We have new flowers in in bloom at one of Montlake’s two neighborhood owned and beloved mini parks! Be sure to stop by and view the beauty or plan to visit at the Garden and Art Tour on June 1st. 

On Sunday May 18th from 10am-2pm, there will be a clean up for the East Gateway Park (northeast corner of Boyer and 24th Ave. Come if you can help, as we get the Park looking its best for the upcoming Montlake Garden and Art Tour!

What’s in bloom:

Native Columbine, wild iris, Columbine & blue bells are in full bloom at East Gateway Park! Our own little park will be featured in the Montlake Garden Tour in June 1st.

The Montlake Rezoning Task Force (MRTF) has been created to represent the Montlake Community in response to the Mayor’s plan to include Montlake as one of 30 neighborhood centers (NC) in its upzoning plan for Seattle. The City’s plan affects about 24 blocks, nearly 400 historic homes, roughly 30% of our neighborhood! 

The Task Force’s Mission is to work with the City of Seattle, on behalf of the Montlake Community, to accommodate growth while at the same time preserving the unique character of our Historic Neighborhood. 

About ten talented and committed professional Montlake neighbors have worked diligently for several months on this mission! 

Accomplishments so far:

1. Well researched background information was gathered and posted on Montlake.net. You’ll see the Rezoning tab above where this wealth of information is accessible to all and is updated regularly!
2. Flyers and posters summarizing this information were beautifully designed and distributed to all Montlake residents and posted around the community. 
3. Several MRTF members along with other Montlake residents have “testified” at City Council meetings. 
4. Feedback was and continues to be solicited from Montlake residents. This feedback went/goes to Joy.Hollingsworth@Seattle.gov and Zoning@Montlake.net. 
5. Montlake concerns from this feedback were summarized nicely in a letter signed by the Montlake Community Club Board Presidents that went to Joy Hollingsworth, our City Council representative, (who is also the leader for this project), as well as to all other City Council members and the Mayor. You can find the letter below.
6. Members of the MRTF met with Representative Hollingsworth’s staff for a walkabout in Montlake while sharing Montlake’s concerns – a very productive meeting!
7. MRTF has met with and keeps in contact with other designated NC neighborhoods in D3 such as Madison Park and Madrona during the City’s fluid process. 

Next steps:

1. Members of the MRTF are meeting with the City Planning Office later this month to share community concerns, understand criteria and discuss options. 
2. MRTF is working to finalize a comprehensive Plan B to present to Representative Hollingsworth, the City Council and Mayor that increases density in Montlake while better preserving our historic community, per our mission. 
3. MRTF is also exploring any impact we can have on the implementation of HB1110 passed by the WA State Legislature back in 2023. This bill effectively eliminates all single-family zoning in Seattle as well as reducing setbacks etc. So, the entire Montlake Community, outside our NC, can also be upzoned much more than with our current ADU’s. HB1110 potentially affects Montlake more than the NC designation. 
4. The whole upzoning process was on hold until 4/11 when all six appeals from other communities were dismissed. This delay gave the MRTF more time to work on our plans. 
5. The current City’s timeline can be found in the Rezoning tab above under “About Montlake Rezoning” near the bottom of the section. There will be an opportunity to “testify” again at upcoming City Council meetings. We will keep you updated on this! 

A huge thank you to the Montlake Rezoning Task Force’s dedicated volunteers for all their amazing work!

Please reach out to Zoning@Montlake.net with any questions, comments or concerns. 

Thank you,

Janice Sears

Chair, Montlake Rezoning Task Force

Check out the daffodils before they are gone! Thanks to Tom Brown and the other volunteers for making this a neighborhood gem for us all to enjoy!