The scaffolding for the rebuilding of Fire Station 21 went up really fast over the last few days. Here’s a shot from early this morning.

Station 21 is temporarily located five blocks south on the corner of Greenwood Avenue North and North 68th Street.

Woodland Park Zoo animals will get special holiday treats such as fish- or fruit-trimmed wreaths, evergreen trees with ornamental fruit, or favorite snacks in wrapped boxes during the Winter Celebration on Dec. 20-22 and Dec. 27-29.

Photo by Dennis Dow.

Here’s the animal and treat schedule.

Monday, Dec. 20 and 27:

11 a.m. – Sun bears
12 p.m. – Grizzlies (12/20 only), meerkats (12/27 only)
1:30 p.m. — Pigs
1:30 p.m. — Meerkats (12/20 only), Tree kangaroo (12/27 only)
2 p.m. – Elephants

Tuesday, Dec. 21 and 28:

11 a.m. – Orangutans
12 p.m. – Otters (12/28 only)
1 p.m. – Golden lion tamarins
1:30 p.m. — Tree kangaroo (12/21 only)
2 p.m. — Tigers

Wednesday, December 22, 29

11 a.m. – Snow leopards
1 p.m. – Gorillas
1:30 p.m. – Penguins
2 p.m. – Australasia keas and Willawong Station

The Zoo is closed Christmas Day.

The Seattle P.I. reports today that Seattle City Light officials have found a street light vault cover at 85th and Greenwood to be energized with 120 volts. This is the sixth light pole cover to be found leaking voltage. A dog was electrocuted on Queen Anne on Thanksgiving Day after stepping on an energized light pole cover.

Read the P.I.’s full story.

Seattle Department of Neighborhoods has updated its application forms, program guidelines, and deadlines for next year for its three funding programs in the Neighborhood Matching Fund – Large Projects Fund, Small and Simple Fund, and Small Sparks Fund.

There have been several changes and impacts to the Neighborhood Matching Fund for 2011. To provide more opportunities for smaller projects, the Small and Simple Fund now has three application rounds in 2011. The deadline for the first round is January 18, 2011. The Tree Fund will no longer reside in Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, however, funding was transferred to Seattle Public Utilities for Citywide coordination of all tree giving programs in 2011.

For NMF projects that occur on the property of Seattle Parks and Recreation (DPR) as well as Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), projects will continue to require departmental approval and coordination based on established criteria. Overall, the criteria continue to support neighborhood-initiated projects that provide a public benefit and are consistent with the goals of each department. The criteria also continue to limit large scale projects such as neighborhood-wide planning efforts or master plan development for large parks. Lastly, DPR and SDOT may have limitations related to staffing cuts and reassignments. For more detailed information on each department’s project criteria, visit www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/.

The Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) program was created in 1988. All projects are initiated, planned and implemented by community members in partnership with Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. Every award is matched by neighborhoods’ or communities’ resources of volunteer labor and donated materials, professional services, or cash. Since the program was created 22 years ago, the Neighborhood Matching Fund has awarded nearly $47 million with a community match of more than $68 million. Projects have involved more than 85,000 volunteers who have donated more than 566,000 work hours.

This post is from Mike Ullmann of our sister site, Maple Leaf Life.

The busiest day of the year for the U.S. Post Office? That would be next Monday, Dec. 20.

The last day to put your first-class cards in the mail for Christmas delivery? That would also be next Monday, Dec. 20.

More than 800 million cards, letters and packages are expected to be mailed on that day alone, compared to 559 million on a typical day. Wednesday, Dec. 22, will be the busiest delivery day.

The Postal Service expects to deliver nearly 3 billion cards and letters over the holidays.

If you’re running behind, Dec. 21 is the deadline for Priority Mail delivery by Christmas, and Dec. 22 is the deadline for Express Mail. For more information, visit the post office online.

Update 3:20 a.m.: The fire is out. Neighbors tell us the house has been vacant for about a year, and recently had a For Sale sign out front. The fire department tells us the fire started in the back of the house and got into the attic. Investigators are on the scene to try to determine the cause.

“It was burning at the back,” neighbor Peter Devries told us at the scene. “Great support. They (Seattle Fire) sent a lot of people.”

Firefighters work on the roof of the house behind the home with Christmas lights.

“It’s a reassuring thing as a homeowner when one house is five feet from the next,” Laura Devries added.

The Devries tell us the For Sale sign had recently come down and someone had been working on the house for the last three days.

Earlier: Numerous fire trucks are on the scene of a fully-involved house fire at 321 N. 77th St. on top of Phinney Ridge. The call came in at 2:53 a.m. According to Seattle Fire Real Time 911, Engines 21, 31, 35, and Ladders 5 and 8 are on the scene, as well as numerous support vehicles.

As usual, thanks to Silver for the alert and for posting updates in the forum.

After months of discussion with residents, on Monday the Seattle City Council unanimously adopted a comprehensive update to how townhomes, apartments, row houses, and cottages are developed in the city’s low-rise multifamily zones. The idea is to spur more variety in multi-family housing, provide incentives for green building, and improve open space use and landscaping.

“Over the past decade, many townhouses popped up and multiplied in ways that caused unfortunate impacts to the surrounding communities,” Councilmember Sally J. Clark said in a press release. “We saw too few other housing styles and what we did see wasn’t welcomed by neighbors in most cases. I think these new rules will lead developers to build housing that fits better in our neighborhoods and creates a better home in which to live.”

The code creates a new Streamlined Design Review (SDR) process that will allow for closer scrutiny of project design for townhouses with three or more units (but not for row houses, cottages or apartments).

The new low-rise multifamily code also reduces the number of zones from five to three; requires at least 20 percent of street facing façades to be windows and doors; building materials must be varied; townhouse parking garages must be designed to fit large cars; parking will be underground or at the back of the lot; allows shared open space and larger usable common areas; waives parking requirements for projects in growth areas and within a quarter-mile of frequent transit service; and uses a flexible standard of measuring floor space, “floor area ratio,” rather than setback and lot coverage requirements.

The city says multi-family zones make up about 9 percent of the developable land in Seattle.

The Greenwood Senior Center, 525 N. 85th St., is hosting a free Christmas dinner for everyone at 2 p.m. Dec. 25. If you’re able to pay, the suggested donation is $5 for GSC members, $7 for non-members. Please RSVP by Wed., Dec. 22nd: 206-297-0875.

If you missed out on applying for free trees from the city, you’re in luck, because some people who applied for trees from the city’s Trees for Neighborhoods program never claimed them.

These trees will be available on a first-come, first served basis from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday at the EarthCorps nursery in Magnuson Park, 6310 NE 74th St.

To be eligible, you must be a Seattle resident and plant the trees on your property (to plant them in the sidewalk strip, you need a permit from Seattle Department of Transportaion), and go through a 15-minute planting training. There is a four trees per household limit.

Available species:
- Little gem magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora ‘Little gem’)
- Serviceberry* (Amelanchier arborea )
- Italian plum* (fruiting)
- Dogwood* (Cornus x ‘Venus’)
- Shore pine (Pinus contorta)
- Katsura* (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)
- Western red cedar (Thuja plicata ‘Excelsa’)
- Red oak* (Quercus rubra)
- Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
*These trees are bare root, rather than in pots. They need to be planted the same day you receive them.

You can call 206-793-2454 to check on the availability of trees before driving to the Magnuson Park nursery. That voicemail message listing available trees will be updated at 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.

Lots of news tidbits from around the neighborhood lately. Here’s a roundup.

SPACE at 7200 Greenwood Ave. N. is having a sale on home decor items on Wednesday as it prepares to close up shop by the end of the week. Owner Emily Lauderback says SPACE is selling 250 square feet of cork flooring, 30 Matrix Stackable Chairs, exterior containers and plants, 45 yards of curtains, and more.

Theo’s Fresh Produce at 8221 Greenwood Ave. N. now has a liquor license to sell beer and wine.

Greenwood True Value at 7201 Greenwood Ave. N. has a giving tree for the non-profit Treehouse, which helps foster children. Return gifts by Dec. 16.

The 85th St. Market at 656 NW 85th St. has changed its name to Chuck’s 85th St. Market. Owner Chuck Shin tells us he has also changed the liquor license from grocery to wine and beer specialty store, which allows him to sell kegs and have wine and beer sampling in the store. The store’s new website is www.chucks85th.com.

PAWS Cat City at 8503 Greenwood Ave. N. will be staying in Greenwood just a little longer than originally planned before moving to the U-District. Cat City will be open in Greenwood through Dec. 26 (closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day).

Picnic just got a great shout out from Molly Wizenberg, author of the popular Orangette blog and co-owner of Delancey pizza in Ballard. Her story in the December issues of Bon Appetit magazine details her quest for the perfect lentil soup. She says she found it in Picnic co-owner Anson Klock’s curried lentil soup (p. 91).
Wizenberg writes, “We’ve been eating it for lunch every day lately, and unless Anson makes up a new recipe, I don’t foresee a reason to stop.”

The Phinney Neighborhood Center is accepting donations of hams, pies, juice and coffee for the PNA Soup Kitchen’s holiday meal on Dec. 22. Bring donations to the PNA, 6532 Phinney Ave. N., by Dec. 21. For more information call (206) 783-2244 or email alis@phinneycenter.org.

Neighbors in the 600 block of NW 84th St. will be lighting luminaria along the sidewalks on Saturday evening for their annual event.

Taproot Theatre has completely sold out the rest of the run of “Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Carol.” The theater is, however, selling standing room tickets for the balcony. When patrons call, Taproot is also suggesting they check out a nearby theater company, Seattle Public Theater, at the Green Lake Bathhouse, which is currently staging “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” through Dec. 24.

Doney Memorial Pet Clinic is holding a pet food drive through the end of December at Aurora Veterinary Hospital, 8821 Aurora Ave. N., and Crown Hill Pet Supply, 9053 Holman Rd NW. “Doney Memorial Pet Clinic is a volunteer-based, non-profit organization that provides free veterinary services, food, and medication to the pets of homeless and low-income residents of Seattle,” according to a press release. The clinic needs donations of wet and dry cat and dog food, cat litter (open bags are okay), new or gently used pet carriers, leashes, collars, beds, grooming tools, pet shampoo and toys.

Seattle City Light is reporting several hundred customers in Greenwood and Phinney are without power.

(Update 2:15 p.m.: City Light’s outage map shows this outage has been fixed, and a neighbor in that area who lost power confirms that her power is back.) Earlier: According to City Light’s outage map, more than 500 customers are affected by an outage caused by a falling tree near Palatine Avenue North and North 90th Street. The estimated power restoration time is 7:12 p.m. Customers from roughtly 85th to 95th and Greenwood Avenue to 3rd Avenue NW are affected.

Another tree-caused outage near Greenwood Avenue North and North 86th Street is affecting 14 customers. Power is expected to be restored by 6:40 p.m.

Another outage on the other side of Aurora Avenue North near Interlake Avenue North and North 100th Street is affecting more than 1,000 customers, some as far west as Fremont Avenue North. Power to that area is expected to be restored by 6:40 p.m.

City Light is updating the outage map at least every 15 minutes. Since the winds are still strong this afternoon, more outages are possible.

The city’s NW Design Review Board met Monday night for its first look at Taproot Theatre’s proposed expansion into the lot once occupied by the Eleanor Roosevelt Building, which was destroyed last year by an arsonist.

The theater’s 12,000-square-foot proposal includes a second performance space, offices, scene shop, and large lobby with a café. The entire length of the building on both floors would be windows, to allow in natural light. Large performance posters and movie props would be along the back wall of the lobby, and visible to passersby outside.

It also provides a corridor around the performance space to allow actors to enter at different places. There would be separate bathrooms for the public and the actors. A staircase in the southeast corner would be visible through the windows. Double walls would insulate the performance space from the street and scene shop noise.

In the proposal, both the lobby and performance space are two stories high. The second floor would include offices (staff currently rents office space a block away), the theater control room, and a rooftop deck.

The deck would be open to the sky, and the windows would not have glass. The deck would be available for staff to eat lunch or have meetings, and could also be rented out.

The canopy above the lobby entrance would be directly underneath the rooftop deck windows, and the canopy would be planted with greenery.

Taproot is asking for a variance to setback rules to build some kind of railing along 85th Street to keep patrons from accidentally getting too close to traffic. Producing Artistic Director Scott Nolte said patrons gather along the narrow sidewalk and don’t always realize how close they are to stepping off the curb.

The modular building would be built by Pacific Mobile Structures Inc. at their Marysville plant. It would arrive at the site about 98 percent complete, including pre-painted, and take only four to six weeks to assemble onsite. That means there would not be daily truck traffic like at a normal construction site.

The timeline calls for design to be complete by May 2011, site work to be completed in July, and the building to be installed in August, with a final move-in during September 2011.

Nolte said having a modular building allows them to reduce the amount of disruption to the neighborhood, as well as getting the building installed in between the theater’s performances. Cost was also a factor.

“We wanted to light up the sidewalk sooner rather than later, instead of waiting to raise $20 million to do our dream building,” Nolte said. He added that about half of the expected $3.2 million cost is in the bank.

He said other arts organizations and funders he’s talked to are excited about the modular concept, because of its cost and accelerated building schedule.

“This could be a game changer and a model for arts organizations around the country,” Nolte said.