Hummer Houses

[Jerald]

Wow, I was just going thru old stuff and found notes I’d written on a family trip to Boston in the 70’s — I’d written “Legal Seafood” with stars next to it because I liked it. I wasn’t sure what it meant until I read Ken’s post, now it’s coming back to me.

[jissy]

charlabob — think you missed my point. Yes, we all (those who live in West Seattle) know where all these houses are, could do a driving tour of such. My point was we don’t need to hand a map or roll out the welcome mat to any outsiders with time on their hands whose only warped agenda is looking to maim, burn & destroy other peoples property they deem inappropriate. Not withstanding the Ken’s point which is well taken.

[Jeannie]

Indeed. People who burn other people’s property are common criminals. People who build Hummer Houses are oafs.

P.S. I love Legal Seafoods! I remember dining at the original one back in Boston. Delicious.

[acemotel]

City council work plan for 2008 includes reviewing legislation “limiting development of mega-houses in single family zones by further restricting lot coverage and preventing consolidation of lots or demolition of houses for construction of a mega-house.” The legislation is sponsored by council president Conlin.

[Jeannie]

Thanks, acemotel. I think I’ll email Conlin to express my strong support. It’s too late for us, but I hope it can prevent future blight.

[Jeannie]

Oh, and here is some contact info:

richard.conlin@seattle.gov

Also, Sally Clark chairs Land Use and Neighborhoods: sally.clark@seattle.gov

[charlabob]

Thanks, Jeanie — I’ll be in touch with them.

The numbers game — does anyone know if Hummer Houses raise or lower surrounding property values? OTOH, you lose your view. OTOH, the value of the neighborhood goes up??? (Of course, in this market who knows?)

[Jeannie]

It would be a nasty slap in the face, an insult to injury, if my property taxes were increased because of the expensive Hummer House. As one of the posters said, a case could be made to lower one’s assessment, since the view is lost. Something I will look into.

[Jeannie]

P.S. I received a nice response from one of Councilmember Sally Clark’s aides. Part of his email: “Yes, Councilmember Conlin and Clark are planning on addressing the mega-house issue this year. There are houses popping up all over Seattle that, while technically legal, they are obviously out of character with the homes built during a time when “yard” and “tree” weren’t considered four-letter words.”

You can also go down to the Seattle Dept. of Planning and Development’s records library to view the original plans on microfilm.

I don’t know if any of this will do any good, but it’s worth pursuing. My neighbors and I also have “before” and “after” photos showing how the Hummer House destroyed our view.

[Jeannie]

House update (not WSB’s beloved THE House, but Hummer House, aka SW Austin Street’s very own Blight House):

Although we don’t have much recourse, I did recently received a couple of responses that I thought I’d share. I greatly appreciate that both the attorney and Council President Conlin took the time to respond. Sorry this is long-ish.

1. From a highly regarded local real-estate attorney:

“Unless the hummer house is subject to some kind of recorded covenant or restriction, there is little you can do. Unfortunately, there are no rights to view unless they are granted by covenant. If the “hummer house” is within the same sub-division or plat as yours, you might check to see if there are any covenants or restrictions on the face of the plat. If it is not in the same plat, you probably don’t. Finally, you can check on the plat of the hummer house and see if there are any restrictions in that plat (as a neighbor you might have right to enforce those even if you are not in the same plat).

Also, do check with the building department to make sure all of the permits were properly obtained and comply with the zoning restrictions.”

2. From Richard Conlin: “Thank you so much for your support and detailed information. I am planning on bringing this legislation forward next month, and will put you on the list to be notified about it when it is scheduled for consideration.

hummer houses is another good nickname —

Council President Richard Conlin

Seattle City Hall

600 Fourth Avenue, Floor 2

PO Box 34025

Seattle, WA 98124-4025″

[Author]

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