Sex offenders out, locally-sourced produce potentially in at DESC Delridge project

SMR Architects concept drawing of DESC's supportive housing project in the Delridge neighborhood of West Seattle. DESC director Bill Hobson recently said no sex offenders will be allowed to live in the supportive housing complex.

Sex offenders will not be allowed to live at DESCs Delridge Supportive Housing apartments, DESC Executive Director Bill Hobson confirmed at an advisory council meeting on March 27. Additionally, members of a pilot produce cooperative discussed their vision for the membership-driven, locally-sourced grocer to go in at the retail space facing Delridge Way S.W. once the building is up.

No sex offenders at DESC Delridge DESC (Downtown Emergency Service Center) plans to build a 66-unit apartment complex at 5444 Delridge Way S.W. with supportive services for homeless men and women living with serious mental/addictive illnesses or other disabling conditions.

Concerning the decision on sex offenders that Hobson said he basically committed to back in June of 2011, but made official this week, he said I think your concern about childhood safety is perfectly reasonable. I think that for people who do not know about the dynamics of homelessness or major psychiatric issues, the project coming to this neighborhood, the concern for property values is also a very legitimate concern for neighbors to have.

There are virtually none (sex offenders) in the homeless population, he added. It is less than one percent. They are not in the population for the most part and we will spring them out, we have access to the King County Sheriffs website and Im happy to talk more about our screening mechanisms.

Hobson then referenced a Seattle Times article he recently read that stated over 90 percent of sexual abuse cases are committed by a family members or close friends of the victims family.

No full-size grocery store, but possibly a produce cooperative Shifting gears, the Delridge Supportive Housing Advisory Committee turned to the question of what will go in at the retail space required in DESCs housing plan.

Parie Hines, co-chair of North Delridge Neighborhood Council, started off the conversation with a review of a study commissioned by several city and county organizations and researched by Diane Lupke & Associates, Inc. to assess the potential for a full-service grocery store in North Delridge. The need for local healthy food options in Delridge has been a longtime conversation for residents.

The findings of the study stated, Current incomes, population density, traffic counts and proximity to alternatives do not support location of a standard supermarket within the Delridge area, or, as Hines put it, I think it tells us what we already know: it is hard to build a grocery store in Delridge.

The study went on to suggest alternatives including subsidized markets (like the Food Trust on the East Coast), small independent grocers, mobile markets (like the Stockbox Grocer pilot that was in Delridge for a while), fresh food offerings at convenience stores (which is already happening at a few locations) and a co-op grocer.

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Sex offenders out, locally-sourced produce potentially in at DESC Delridge project