A community pizza oven, a weekend arts and crafts market, or a green space where educational programs are offered to area youth are just some the ideas a group of neighbors have for a piece of surplus city property in the Sunset Hill neighborhood.

That is, if they can come up with the money to purchase it or convince the city to help them.

Hillary Hamilton with the Seattle Fleets and Facilities Department, the department in charge of disposing of the former Seattle City Light substation and six others in the area, said while it's not that common, there have been instances where citizens were successful in securing surplus city property.

She used the Soundway West property in West Seattle as an example of a successful community driven effort to preserve surplus land that could have gone to developers. Residents were able to lobby state legislature for $500,000 toward preservation of the land as a greenbelt and it eventually gained support from the city council and Mayor Greg Nickels.

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 in the Sunset Hill property. Following 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.

But Hamilton said it's not too late for city departments to decide to acquire the property.

"It's only too late when (the Seattle City) council makes a decision," she said, adding that in some cases, the council has asked departments that have turned it down to take another look.

"There's no real door that shuts," she said.

The patch of land in Sunset Hill is about 5,400 square feet and located on the south side of Northwest 65th Street just west of 32nd Avenue Northwest. It's been unused for the past 15 years.

The area is zoned Neighborhood Commercial-1 with a 30-foot height limit, typical zoning for a mixed-use developments. But at a recent community "brainstorming session," Sunset Hill residents said they would rather see the property stay in public hands.

"Universally, we think that's a position we should take as a community." said Robert Drucker, a member of the Sunset Hill Community Association. "We bought that land, we own it and we should be able to keep it."

Drucker said the estimated value of the land is around $275,000, though it has not yet been officially appraised.

Drucker called the meeting to start organizing community momentum toward preservation of the land.

"I don't want to talk about feasibility today," he said. "I want to hear every crazy, wacky idea..."

Suggestions included a community P-patch, a rainwater collection system or a place for senior activities. Someone said it could be used for short term uses like raku kiln firings or a basketball court while the community works on securing funding for something permanent.

One man said it should be developed into an "urban sanctuary" with multi-purpose uses that had "political and social value," such as a solar powered water element that could serve as a demonstration for how solar energy can work in an urban setting.

"Creativity rather than jack hammer's seems to be the way to approach this," he said. "I think there are seeds that could grow into something and I think those are the kind of ideas we need."

Residents could also point to the Ballard/Crown Hill Neighborhood Plan, in which acquiring surplus city land for community use was designated as a goal. Though the mayor and city council adopted the plans mostly as a guide to neighborhood development, the community should pressure them to "stick to it," said Drucker.

"We're holding their feet to the plan," he said.

Ballard also has less open space than any other Seattle neighborhood, residents said, and while it's achieving goals for accepting density, Ballard is still lacking in public amenities that should accompany it.

Another woman said the space should be dedicated in honor of Lily Shoffman, a Jewish refugee from World War II who owned the commercial strip to the east of the site. Shoffman, who died in the mid-1990s, had provided discounted rents for business owners there through her trust.

Tom Bailiff, trustee of the Shoffman estate, recently raised the rents, prompting longtime businesses to vacate. Bailiff has indicated interest in acquiring the substation land while he renovates the commercial spaces.

A man who said he'd been asked to attend the community meeting on behalf of Bailiff, said Bailiff had mentioned developing a restaurant with outdoor seating there.

"But if you guys persevere, that's great," he said. "He (Bailiff) wants you guys to have your chance."

But it's still early in the process, said Hamilton. The city is just starting to assemble a preliminary report based on the first round of public input. The council probably won't hold a vote until next spring, she said, and in the meantime, the city will plan community meetings.

"The level of appropriate public involvement is tailored to the site," Hamilton said. "It depends on what the issues are. It really varies-that's the good news."

Send comments to the Fleets and Facilities Department, Attn: David Hemmelgarn, P.O. Box 94689, Seattle, WA 98124-4689, phone 684-0701. david.hemmelgarn@seattle.gov. Also contact Robert Drucker, Robert.drucker@gmail.com.