Immel said that after further consideration and discussion, they decided that Immel would serve as the group’s sole president, with Follis remaining on the board and focusing on operations. Follis and Immel added that they both have full-time day jobs, and will do their best to fill Dey’s shoes, but will need to pick-and-choose priorities and manage expectations accordingly. Board members voiced their approval of the plan, which will go to the membership for a vote at March 19’s “Food Fest” general meeting, which always includes a vote regarding leadership for the upcoming year.

IN MARCH: NEXT MEETING AND ANNUAL MEETING: FCA meets most months at 6 pm on the second Tuesday (next month, that falls on March 11), at Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (9131 California SW) in the conference room near the east entrance. Also in March, as mentioned above, is the annual general-membership meeting aka “Food Fest” on March 18, featuring small bites and drinks from local purveyors, at The Hall at Fauntleroy on the schoolhouse’s south end.