Seattle City Light is seeking community input about what should be done with a former substation lot in the Sunset Hill neighborhood; it could go to another city department, be sold to the highest bidder or become public open space.

The patch of land, about 5,400 square feet, is located on the south side of Northwest 65th Street just west of 32nd Avenue Northwest. It's been unused for the past 15 years, said David Hemmelgarn with the city's Fleets and Facilities Department.

Many substations have become an unnecessary step for delivering electricity to homes because of advances in technology that allow for a more efficient process. The city has been disposing of such properties in the last several years.

City Light is required to offer surplus properties to government and public agencies before putting them on the market, but so far there's been no interest, said Hemmelgarn.

Residents have their own opinions as to what to do with the site.

About 45 comments have been collected from the community so far. Most said they want the property preserved as green space, maybe a farmer's market or a community garden. Some said they'd like to see a mixed-use development with affordable housing.

The area is zoned Neighborhood Commercial-1 with a 30-foot height limit, which is ideal for mixed-use developments, said Hemmelgarn.

Following property disposal guidelines, a lengthy public input process will be conducted over the next several months and the final decision will be made by the Seattle City Council.

"We're in the first stage of a long process," said Hemmelgarn.

Carrie Gustafson, owner of Lily and the People pottery studio, hopes the city will see how the site could be used to enhance an already tight-knit community.

Gustafson's pottery studio is located at one end of a retail strip just east of the substation, along with a beauty salon, a piano shop and another pottery studio. She said that business owners there want the site to be used as a sculpture park and children's garden.

It would also be the perfect place to hold the neighborhood summer and winter solstice parties that draw hundreds of people from around the community, Gustafson said.

"Space for community members to create art," she said. "An idea starts and then it grows. My mind just goes wild."

Gustafson named her studio after Lily Schoffman, a Jewish refugee from World War II. Schoffman purchased the string of properties where Gustafson's shop is to provide a place where people could establish themselves and share in the larger community, said Gustafson.

Schoffman's legacy, according to Gustafson, is one built on supporting community and local artists, not profit.

"The planned disposal of the substation is a rare opportunity for the Sunset Hill neighborhood to expand on the work, creativity and community spirit of Lily...by turning the site from an eyesore into a ceramics park," Gustafson explained in a letter to city council members.

Schoffman died in the mid-1990s, and the tenants, some of whom have been there for decades, are on now month-to-month leases. There's some fear that the current owner of the property would be enticed to buy the substation and develop both properties into housing.

But Gustafson admitted the community has no money to purchase the substation site, which could cost at least a quarter of a million dollars. She's hoping the city will decide to be generous.

"We wish they would just let us have it," Gustafson said. "I've had dreams come true before. I think it depends on how active some members of the city council are about open space and park space."

In response to Gustafson's letter, council member Richard McIver said a greater likelihood would be for the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department to take ownership of the land.

But parks department officials have said acquisition of new property isn't likely because it's dealing with the financial challenges of maintaining its existing facilities and park space.

"At the same time I acknowledge that failure to take advantage of such opportunities raises the specter of the land being sold to private developers for housing," McIver wrote.

The Sunset Hill Community Association also doesn't want to see the land turned into mixed-use development.

The substation, owned by a public entity, should remain in public hands for community use, said Robert Drucker, chair of the group's land use and neighborhood planning committee.

By itself, the land might be too small for housing. But a "worst-case scenario," he said, would be if a developer were to purchase it and the strip of retail property east of it.

"Then they'd really be able to do something awful," said Drucker, adding that he hopes the city will look at the land as a community asset rather than just a piece of property to be bought and sold.

"We need somebody who believes in us and our purpose and who will go the mile," Gustafson said. "I believe good things happen."

Ideas for the substation? Write or fax comments to the Fleets and Facilities Department, Attn: David Hemmelgarn, P.O. Box 94689, Seattle, WA 98124-4689, phone 684-0701. Fax 684-0525, david.hemmelgarn@seattle.gov.

Rebekah Schilperoort may be reached at rebekahs@robinsonnews.com