Don’t forget that tonight is the Design Review Board’s Early Design Guidance meeting for the proposed Fred Meyer development on 85th Street. The meeting is at 6:30 at Ballard High School in the Library.

Last Thursday’s community meeting at the Phinney Center brought out about 100 people who grilled the developers about their plans. While many people liked certain aspects of the plan, there were a lot of concerns about traffic, potentially empty retail storefronts, public spaces, the huge number of parking spaces (more than 800), walkability, and the store’s giant footprint.

Here’s the complete site plan:

And here’s the view from 1st Ave. NW, looking northwest. The red stripe in the middle is the sign for the single entrance to Fred Meyer. The building on the right is residential on top of a parking garage.

And here’s what the townhomes along 3rd Ave. NW may look like (keep in mind these are very preliminary drawings and simply show what might be there):

Tonight’s meeting of the five-person volunteer Design Review Board is the best way to get neighborhood concerns into the public record. Greater Greenwood Design and Development Advocacy Group (GG.DDAG) has been working with the developer to address neighborhood concerns. Click here for a pdf of their major points of concern, and suggestions.

GG.DDAG is also working on getting the entire site rezoned to Neighborhood Commercial from the current C1-40 commercial zoning that is car-oriented and, in many people’s opinions, out of date and contrary to Greenwood-Phinney’s designation as an Urban Village. Click here for a pdf showing their very thorough proposal for a legislative rezone.