New Landscaping and Old Trash

There have been very few good things that I could say about the AM/PM convenience store on MLK for the years and years that I have been tracking the trash problems at this store. But I have to admit that they kind of did a good thing recently by cleaning up and landscaping a small section of the land around their store. Now a thin strip of their property has risen to the same level as the other stores in the AM/PM chain and I'm happy to see this small improvement.

However if you look directly across the sidewalk to the parking strip it is still absolutely packed full of garbage. Do they not know that they are responsible for the upkeep of this area? Or do they just not care?

Of course the large pile of cement still sits in their alley and there has been no improvements to 85% of their greenspace. It still sits next to the store as a chained off empty lot full of garbage but I'm happy that they are finally taking some small steps to improvement.

Illegal Dumping

The PI ran an article today about illegal dumping. You can read about it here

Public Drunkenness

Travis Mayfield over at the KOMO news blog had a post about reporting public drunkenness which reminded me to put a link for the Washington State Liquor Control Board on our homepage.

If you discover a business selling alcohol to someone who is already intoxicated, Please report them at 206.439.3703

Beacon Hill Blog

Thanks for the link from the wonderful Beacon Hill Blog

I've gotten a few discouraging emails from residents of Beacon Hill that are dealing with these same issues. Keep fighting the good fight and keep reporting illegal dumping!

Nuisance Properties Update

The nuisance properties ordnance is continuing its way through the system, a full vote is expected by November 30th.

from the article in the PI

"The ordinance would define "chronic nuisance properties" as places where crimes or drug dealing or other nuisance activities occur at least three times within 60 days, or seven times in a year. Offenses such as prostitution, weapon violations, assaults or gang-related activity would be included in the definition.

The police chief would be given authority to declare a property a chronic nuisance. The owner would be notified in writing and given seven days to respond. The property owner would then have 30 days to work with the police on a plan for clearing out the nuisance activity, or face penalties of up to $500 per day for not complying."

Abandon Vehicle

People often wonder what the rules are in Seattle when it comes to abandon vehicles. This is often a problem next to the AM/PM store on MLK as they have created a perfect place for people to dump abandon vehicles and the owners of the store never seem to get around to turning them in. Just in case your looking for information on what to do, here is the city of Seattle's municipal code.

See links on our home page for info on where to report illegal dumping and abandon vehicles.

Problem Properties Ordinance

The city council is considering passing an ordinance to give police further powers in policing 'problem properties' such as AM/PM, I hope it passes and gives police more powers to clean up this property.


a quote from the story "That's huge for Erin Ehlinger, whose brother was killed in 2005 in a motel on Aurora Avenue North. "There's very simple things owners can do to make their place not a magnet for a bunch of criminal activity," she said. "The (existing law) is too fuzzy and didn't specify these kinds of activities."