By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
What’s happening on a lot in the 8400 block of 41st/42nd SW in Upper Fauntleroy isn’t your standard case of one house down, two bigger houses go up, neighbors get upset. Even a city spokesperson calls it “egregious” – a house going up without a permit, on a site first approved just for a larger garage.
We hadn’t heard anything about this site since mentioning it here one year ago, until neighbors contacted us earlier this week.
After the site and its old brick house were sold last year, a lot split was sought. The new owner built a house on the south side, at 8437 41st SW. For the north side, the owner filed an application in October for a permit granted in January to build a “2,258-square-foot, 35-foot-tall detached underground garage,” at 8454 42nd SW.
A neighbor wrote in e-mail, “In January 2015, the construction began. The 35-foot detached garage was striking in this neighborhood of single-family homes. However, once the garage was completed, the building continued first with one level of living space, followed by a second, and then a week ago, on May 27, 2015, yet a third level of living space was added to this structure. Now this structure, permitted as a detached garage, is a four-story, 10,000 square foot monstrosity. Additionally, the property has 42nd Ave on the westside and 41st Ave on the eastside. On both streets, the structure has clearly marked garages.” Atop this story is the 42nd SW side; here’s the 41st side:
Neighbors complained to the city Department of Planning and Development, which confirms it posted a “stop-work order” on Tuesday.
Neighbors say the owner revised his application, changing the plans to what they say would be a “four-story, 5,706-square-foot residence on top of the 2,258-square-foot garage” (with engineering calculations, they say, dated almost a year ago) and that work continued after that – a crane was seen at the site on Wednesday – but DPD wasn’t able to confirm it.
DPD did, however, according to spokesperson Bryan Stevens, issue a “notice of violation” today, telling the owner he must “obtain the appropriate permit for construction of the new home.” He gets “30 days (through July 5) to obtain or make progress toward obtaining that permit before the case is sent the City Attorney’s Office for litigation. The owner will be assessed a special investigation fee for construction without a permit (approximately $2000-$3000, based on value of construction) and if not in compliance by the deadline of the NOV, will also be subject to fines in the amount of $500/day through litigation in court.”
Stevens says DPD enforcement regarding “unpermitted construction” more often includes “decks or unpermitted construction” – seldom “the construction of a completely new home. This one is egregious and a huge risk for the builder if we find he needs to make changes to the structure through the permit process. If he doesn’t make progress toward a permit, then we will forward the case to the Attorney’s Office right after the compliance date has passed for litigation in court.”
Neighbors of the project gathered last night to talk about strategy. One big point they made is that they understand the owner/builder has a right to build on the property. They want to be sure it’s being done according to city rules, especially regarding height, given the tall garage (listed also on the site plan as “shop”) on the one side and residential height on the other. They have put together an e-mail list and are watching to be sure the stop-work order remains complied with; they say the city has told them it will take up to 10 weeks to review.
In addition to filing complaints with DPD, the neighbors also asked City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen for help; he promised to look into it.
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