Harbor Ave wall: What went up, is now coming down

That photo taken a short time ago shows the work that’s under way right now to dismantle this wall put up earlier this year along Harbor Ave (without proper permits, according to the city) east of Salty’s – here’s the photo we took last month:

As we wrote at the time, the city had posted “stop-work” orders earlier in March; the project is NOT related to Salty’s at all — it’s an industrial site with a different owner. We have messages out to city inspectors to try to find out more about the site’s status.

RobertSeattle April 21, 2008 (12:05 pm)

The Graffiti “artists” never had a chance…

Kat April 21, 2008 (1:35 pm)

I believe Gary Merlino – the concrete magnate of Seattle – owns this land. He’s pretty notorious for working without permits, then just paying fines as his handslap. Check out his mansion on Brace Point next time you’re at Lincoln Park or on the Fauntleroy Ferry. It’s a quaint 14,000 square feet or so.

rockergirl April 21, 2008 (5:34 pm)

Merlino Construction was building (remodeling) a house in our neighborhood without the correct/current permits – permit was for remodel of single story they ended up building a 2 story hummer house – and there crew was notorious for showing up early to start work (pouring concrete at 5:30 am)- which is a violation of city code – we filed several complaints – not sure if they ever got fined but I know they did have to pay more for additional permits.

Jana April 22, 2008 (12:12 am)

Good riddance! Those cement blocks were quite an eyesoar!

Vio April 23, 2008 (11:19 am)

I think that Merlino was using the blocks to eliminate the public view of the water. He wants to get the land rezoned so that he can put up condos, and the worse he makes it now, the better (he thinks) it will be when he tries next time. Sleazy.