11:59 AM: Above, that’s what the southwest corner of 16th/Holden looks like today, a 9,425-square-foot former Seattle City Light substation originally declared as “surplus” more than a decade ago … and below is a “massing” rendering of its potential future with newly chosen prospective “affordable homeownership” developer Homestead Community Land Trust.

The city Office of Housing has just announced that it’s chosen Homestead CLT – which is also working on the Admiral Church project – to develop “permanently affordable” homes on the site. We’ve been following this process; most recently, the city told us in June that two developers were in the running, and one would be chosen by summer’s end. From the city announcement:

The City of Seattle’s Office of Housing (OH) is proud to announce a significant investment of up to $3 million in the future of affordable homeownership in West Seattle. This funding will be awarded to Homestead Community Land Trust (Homestead CLT) for the redevelopment of the former Dumar Substation site at 1605 SW Holden Street and will support the creation of 21 permanently affordable homes, marking a critical step forward in the City’s ongoing efforts to provide affordable housing options for low-income families.

Homestead CLT, partnering with the Cultural Space Agency, submitted a winning proposal through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process that not only increases the supply of affordable homeownership units but also integrates ground-floor commercial space to enhance community vibrancy.

Homestead CLT’s proposal garnered strong community backing, with local organizations like the Highland Park Action Committee and the Highland Park Improvement Club voicing their support. Once complete, the development will feature a four-story building with a mix of studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom homes, all of which will be available to buyers earning at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI). In addition to providing affordable homeownership opportunities, the development will also include ground-floor commercial space.

The commercial space is something that community groups long had advocated for, as well as supporting zoning at the site – at an intersection with businesses on two corners and a fire station at the third – so it could support a project like this. We’re following up with Homestead regarding timeline and what happens next.

ADDED 1:03 PM: Here’s the response we received from Homestead CLT’s CEO Kathleen Hosfeld:

First, I want to give big props to [former City Councilmember] Lisa Herbold, because making sure this property was set aside for affordable housing was one of her top priorities before she left office. This was something I’d been hearing about for years directly from community leaders, and she got it done. Let’s make sure we give credit where it’s due.

In terms of opportunities for community engagement….The City has already engaged in a lot of outreach to determine what people want for this site. We don’t want to contribute to “process fatigue” by asking community to keep repeating the same feedback they’ve given before. But we typically host one or more community open house opportunities for engagement on projects before we submit our permit application. We intend to submit the permit application in May of 2025. We have not yet scheduled those events.

We hope to have full funding for the project by the end of 2025 and start construction in early 2026. However, if we are not fully funded, the timeline may get pushed to start construction in 2027.

Share This

West Seattle Comprehensive Plan Walking Tour

Join Complete Communities Coalition and partners as we explore and learn from the example of West Seattle’s Alaska Junction how to build better neighborhoods. We will take a 2-mile walking tour and discuss how choices being made right now in Seattle’s comprehensive plan will shape our city over the next two decades. Hear how better housing options can support local businesses, provide affordability, and allow families to grow together across generations.

The event will last from 10 am to 12:30 pm. The walk and talk will begin at Junction Plaza Park [42nd/Alaska] and continue for 2 miles and end at Top Pot Doughnuts [. We’ll wrap up with writing letters to the City Council about what we learned and want them to prioritize in the comprehensive plan.

This is an all-ages event, and is welcome to all!

RSVP: bit.ly/west-seattle-walking-tour

The comprehensive-plan update – aka Draft One Seattle Plan – has yet to be finalized; you can read here about the Complete Communities Coalition’s priorities for amending it.

Share This

West Seattle’s Providence Mount St. Vincent is opening another chapter in its ongoing mission to care for our community’s seniors. Introducing Independent Living, a new experience at The Mount, as it’s affectionately known, and you’re welcome to pay a visit and see what it’s all about.

The Mount is celebrating its 100th year, its perch high on a hill with incredible views all around, a hard-to-miss landmark. Already offering care and companionship from apartments with assisted living to skilled nursing care, transitional care and skilled nursing, The Mount now offers Independent Living, an opportunity for you or a loved one to make your own new home. You manage your own life, your comings and goings, and you’ll still have opportunity to take part in The Mount’s programs.

If you’re never been to The Mount, you’re in for a treat. The place is a beehive. Lots of staff, more volunteers than you can count, activity after activity, when you’re interested – and kids! Lots of them. Besides being honored for its senior care, The Mount is home to a unique day-care program, among its features a wonderful opportunity for children and elders to meet. Think a building filled with grandparents!

The Mount offers an environment where you’ll be welcomed. It’s not uncommon to hear people say “you can just feel the goodness of this place.” More than likely you’ll meet some former West Seattle neighbors among the residents, the staff and the volunteers. Time for lots of shared moments, and stories.

What’s more, as you need more care down the road, it’s all there – from assisted living to skilled nursing and transitional care. No need to move from The Mount.

Pay us a visit. To see what’s happening inside that huge home on the hill (4831 35th SW) – and to check out the new Independent Living program, email Christina.L’Heureux@providence.org or call 206-938-6248 and schedule a tour. We’ll be happy to show you around.

We thank Independent living at The Mount for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here. You can email patrick@wsbsales.com for info on joining the team!

Share This

The development files have been fairly quiet lately, aside from townhouse projects, which aren’t always noteworthy, but this is an exception, as it’s one of the larger such projects we’ve seen in a while, and on a high-visibility site: Two years after the sale of three 80-year-old duplexes across from Cormorant Cove Park, there’s an early-stage redevelopment plan. Nine 3-bedroom townhouses, with nine offstreet parking spaces, are proposed to replace the boxy duplexes on the corner of Beach Drive SW and SW Orleans (which hold the official addresses 3702-3708 Beach and 6011 Orleans). Seven units would face Beach, two would face Orleans. These are the last un-redeveloped parcels on the inland side of the 3700 block of Beach Drive. A Seattle investment entity affiliated with architecture firm MG2 – whose name is on the site plan – bought the site for $3 million in 2022.

Share This

Two years after its final approval from the Southwest Design Review Board, the 7-story mixed-use project planned for 4448 California SW in The Junction just got a key city land-use approval. Publication of the decision (read it here) opens a two-week appeal period (explained in this notice). The city description of the building includes a mix of 43 apartments and an unspecified number of “hotel” units, plus commercial space, with no offstreet parking. The development team is the same one that’s built the almost-complete 3405 Harbor SW apartment building and is constructing the 9201 Delridge Way SW mixed-use building – Housing Diversity Corporation, STS Construction Services (WSB sponsor), and Atelier Drome. The building currently on the site is partly vacant; West Seattle Coworking maintains an auxiliary space there (though their main location is at 9030 35th SW). We have a message out to the project team to ask about the project’s timeline.

ADDED FRIDAY: Their reply – “We’re looking at Q4 but still finalizing the timeline.”

Share This

Three weeks have passed since the deadline for proposals to develop the 9,425-square-foot ex-substation site on the southwest corner of 16th and Holden into a mixed-use building with “affordable homeownership” units. The city Office of Housing was seeking proposals for building ~16 for-sale residential units over commercial space at the site, and tells WSB that it received two proposals. They’re not commenting on who the proposals are from, but plan to choose a winner “in August.” This was one of half a dozen area ex-substation sites declared “surplus” by Seattle City Light more than a decade ago; after years of discussion and community advocacy, SCL transferred it to the Office of Housing to get this project off the ground Housing paid the site’s current valuation, $424,000, to SCL, using funding from Mandatory Housing Affordability fees paid by developers in lieu of including affordable housing in their own projects. The units in the eventual project, according to the city, “must be affordable to households with incomes at or below 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) for the Seattle area,” taking into account “a 5% down payment, a monthly payment for housing costs (mortgage principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and other dues) of not more than 35% of income, a household size of one more person than number of bedrooms, and a realistic mortgage interest rate.” Assuming this plan proceeds to fruition, this will be only the second of those six surplus ex-substations to be developed into housing, after these “tiny townhomes” on Pigeon Point.

Share This

The five-story building is going up on a former auto-shop site on the south side of Delridge/20th/Barton; on the north side, STS already has two properties, Blue Stone and Livingstone, both mixed use – the early-learning facility Bella Mente is in Blue Stone, while STS’s company headquarters are in Livingstone. The new project, Keystone, will have 4,000 square feet of commercial space as well as 74 apartments. All speakers at today’s ceremony talked about the challenges of getting a project going amid a difficult financing environment; STS Construction’s Craig Haveson said he and his wife Mara Haveson first invested in the area 17 years ago, and he’s always believed in its potential.

His parents Rena and Paul, wife Mara, and kids Scarlett and Colton were there to join in the celebration, including the ceremonial shovel-turning:

Speakers also included Housing Diversity CEO Brad Padden, who has built more than 2,800 apartments in the Northwest and Southern California; he said the intent of this project, and the heart of his business, is to provide more middle-income housing.

Architect Michelle Linden of Atelier Drome echoed the dedication to affordability, saying that people who grew up in this area deserve to be able to stay in this area:

Too soon to say what the rents will be, as completion is more than a year away, but the goal is for the apartments to be affordable to people making 80 percent of the Area Median Income or less; 15 of the units will be rent-restricted via the city’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption program. Linden noted that the site on which attendees gathered for this afternoon’s ceremony will be a mini-plaza when Keystone is done. The site had proposals under earlier ownership, including a storage facility, but this is the one that finally went through. Meantime, STS and HDC are partners in other future West Seattle developments, including 4448 California SW in The Junction and 17th/Roxbury (which underwent some demolition recently, but that was for safety reasons, not because construction was imminent).

FINANCIAL PARTNERS: Since much was made of the challenges of securing financing for projects right now, here’s who is involved in this project, according to a project-overview infosheet – senior lender First Fed, with a $5 million loan; Nuveen Green Capital as Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy and Resiliency (C-PACER) lender, loaning $9.74 million; and Citizen Mint, raising $5.18 million of equity.

Share This

Opening the door for middle housing:
A look at the future of Seattle neighborhoods.

Seattle can expect to be a city of one million residents by 2040 and is undergoing a comprehensive planning process to guide that growth. If you are interested in what Seattle might look like in twenty years or what are the immediate impacts and opportunities, join local architect Matt Hutchins AIA CPHD in a virtual tour of how our neighborhoods are most likely to grow in the future.

In addition to designing creative urban infill development, Hutchins is a housing advocate, policy wonk, sustainable building expert and Seattle Planning Commissioner.

No RSVP or admission charge – just show up at 6 pm Tuesday (June 18).

Share This

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Calling it a ‘continuation of transparency” about the future redevelopment of its site, Admiral Church brought back its partners to show off the site plan to the community this past Sunday afternoon, after an earlier meeting with its congregation. It’s not a final design but this has the most details yet about how the church and Homestead Community Land Trust envision filling the site with a mix of affordable and market-rate for-sale housing as well as a new mixed-use building for the church and its programs.

They finalized their partnership plans last year; the church had long been seeking a way to ensure a sustainable future despite its deteriorating building, while using its half-acre campus for community good, including affordable housing.

“We’re thrilled with this design – it’s exactly what we were hoping for,” said Admiral Church’s pastor, Rev. Andrew Conley-Holcom. “We’re over the moon impressed with the work that Third Place Design has done.” That’s the project architect. The bulk of the new information was via this site plan:

The project would be broken up into five buildings. Third Place’s Poppi Handy explained that they didn’t want to design it as “one massive building.” From west to east, the site plan shows a building with four 3-story, 3-bedroom townhouses with garages; another with three 3-story, 4-bedroom townhouses; the mixed-use building with room for the church and its programs, plus eight condo “flats” on three stories above it; a building with two 3-story, 3-bedroom townhouses; and a building with four 2-story, 3-bedroom townhouses. The site also would have a shared courtyard, a rooftop deck, and an 18-space parking lot (12 for the church and 6 for residents). In all, that’s 21 for-sale residential units – 13 townhouses and 8 condos. One note: The condo “flats” in the mixed-use building will have access to an elevator, which the project team says helps with the accessibility challenges otherwise raised by three-story townhouses.

The church would have entrances on two sides – one for people coming from the parking lot, the other for people coming from California/Hill. The church’s space will include offices and community rooms (they currently host a variety of community uses, from the Admiral Neighborhood Association to recovery groups). One thing it won’t include: The preschool A Child Becomes will not be part of the new campus (Rev. Conley-Holcom said it has already secured a new home at another church).

(Part of a 3-D “flythrough” shown at meeting)

Questions were fielded by project participants including Handy, Homestead CLT’s Kathleen Hosfeld, and the pastor. What about the site grade? It’ll be leveled, said Handy. The current basement space will be filled. Will the rooftop deck be available to the neighboring community for events? Hosfeld said that possibility can be explored, though it would require a public restroom, among other things. Will there be solar power? Yes, they’re planning on solar for all townhomes, depending on financing, and probably at least the “common area” of the church/condos building.

The parking plans drew some discussion. Yes, there’ll be EV accommodation, with the help of city subsidies. Why 10 spaces for 21 residential units? They expect nearby street parking to handle it.

As has been the case in previous discussions of the project, many questions centered on the “affordable homeownership” aspect of the project. 13 of the units will be “affordable” to households with income no greater than 80 percent of the area median, though Homestead says they aim for more like 65 percent. Right now, that means a little over $300,000 for a three-bedroom townhouse, considered affordable to a 2-person household making $88,000. “That may sound like a good income, but it’s not so affordable for buying homes,” Hosfeld observed. In the agreement with Homestead, buyers agree to limit their equity to help ensure the unit would be affordable in perpetuity, as the land-trust agreement stipulates.

Why only 13 affordable homes? That’s all the available subsidies – city/state grants, for example, totaling about $250,000 per unit – will cover; profits from the eight market-rate units will also help subsidize the affordable units. So far they have about $4.5 million for the project (we reported on one grant earlier this year); making it all affordable units would require another $2.4 million or so. Which of the currently planned units are the affordable ones? That’s not settled yet, except for the four townhouses on the northwest side of the property.

Buyers will come from Homestead’s 2,000-family waitlist, and they said they have up to 40 qualified applicants for every home that’s become available (they use “fair housing tiebreaking criteria,” as explained here).

A lot of how this all works will be stipulated by a homeowners’ association agreement – for example, though they’re not part of the land trust,, “even the market-rate homes will have to stay owner-occupied.” The church will be a condo, technically, and it too will be bound by the HOA.

TIMELINE: Design and planning will continue through the end of 2025; they hope to get permits in March 2026, and from there, construction would last about a year and a half. The permit process will include more opportunities for public comment; at Sunday’s meeting, attendees were invited to evaluate design elements such as roof pitches, exterior materials, and windows (above).

Share This

5249 CALIFORNIA: We noticed new signage today at this long-mostly-idle site just south of the past-and-possibly-future Ephesus: “New Homes Coming Soon!” A check of city files shows that permits are still under review for the latest proposal here, two 3-story buildings with nine townhouses, same project we last mentioned in early 2023. The website for J&T Development, which bought the site two years ago, says the units will all be 3 bedrooms, 3 baths.

3507 SW WEBSTER: This 4-story townhouse project, replacing a 2-story building, is in the “early design review” stage and a community survey closes after tomorrow (Monday, May 27). Project information is on a webpage the developers set up here; the survey is here.

2236 ALKI SW: This site also has a townhouse project in “early design review,” and an outreach webpage set up by the developers. It says they’re planning a community “site walk” for Q&A and info, 4-6 pm on Thursday, June 6.

ADMIRAL CHURCH AFFORDABLE HOMEOWNERSHIP: Also coming up, Homestead Community Land Trust and Admiral Church plan an update meeting at the church (4320 SW Hill) 2-4 pm next Sunday (June 2) with “concepts” for their affordable-homeownership project. (Here’s our most-recent coverage.)

Share This

Toward the end of last week’s West Seattle bonus briefing on the draft of the future-growth “roadmap” One Seattle Plan, an attendee asked city reps if they could extend the comment deadline (which was yesterday). No promises were made. But today, the city just announced it’s giving you two more weeks. So if you have something to say about the plan – an update on how the city wants to see growth handled over the next 20 years – you now have until 5 pm Monday, May 20. Here’s a link to the draft plan; here’s the city’s overview; here’s our first report from March on some West Seattle highlights; here’s our report from April on the official West Seattle open house; here’s our report on last week’s WS briefing. Two ways to offer your feedback: via the city’s Engagement Hub, or via email, OneSeattleCompPlan@seattle.gov.

Share This

(King County Assessor’s Office photo, mid-2010s)

Back in December, we reported on the latest in a somewhat long line of development proposals for vacant parcels grouped under the address 3257 Harbor Avenue SW. An early-stage proposal in city files at the time suggested that developer Bode was exploring a 115-unit project. Now it’s turned up on the city’s Early Outreach for Design Review website, described as a much-larger size – eight stories, “approximately 308 dwelling units.” However, on the Bode website, the project (under an adjacent address, 3303 Harbor SW) is listed as 220 apartments, and other city files still suggest 115 units. Bode designs, builds, and manages its own projects; it already has two in West Seattle, 75 apartments at 2222 SW Barton and 115 apartments at 3050 SW Avalon Way. We’re contacting them in hopes they will clarify the 3257 Harbor plan.

Share This

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Almost two months have gone by since the city announced the draft of changes to the 20-year plan for Seattle’s future, officially known as its comprehensive plan, currently going by the name One Seattle Plan. (Here’s our first report on it, from March 9th.)

If you have something to say about the draft plan, you have four more days (go here). If you don’t know enough about it to comment, you’re invited to an online informational meeting at 6 pm tonight (here’s the connection information) – and you might be interested in what more than 70 people heard at a West Seattle briefing earlier this week. (Here’s the slide deck used, if you want to cut right to that.)

The briefing was arranged by City Councilmember Rob Saka‘s office after Chief of Staff Elaine Ikoma Ko – who spoke at the meeting – learned that the community groups in Admiral, Alki, and Fauntleroy felt under-informed about the plan, though there was a West Seattle open house a month ago (WSB coverage here). This meeting Monday night at Admiral Church wasn’t a public hearing and wasn’t meant to be a formal comment opportunity, either – just informational.

Nonetheless, some in attendance offered their thoughts, especially learning about the new state law that will be incorporated into the comprehensive plan, requiring many jurisdictions – including Seattle – to allow up to four dwelling units on any lot (six, if two of them are “affordable”). That seemed to be a surprise to many, though current zoning allows three units, with the changes a few years back to open the door for attached and detached accessory dwelling units (ADUs and DADUs) on every lot.

Michael Hubner, the city Office of Planning and Community Development manager who’s leading the plan-revision project, affirmed that its spotlight feature is “confronting our housing challenges,” with Seattle’s population potentially hitting a million people in the next 20 years, which would be a 25 percent increase from the current number. He was joined at the briefing by OPCD’s Brennon Staley.

Hubner also noted that while those in attendance might have not noticed, this is the third year of the comprehensive-plan revision process – a meeting was held in late 2022 at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor), for example. The end of the process is in sight – the final plan will be sent to the City Council for action by the end of the year.

What’s open for public review, Hubner explained, is a trio of documents – the draft plan itself, zoning changes for areas currently zoned “neighborhood residential” (called “single-family” until a council-approved change more than two years ago, and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the plan.

Hubner reviewed the five types of places outlined in the draft plan – regional center, urban center, neighborhood center, urban neighborhood, manufacturing/industrial center. It’s a “more understandable hierarchy,” he said. Here’s the District 1 version of the map:

District 1 would have no “regional center.” Its current “urban villages” would become “urban centers,” and the West Seattle Junction’s boundary would expand eastward to Avalon (where a light-rail station is planned) – that expansion is one of the things on which the city is “actively seeking feedback.”

The “neighborhood centers” (noted in our first report in March) don’t have boundaries firmed up yet, but each would have a core and expand outward 800 feet – covering “one to three blocks” – from there, with “denser housing and a mix of uses.” Hubner said that in comments, they want to hear “are these the right locations? What do you think about the concept? Want to see more of these, less of these, or?”

As for “urban neighborhoods” – that covers most of the rest of the city. Along with the “four units allowable on every lot” – not required, but allowed – “corner stores” (small stores or restaurants) would be allowed too, and lots might be eligible for six housing units if two were guaranteed to be “affordable,” though the city reps said they doubted that would be common.

One attendee observed that would likely lead to mostly multi-story development, and “what does that do for people with limited mobility? It’s discriminatory.” Staley noted that “stacked flats” – which would mean one-level living even for those on upper floors – might be built too.

Then it was time for Q&A, which some turned into comments.

One person complained about what he saw as too much parking being built into residential developments. The city reps noted that indeed, the city currently has some parking minimums but no maximums, and maybe that could eventually change.

Some zoning might allow more density in “frequent transit” areas, so one person wanted to know how that’s defined. “15 minutes (frequency) all day long and some weekend service.” And yes, bus service will be ‘restructured” when light rail opens the West Seattle extension (currently expected in late 2032).

West Seattle’s lack of a hospital, often brought up in planning discussions, was mentioned. The plan doesn’t really do anything to change that. Hubner said it was an “interesting question,” though.

What about the increased density putting a strain on infrastructure? Utilities have their own plans for what’s needed in the decades ahead, was the reply, but they’re meeting with those entities too.

What about areas that already have neighborhood plans – how did those factor into this? Hubner replied that essentially, they won’t – they’re mostly outdated anyway, in the city’s view. “In most cases, decades old.” But, he added, they do hope to do more “area” (neighborhood) planning “in the future.” (Asked later about what kind of weight is given to neighborhood groups’ comments on the plan, the reply was that it’s important for the comments to describe how many people had input and how it was collected.)

More density doesn’t necessarily lead to more affordable housing if it’s not required to be affordable, one person commented, observing that an old half-million-dollar house tends to be replaced with three million-dollar units. The city reps said their philosophy is that density will ease the housing crunch “by increasing supply and diversity of types of housing.” Staley said, “Nothing is affordable right now.” It was also noted that the Mandatory Housing Affordability program – requiring developers to either include affordable units or pay into a fund that the city uses to bankroll it elsewhere – is coming up for a review too.

One attendee asked if the city has a number about how many housing units D-1 has now and how many this might lead to. No number handy, they replied, but the Draft EIS analyzes option.

Other attendees voiced concerns about a shortage of green space, and the tree-cutting that increased density will lead to. “The Great Seattle Tree Cull” is how one described it. Staley said, “Definitely a tradeoff, more housing means less space for trees.” He reiterated that the state is requiring allowing four units per lot so the city has no choice, “but we welcome comments on how to (address the tree concerns).”

Since one rendering shown featured four-story buildings, an attendee worried about the future of views. Hubner said the four-story buildings would be the result of including affordable units and, again, they doubted developers would do that in most areas.

WHAT’S NEXT? As mentioned above, there’s an online meeting tonight, and next Monday – May 6 – is the deadline for comment in this stage of the process. (Here’s how and where to comment.) In October, Hubner said, a “detailed zoning proposal with maps” will be made available for comment, the final plan will go to the City Council by year’s end, and then the “zoning legislation” will follow early next year.

Share This

The new 115-apartment complex at 3405 Harbor Avenue SW, just north of the West Seattle Bridge, is close to completion. The developers at Housing Diversity Corporation shared “our first photos of 3405 Harbor against the Seattle skyline,” taken via drone, now that part of the scaffolding has been removed.

HDC’s Alex Thompson tells WSB the complex has a name: Harbor Flats. It’s on track for opening in June; we covered its groundbreaking in March 2022. Final-stage work includes installation of utilities plus the automated parking system (similar to this); the building will have spaces for 60 vehicles. West Seattle-headquartered STS Construction Services (WSB sponsor) partnered with HDC on construction of Harbor Flats.

Share This

The city has given a homebuilder the green light to cut down that evergreen tree in Upper Fauntleroy.

Advocates who hoped to save the tree, nicknaming it “Henry,” consider the approval ironic – new city rules passed last year require so much of a buffer zone to protect the tree, its lot would be unbuildable, so the tree comes down. They hope its removal will be an example of why the city’s new tree rules should be revised.

We’ve reported before on the site where “Henry” stands – at least until Tuesday, the first day it can be legally taken down. It’s at 8822 38th Avenue SW, where six new residences are planned – two single-family houses, each with two accessory dwelling units, one detached and one attached – plus 10 offstreet parking spaces. Five months ago, before the house on the site was demolished, it was used for Seattle Fire Department training. One month after that, the house was torn down. The site’s been idle through the winter while permit reviews continues. And now the Department of Construction and Inspections has granted the permit for taking down the tree, which is described in project documents as a red cedar, though Sandy Shettler of Tree Action Seattle contends it’s a Lawson cypress.

Shettler asked SDCI about the reason for the removal approval; a reviewing arborist replied via email that “it met Code requirements, particularly SMC 25.11.070.A.1.a.” You can see the code here. Here’s what Shettler says is the problem: “The new code mandates a very large, inviolable tree protection area which uses this formula: 1-ft diameter tree protection area per each 1″ of trunk. So for a 41″ diameter tree, a circle 82 feet in all directions needs to be set aside. Obviously that makes the lot unbuildable, (and even makes the neighboring lots unbuildable!) Since this absurdly rigid tree protection area cannot be excavated into by even one inch, the tree gets removed.”

She’s not calling for a protest, but advocating for future change: “Seattle needs to revise its tree ordinance to plan for trees — not just the ones we have, but to have space for new ones since we are cutting 4,000 per year. The new projects are all hardscape and heat.” The new tree rules require replacement plantings after removal, but not necessarily on the same site, according to this explanatory city post: “When a tree must be removed, a property owner can choose to either replant onsite or pay the equivalent value into the One Seattle Tree Fund. This added flexibility allows for trees to be planted more equitably and spread throughout neighborhoods or public spaces with historically less tree canopy.” The current tree rules were passed before a majority of city councilmembers left office; Shettler says she’s hoping to work with newly elected members to save more “Henry”-size trees.

SIDE NOTE: As with so many other types of data, the city has a map for tree-removal/tree-work permits, past and present.

TUESDAY NOTE: “Henry” was cut down this morning, as commenters’ photo and video show; we just went by to check, and only a stump remains.

Share This