Merchants contribute to neighborhood's health

By DEBERA CARLTON HARRELL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Merchants play a big role in the area's "wellness." Green Lake is a place where shops selling or renting sports equipment share sidewalks with cafes, juice bars, restaurants and other stores catering to health-minded consumers. A shop featuring hand-made ice cream (without the usual emulsifiers) adds sorbet for customers who don't like dairy products; "skinny" lattes outsell their fattier counterparts. A juice bar offers "frequent grass" (wheatgrass) punch cards.

Not all health-oriented companies have been embraced. Vitamilk Dairy Inc. has been at its Northeast 72nd Street location (the lake's northeast end) since 1940. Makers and distributors of milk and ice cream, Vitamilk has suffered the wrath of nearby residents complaining about noise, parking problems or the plant's allegedly unneighborly industrial appearance. Lawsuits have been filed to block Vitamilk permits.

Doug Bambrick, president of the Green Lake Community Council, said while the community has made significant strides in improving relations among citizens, park user groups, and residential and business interests, barriers still exist with Vitamilk despite its efforts to be a better neighbor.

Daryl Vander Pol, executive vice president of Vitamilk, estimated the company has spent $200,000 the last 10 years on noise reduction, including quieter refrigeration equipment and sound walls, and aesthetics. He said the company cannot afford the "substantial capital outlay" to create a new plant elsewhere and is "committed to staying."

For the most part, residents and businesses have mended relations since the late 1970s and early '80s when the two groups were "on opposite sides of the fence," said Stan Gregg, owner of Gregg's Greenlake Cycle, a third-generation family-owned business since 1932.

"I've seen a lot of politics in the community over the years; at one time attitudes were fairly militant; there was hostility," Gregg said. "But that attitude has pretty much dissipated. Residents realize businesses are here to serve the community and businesses have shown they care about the community at large. People are working more together now."

Like others with deep roots in the community, Gregg has seen the lake change, too. Grand community events such as the Aqua Follies and the hydroplane races ended after neighbors complained of traffic and noise; more recently, the Bite of Seattle fell victim to community complaints.

Balancing competing interests is the biggest challenge for high-use Green Lake. Some expressed concern that pressures on Green Lake will become more acute since voters turned down the Seattle Commons and a King County parks bond issue last fall.

"I've always considered the Green Lake area to be the crown jewel of Seattle; it's really an asset for the entire Seattle area," Gregg said. "Green Lake is going to remain really popular no matter what happens; it's unique... The challenge will be balance; to maintain the quality of life with increased city densities, and to keep the park as a desirable and beautiful place to be and still accommodate all those people who are going to come."

Continued:

• Residents, business coexist in this recreational mecca
• It appeals to everyone -- and that has its price
• Lake is the community's center, but not its heart
• Maintaining the park and water is a priority