| The information below was received from supporters of the Chuckanut Community Forest District. The Edgemoor Neighborhood Association Board has gone on record supporting the District. If you are familiar with the project and would like to help, the article below will tell you how to do so. If you would like more information about it, the article provides some information and access to more. Hello Neighbor:
This past fall, petitions circulated to place the creation of the Chuckanut Community Forest District on the ballot. Thanks to you and more than 1600 of your Southside neighbors, we were successful and we are on the ballot! There will be a special election on February 12 through which the Southside will have an unprecedented opportunity to come together to save a precious natural asset–the Chuckanut Community Forest (aka, the Hundred Acre Wood or Chuckanut Ridge).
The community has cherished these woods for many years— expressing this love each time the property has been threatened by development. But the future of this incredible urban forest is once again in doubt as the City ponders ways to repay a $3.2 million loan that made the acquisition possible. If a repayment mechanism is not found, a substantial portion of the property will be sold. That means more poorly sited development and more traffic snarling the 12th Street bridge. It means that we, as tax payers, will pay the many costs of new development, while losing the woods that we love.
But there is an alternative. We could help repay the loan and save the woods forever! Residents of the Southside can create a Metropolitan Park District that would levy a small property tax of .28 per thousand dollars of property valuation. This would repay the loan in 10 years, at which time the Park District would be dissolved.
Your early support was key to getting this issue on the ballot. Now we need your help to get the measure passed. Here’s how you can help:
- Please talk to your Southside friends and neighbors and encourage them to Vote YES for Our Forest on February 12.
- Volunteer for the campaign: we need folks to doorbell in their neighborhoods distribute campaign materials and call likely voters.
- Sign up for a yard sign: Yard signs will be ready by mid-January. Can you place one in your yard?
- Donate: We need to raise $2,500 to pay for all of the campaign expenses. Donations may be made via postal mail or on our website.
If you can help out in any way, please contact the Chuckanut Community Forest District Steering Committee at: chuckanutcommunityforest@gmail.com
Learn more and donate at: www.chuckanutcommunityforest.com
Thanks for your support! |
