Madison Park Community Council

Bylaws of the Madison Park Community Council

The Board of Parks Commissioners voted at their Dec. 8, 2011 meeting to recommend that “the entire fence be removed, combined with an implementation and vegetation management plan, with the Superintendent conferring with the community.” Acting Superintendent Christopher Williams has indicated his intent to follow a process of community involvement comparable to that used by the Parks Department in other similar situations, and has committed to completing that process before any action to remove the existing fence is taken. Several community members (Madison Park Community Council President Gail Irving, Lake House Condominium residents Sam Smith and John Pettit, and resident of the condominium at the northwest corner of 43rd and E. Lynn Shan Mullin) met with the Acting Superintendent and several of his staff on January 9 to discuss the Parks Department’s plans for how the community process would be organized.
 A working group will be formed consisting of the following: 

1.) four community representatives who opposed the original proposal to simply remove the existing fence (the four individuals noted above),
2.) four individuals from the Madison Park community who expressed support for the fence’s removal, and 
3.) two Parks Department staff members (not David Graves) who will facilitate the group’s efforts 

The group will meet several times over the next couple of months, and those meetings will be open to the public. We are hopeful a reasonable resolution can be found that responds to the concerns that have been raised by the community and results in actual improvements to the park. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

On Monday January 9th, 2012, join us for an introduction to Seattle's approach to the concept of Neighborhood Greenways. Bob Edmiston will be speaking about the goals of Seattle Neighborhood Greenways and how they might further enhance the livability of Madison Park.
Neighborhood Greenways are dedicated residential streets, often paralleling an arterial, with low traffic volume and traffic speeds. Neighborhood Greenways are intended to be connections between parks, schools, residences and neighborhood businesses, while providing a quieter, slower paced place where bicycles, pedestrians and neighbors’ safety are all given priority. Cars are still able to drive and park on Neighborhood Greenways though by implementing various traffic calming measures the streets become safer for non-vehicular users also.

Links to more information:
        1) The Seattle Times opinion piece by by Dylan Ahearn, Cathy Tuttle and Michael Snyder
        2) City Council member Sally Bagshaw, has an excellent FAQ on Neighborhood Greenways.
        3) Seattle Neighborhood Greenways web site.
        4) StreetFilms video about Greenways in Portland