Give Input On New Idea Of Neighborhood Conservation Districts



Seattle City Council member Tom Rasmussen recently announced that the city is considering creating "Neighborhood Conservation Districts" with the following objectives:

• Meet the goal that city officials hear from growing communities to "protect the character of the neighborhood as growth and development occur.
• Address development pressure in neighborhoods that have a distinctive character.
• Accommodate increased density in a manner that is compatible with the existing development context.
• Conserve and enhance the existing architectural and cultural identity of neighborhoods and commercial districts.
• Foster new construction and in-fill development in harmony with the scale and physical character of existing buildings.
• Provide direction regarding types of buildings and specific features to be protected.
• Provide tailored guidelines and regulations, with an appropriate level of discretion, to respond to the unique development conditions in each neighborhood that qualifies as a conservation district.

A public meeting will be held tonight at 6pm at the Highpoint Community Center and tomorrow at the Phinney Neighborhood Center to gather community input. 

One Home Per Lot, a city-wide grassroots group monitoring large homes built on side and backyards of existing homes, included this information in their recent newsletter and also gave an update on the ongoing issue.

One such all, skinny home is located in the at 4800 block of   NE 40th Street in Laurelhurst,in Laurelhurst. The home sits on a piece of property 30 feet wide, and was segmented out of a side yard which was a total of only 80 feet wide. The house covers all the land, except for 10 feet of the house's previous yard.

One Home Per Lot update:

Dan Duffus (the city's most prolific developer of small-lot housing) recently

sued the city of Seattle because it tried to stop him from using historical documents to justify the splitting of a single lot. He lost. 

Even better, the case sets a precedent (in the words of one of our supporters): "DPD appears to be requiring Duffus to prove that a substandard lot have been established AS A BUILDING SITE prior to 1957…not just that the lot existed, which was their de facto standard." 

In yet another effort to improve the image of Seattle's small-lot developers, the lobbying group Smart Growth Seattle has hired a professional writer to write sweet stories about these folks and post them on the Smart Growth Seattle website.  

So far, nothing sweet has been written about Dan Duffus. In fact, the entire effort seems to be an attempt to redirect the spotlight away from Mr. Duffus. In the announcement, developer lobbyist Roger Valdez writes, "Whenever I am talking with people who are wary of new growth or who have genuine concerns about development, I will often point out that, 'there is no Monopoly Man with a top hat and cane running away with bags of gold!' It always brings a smile or a laugh. The truth is that many, many good and smart people in Seattle think there really is a Rich Uncle Pennybags behind new growth." 

If you would like to judge for yourself about whether there really is an "Uncle Pennybags," see this recent quarterly earnings report from just one of Mr. Duffus' companies. 

Roger Valdez (the colorful lobbyist for Seattle's small-lot developers; and the little man behind the curtain of Smart Growth Seattle) recently spoke on a panel in San Francisco discussing that city's "housing crisis." In his remarks, he speaks bluntly about the housing situation in Seattle and shares his criticism of the members of the city council, the Department of Planning and Development, and the city's citizens (like any good developer lobbyist, he throws shade on everyone but himself and his developer cronies). 

The Seattle city council Planning, Land Use and Sustainability committee still has not revisited the building codes regarding public notice for small-lot development, as promised. 

Currently, public notice (a yellow sign in the front yard, and a letter to the surrounding neighbors) is only required for small-lot projects on the smallest of lots (those 3,200 square feet and smaller). And no public notice is required prior to a lot boundary adjustment (another sneaky way these developers create buildable undersized lots).

For more information about Neighborhood Conservation Districts go here.

For more information about One Home Per Lot go here.


 

Bill Fails At State Level Yesterday That Would Have Provided Notice To Surrounding Neighbors Of Tall, Skinny Homes Built On SideYards Of Upcoming Construction

 

Tall, skinny house under construction

on former side yard on NE 40^th Street in 2012

 

 

 

Yesterday in Olympia, State Representatives Pollet, Tarleton, Ryu, Santos and Gregerson tried to get passed legislation (HB 1084), trying to force the City of Seattle to provide the surrounding neighbors with official notice when the Seattle Department of Planning and Development is considering allowing a developer to build a new, full-size home in the backyard or side yard of an existing home.

One Home Per Lot, a multi-neighborhood Seattle-wide grassroots movement fighting small, skinny homes, which also includes Laurelhurst residents, sent out this update following yesterday's meeting:

Thank you to all who wrote, emailed and made phone calls in support of state house bill 1084, which would have forced the city of Seattle to provide neighborhood notice whenever a new home is proposed for construction in a single-family neighborhood.

Unfortunately, we just learned that the bill failed to be voted out of committee (the first step for any state legislation). That means it's dead and will no longer be considered this year.  

This is the second year in a row that the bill failed to be voted out of committee. It often takes several tries, so maybe next year state representatives will be more supportive of Seattle's neighborhoods. 

In the meantime, we continue to wait for the Seattle city council to consider similar legislation.

The Laurelhurst Community Club supported the bill saying:

Without this change in law, neighborhoods have 21 days to challenge a land use decision—but they have no notice of the decision. This is not due process. With the pressure for increased density, property lots continue to be subdivided far below the lot size specified in Seattle’s Land Use Code, as there are exceptions that allow this with no notice to affected neighbors.   

These new developments more often than not exceed height and lot coverage restrictions and setback requirements.  Neighbors should have an opportunity to comment before the bulldozers show up. Affected neighbors and community councils should have notice of proposed development on these undersized lots, an opportunity to comment and the right to appeal to the Hearing Examiner.  Currently, this exception is considered a Type 1 decision with no notice, opportunity to comment or appeal to the Hearing Examiner.

Zoning loopholes, exploited by some developers, have resulted in building inconsistent with the height, bulk and scale of surrounding homes on lots as small as 1,050 square feet in Single Family 5,000 zones.  This infill development is destroying the character of neighborhoods with major adverse valuation and aesthetic impacts upon surrounding homes.  In addition, existing privacy evaporates with the new intrusive views, and window placements.

Nick,  a Laurelhurst resident, who lives near a tall, skinny house, wrote in a Blog post in 2012 about his experience with a new construction home right across from him, titled, There Goes The Neighborhood — And Yours May Be Next saying "It could happen to you with no warning."

John, who lives directly behind the new home, commented in a Seattle Times article, that the looming presence over his back yard is like “a guard tower.” He said the neighbors had no notice from the city or the developer that a new house was being crammed in between two existing houses, on what had been the old house’s yard.

The house, southeast of Laurelhurst Park, sits on a piece of property only 30 feet wide, which was segmented out of a larger one only 80 feet wide leaving only three feet in between the houses.  The house covers all the land, except for 10 feet of the house's previous yard.

Dan Duffus, a developer, is well-known around the city for building these tall skinny houses on very small lots, of which the houses are  modern in style, towering over the established homes beneath them and don't fit in with the character of the neighborhood.

For more information on the issue go here and here to learn more about One Home Per Lot.

Contact State Reps Before Tomorrow's Meeting To Require City To Give Public Notice For Small, Skinny Home New Construction

 



House at 4812 NE 40th Street built on small side yard oringially part of home next door

 

"It could happen to you with no warning" was one Laurelhurst resident's comment when a tall, skinny home was built in 2012 on the 4800 block of NE 40th Street.

The house, southeast of Laurelhurst Park, sits on a piece of property only 30 feet wide, which was segmented out of a larger one only 80 feet wide leaving only three feet in between the houses.

Nick,  a Laurelhurst resident, who lives near a tall, skinny house, wrote a Blog post about his experience with the new construction home right across from him, titled, There Goes The Neighborhood — And Yours May Be Next.

Dan Duffus, a developer, is well-known around the city for building these tall skinny houses on very small lots, of which the houses are  modern in style, towering over the established homes beneath them and don't fit in with the character of the neighborhood.

Tomorrow at 1:30pm in Olympia, State Representatives Pollet, Tarleton, Ryu, Santos and Gregerson will be introducing the legislation (HB 1084) at the state level, trying to force the City of Seattle to provide the surrounding neighbors with official notice when the Seattle Department of Planning and Development is considering allowing a developer to build a new, full-size home in the backyard or side yard of an existing home.

A number of Laurelhurst residents have joined a multi-neighborhood Seattle wide movement called One Home Per Lot, to fight small, skinny homes.

The group sent out this information about tomorrow's meeting:

Tomorrow is a very important meeting. We will be sending a representative to speak and encourage others to attend and testify. If you can't attend, please take a minute, before Thursday, to send an email (and / or call) in support of the legislation. Email or call each of the members of the House Local Government Committee (and copy Representative Gerry Pollet). Emails are found below.

"Small-lot housing" still has neighborhoods all across the city fired up. And the notification issue is an especially contentious element. 

As you may recall, in May of last year, the Seattle city council passed a new set of building codes for small-lot homes that included a notification requirement. However, it only applies to the smallest of undersized lots (those under 3,200 square feet) and does not include lot boundary adjustments (another way developers build on undersized lots). 

In that same piece of legislation, the city council also promised, in writing, to study the notification issue further. It's been eight months since that promise, and still no results.   

When Representatives Pollet and Tarleton proposed similar legislation last year, professional lobbyists for the building / development industry were the only people to speak -- and they were obviously very critical of the idea of notifying the neighborhood (developers love to work in secret). 

Here's an easy-to-understand summary of the building codes the city passed last year  and here's a complete summary of all that has transpired on this issue.

 

Here is information from Representative Pollett:

Neighborhood Community Council Members and Stakeholders,

This legislative session, I plan to introduce a bill to ensure that land use decisions affecting neighborhoods are made with notice to neighbors.  

This would end a massive loophole. Currently, neighbors have 21 days to challenge a land use decision, but it is not required that they are given notice of this decision. It is important for community members in a neighborhood to be able to have this be a transparent process. The Seattle Times covered the issue this past September.  

I would greatly welcome your input and or support for this proposal. Please contact me with any questions or suggestions. Please let me know if there are other community members you would like to be added to this list. For both, please CC my Legislative Assistant, Angie Weiss at angie.weiss@leg.wa.gov.

Bill Draft Summary:

·         Declares that the Legislature finds that due process requires notice to be given to adjacent landowners and residents within 300 feet of specified land use decisions, and declares the Legislature’s intent that the Land Use Petition Act’s (LUPA) statute of limitations does not run until notice is provided in accordance with statute.

·         Adds to LUPA a new date of issuance – i.e., the date that notice of certain land use decisions is effective – that must be considered in determining when LUPA’s 21-day statute of limitations begins to run.

·         Requires cities with a population of 500,000 or more to provide notice to adjacent landowners and residents of the following: applications for approval and approval of boundary line adjustments, and applications for approval and approval of preliminary short plats of short subdivisions. Applies only to Seattle, where this is a serious problem.

·         Defines the term “adjacent landowners and residents” to mean owners, residents, and persons who are both owners and residents of real property located within 300 feet of property subject to approval of a proposed preliminary short plat of a short subdivision or boundary line adjustment. 

 

 

Here is a letter the Laurelhurst Community Club wrote to Representative Pollett:

 

Dear Representative Pollet:

 

                The Laurelhurst Community Club strongly supports House Bill 1084 which would require notice to adjacent property owners of small single-family lot development.  Without a change in law, neighborhoods have 21 days to challenge a land use decision—but they have no notice of the decision. This is not due process. With the pressure for increased density, property lots continue to be subdivided far below the lot size specified in Seattle’s Land Use Code, as there are exceptions that allow this with no notice to affected neighbors.  These new developments more often than not exceed height and lot coverage restrictions and setback requirements.  Neighbors should have an opportunity to comment before the bulldozers show up.

 

Zoning loopholes, exploited by some developers, have resulted in building inconsistent with the height, bulk and scale of surrounding homes on lots as small as 1,050 square feet in Single Family 5,000 zones.  The Seattle City Council has addressed some of the issues with this small-lot development, but nonetheless, notice remains a major problem.  This infill development is destroying the character of neighborhoods with major adverse valuation and aesthetic impacts upon surrounding homes.  Below is an egregious example in Laurelhurst.

 

 

 

4845 NE 40^th Street, Laurelhurst

Three-story house wedged into side yard

               

Zoning regulations and their consistent enforcement is the backbone of fair and diverse development within our city. Predictable plat sizes for adjacent buildings assure home owners that their investment in 30 years of payments will provide some equity for them in the future.

 

These small lot sized multi-story homes block the sunlight to adjacent yards, and eliminates the ability for the backyard neighbor to nurture a family garden for lack of sunshine.  In addition, existing privacy evaporates with the new intrusive views, and window placements.

 

At minimum, the Laurelhurst Community Club requests that adjacent neighbors and the community provided notice with this substandard development. 

 

The Laurelhurst Community Club supports the bill's specific requirement to give notice and an opportunity to comment:  Because of the impacts to surrounding properties, affected neighbors and community councils should have notice of proposed development on these undersized lots, an opportunity to comment and the right to appeal to the Hearing Examiner.  Currently, this exception is considered a Type 1 decision with no notice, opportunity to comment or appeal to the Hearing Examiner.  Because of lack of notice, impacted neighbors are most often not aware that a building permit has been issued until bulldozers arrive.  This means that the 21-day period to file a Land Use Petition Act appeal to Superior Court is unworkable.  With no notice of the permit and the possible delay between the granting of the permit and the commencement of work, the 21-day time period likely would have lapsed with no opportunity to engage legal counsel or to pursue legal right.

 

Nearby neighbors should not have to lose value in homes they’ve likely owned and worked on for decades due to the antiquated provisions in our local code.  Neighbors’ homes represent an investment they have counted on for their futures.  A standard, such as that listed in SMC 23.46.006, should be a part of any future proposed Code change.  That section states, “The use shall be determined not to be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to property in the zone or vicinity in which the property is located.”  A similar provision exists in SMT 23.40.020C3.

 

House Bill 1084 offers protection at least from the state when local municipalities fail to provide notice to affected homeowners. 

 

Thank you for your sponsorship of HB 1084 and considering the comments of the Laurelhurst Community Club.  We urge you to do all you can to encourage other legislators to support this important measure.

 

 

Contact information for Representatives courtesy of One Home Per Lot:

 

- Representative Dean Takko (D), Committee Chair

(360) 786-7806

Dean.Takko@leg.wa.gov

- Representative Mia Gregerson (D), Committee Vice Chair

(360) 786-7868

Mia.Gregerson@leg.wa.gov

- Representative David Taylor (R), Committee Ranking Minority Member

(360) 786-7874

David.Taylor@leg.wa.gov

- Representative Dan Griffey (R), Committee Assistant Ranking Minority Member

(360) 786-7966

Dan.Griffey@leg.wa.gov

- Representative Joe Fitzgibbon (D)

(360) 786-7952

Joe.Fitzgibbon@leg.wa.gov

- Representative Joan McBride (D)

(360) 786-7848

Joan.McBride@leg.wa.gov

- Representative Bob McCaslin (R)

(360) 786-7820

Bob.McCaslin@leg.wa.gov

- Representative Strom Peterson (D)

(360) 786-7950

Strom.Peterson@leg.wa.gov

- Representative Liz Pike (R)

(360) 786-7812

Liz.Pike@leg.wa.gov

- Representative Gerry Pollet (D), the sponsor of this bill

(360) 786-7886

Gerry.Pollet@leg.wa.gov

Your Chance On Friday To Weigh In To City Council On Tall, Skinny Houses On Back/Side Yard Houses Built On Undersized Lots, Two Already In Laurelhurst

 

House at 4812 NE 40th Street built on small side yard originally part of home next door

 

Friday at 2pm, City Council is holding a public hearing on side yard/backyard houses on undersized lots in SF zone and proposed building code changes.
 
Over the last several years, several skinny houses on small lots have been built in Laurelhurst, all the work of developer, Dan Duffus, who is well-known around the city for building the houses which are modern in style, towering over the established homes beneath them and don't fit in with the character of the neighborhood..

One is located at 4812 NE 40th Street in Laurelhurst,in Laurelhurst, which sits on a piece of property 30 feet wide, and was segmented out of a side yard which was a total of only 80 feet wide. The house covers all the land, except for 10 feet of the house's previous yard.

John Taylor, who lives directly behind the new home, commented in a Seattle Times article, that looming presence over his back yard is like “a guard tower.” He said the neighbors had no notice from the city or the developer that a new house was being crammed in between two existing houses, on what had been the old house’s yard.

Nick Jenkins, another Laurelhurst resident, who lives next door to another tall, skinny house, has posted his experience titled "There goes the neighborhood and yours may be next" on his blog about going through the construction process and now living with one of these houses right next door to him.  
 
The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) is proposing to amend the Land Use Code to establish new standards for development of single-family houses on undersized lots in single-family zones.  The new standards would replace interim standards first established by Ordinance 123978. 
 
Among other things, the proposed new standards would:

·           Establish a minimum site size of 2,500 square feet in area;

·           Eliminate use of tax records and historic mortgages as a basis for establishing lot size exceptions;

·           Require consolidation for redevelopment of adjacent lots with areas less than 3,200 square feet;

·           Clarify the “75/80 Rule” for establishing lot size exceptions;

·           Establish a new “100 Percent Rule” exception for establishing lot size exceptions that are equal to the mean area of lots on the same block front;

·           Establish a Type II discretionary review process with notice and the opportunity for appeal for development on sites less than 3,200 square feet in area;

·           Establish lower maximum height limit for development on sites less than 3,200 square feet in area;

·           Repeal a platting development standard related to short subdivisions where there are two existing houses; and

·           Make other minor clarifications and modifications to development standards.

One Home Per Lot.  a city-wide grassroots group monitoring large homes built on side and backyards of existing homes, said about the public hearing that "this will be your chance to sound off about the issue, face-to-face, with the city council members who will be making the final decisions about what the new building codes will be."

The group added that if the city council members don't hear from hundreds of citizens about this issue, "they'll assume the public has lost interest or is completely satisfied -- and they'll be that much more apt to cave in to pressure from the developers' lobbyists. So please don't
sit on the sidelines and expect other citizens to step up."
 
One Home Per Lot has been working the last 18-months to establish new building codes for backyard / side yard houses. Last month, City Council voted unanimously to extend the emergency moratorium on backyard / side yard houses for another six months while the Department of Planning and Development works on the recommended building code changes.

On April 2nd, the City's Planning, Land Use and Sustainability Committee, accepted the Department of Planning and Development's final recommendations on how to change the building codes for backyard / side yard houses. 

Next in the process is the Committee debating the recommendations internally, taking input from the public and then make their own changes to the recommendations before forwarding them to the City Council for a final vote.

One Home Per Lot believes that during this time, developer Dan Duffus  and other lobbyists, mainly including Smart Growth Seattle, the  developers' lobbying group, are all "pressuring City Council leaders to water down or eliminate aspects of the DPD's recommendations. These groups and individuals are well-funded, well-connected professionals who represent the developers' interests. They will be very vocal and assertive, and their messages to city council members will need to be countered by you."

 

Smart Growth Seattle, is also "the main staff contact for the Seattle Builders Council," as they identified themselves in a recent email to supporters, is "fighting against citizens' efforts to impose new building codes on backyard / side yard houses," One Home Per Lot said.

Roger Valdes, the main lobbyist for Smart Grown Seattle, told supporters in an email to write to DPD saying "Please don't implement the DPD recommendations without amendment and further discussion with people who build housing."
 
In their recent press release they said that "the greatest risk to our growing prosperity is a lack of housing choices for people in Seattle and those who are moving to our city."

Valdes also claimed that "because DPD staff has been so focused on new construction they may have failed to realize that all the limits they have written into their proposal actually close off the possibility of improving existing homes" which he says would include height restrictions on second floors to small homes, as KIRO reported recently.
 
One Home Per Lot said that unfortunately Smart Growth Seattle is "spreading this false rumor and they address it their report found on their website.
 
One Home Per Lot said the "developers' lobbyist is hoping that owners of existing small homes will become livid when they hear the city is trying to prohibit them from expanding their homes and will demand the city scrap the height limits in the new regulations, which would allow the developers to go back to building new, three-story houses on tiny backyard / side yard lots."
 
New height rules proposed by the DPD would also impact some existing small homes, in order to keep the owners of those homes, and developers, from turning them into tall skinny three stories high, One Home Per Lot told us. 

The DPD director's report states: "This is because the potential impacts on neighbors of a substantial addition to an existing house on a small lot would be no different than the impacts of an identical new house built on a vacant lot of the same size."

Katy, with the City Council, told us that:

As proposed, these standards would apply to new development as well as additions to existing structures.  Assuming that these standards are adopted, existing structures on lots less than 3200 s.f. in size that exceed maximum allowable heights could be rebuilt or expanded subject to rules for structures that are non-conforming to development standards.   

That essentially means that non-conforming structures could be rebuilt or expanded provided that the expansion does not increase the existing non-conformity.  

Regulations related to non-conforming structures can be found here.  Note that there are also some existing allowances for dormers, clerestroies, and eaves on single family houses that don’t conform to height limits that can be found here.

 

The height restriction are contained in Section 6 of the council bill and state: 

 

Section 6. Subsections A and B of Section 23.44.012 of the Seattle Municipal Code, which Section was last amended by Ordinance 123978, are amended as follows:

23.44.012 Height (())limits

A. Maximum (()) height established (())

1. Except as permitted in (()) subs ection 23.44.041.B, and except as provided in (())subsections 23.44.012.A.2 and (()) 23.44.012.A.3 , the maximum permitted height for any structure not located in a required yard is 30 feet.

2. The maximum permitted height for any structure on a lot 30 feet or less in width is 25 feet.

3. For a lot or unit lot of any width, if the area of the largest rectangle or other quadrilateral that can be drawn within the lot lines of the lot or unit lot (())is less than (()) 3,200 square feet (()) the maximum permitted height for any structure on that lot (()) shall be (()) 18 feet(()) unless the structure's height is further restricted by other code provisions , provided that structure height up to 22 feet is permitted for a principal structure with habitable floor area on no more than two partially- or fully- above-ground floors, and top-of-floor-to top-of-floor height is at least 10 feet at the level of the main entry .

4. The method of determining structure height and lot width is detailed in Chapter 23.86, Measurements.

 

 

Smart Growth Seattle also implies in their communications that their is a housing crisis, which the DPD discredited as written in a January Seattle Times article in which Tim Hauger, the comprehensive-plan manager for the Department of Planning and Development said that Seattle currently has triple the housing capacity necessary to accommodate growth targets through the year 2024. "We have over 50 years growth capacity across the city."

"This isn't the first time Smart Growth Seattle has promoted backyard / side yard houses as the best solution for an invented problem," One Home Per Lot said. Here is a list of Smart Growth Seattle's past arguments. "all of which have been exposed as clever distortions of the truth."

 

Smart Growth Seattle sent an email sent to the group's supporters "revealing why they are  working so hard to fight any new building codes." In the email, the developers' lobbyist said that the developers funding Smart Growth Seattle simply want more building permits for the small-development projects they specialize in creating."

 

They're not interested in solving any housing problems. And they're not concerned about the concerns of neighborhoods. They just want to do more building (and backyard / side yard houses are building projects that are very, very lucrative for this small group of small-scale developers)," One Home Per Lot said.

In the email, lobbyist Roger Valdez writes: "This is the year we can, together, change the civic conversation in Seattle about housing. The question this year we'll be asking is what is the city doing to increase the number of housing choices people have in Seattle" and thereby increasing housing supply by permitting more housing?

One Home Per Lot reported recently that backyard / side yard houses can be devastating to the surrounding property values, according to a professional appraiser  saying:

When a professional appraiser appraises a home, he relies on data from the recent sales of "comparables." Those are homes much like the house being appraised. And because backyard / side yard houses are typically unlike anything else in the neighborhood (they're new, they sit on half-sized lots, are usually ultra-modern in design, and sell for an average of 35% more than the neighborhood's median), they are never, ever going to be used in a comparable analysis. 

In other words, the high prices that backyard / side yard houses sell for (an average of $727,926) don't positively impact the value of surrounding homes, because the backyard / side yard house would never be considered a comparable. 

However, the appraiser  will most likely factor in the environmental impact of the backyard / side yard structure (and that's never positive). 

Sitting 27 feet tall (that's the equivalent of three stories), and squeezed into a backyard or side yard,  backyard / side yard houses block sunlight to the neighboring houses, block views and, because they typically tower over all the surrounding homes and yards, they rob the neighbors of the privacy those homeowners once enjoyed. 

That loss of sunlight, views and privacy can easily drag down the appraised value of the surrounding homes by tens of thousands of dollars. Those were valuable attributes that the current homeowner paid handsomely for, and the associated benefits are now missing or negatively impacted. 

One Home Per Lot strongly urges City Council to notify surrounding neighbors when a backyard / side yard house is being considered for approval on their block as well as  notifying the current homeowner when a developer asks DPD for pre-approval to split the homeowner's property into two lots, which means the property is now worth twice as much money. This would prevent more homeowners from selling to developers at far below actual market value.

"While a good step in the right direction, the DPD's current recommendations need improving if they are going to have a chance at successfully addressing the problems that are roiling neighborhoods all across the city of Seattle. This document details the changes that should be made," One Home Per Lot said.

 

If you can't attend the public hearing, you can write or call the City Council members and provide input through 5pm tomorrow.

Here is contact information for the four members serving on Planning, Land Use and Sustainability Committee:

• Mike O’Brien, Chairman, 206-684-8800, mike.obrien@seattle.gov
• Tim Burgess, 206-684-8806, tim.burgess@seattle.gov
• Nick Licata, 206-684-8803, nick.licata@seattle.gov
• Sally Clark, 206-684-8802, sally.clark@seattle.gov

And here is contact information for the other City Council members::

• Jean Godden, 206-684-8807, jean.godden@seattle.gov
• Sally Bagshaw, 206-684-8801, sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov
• Bruce Harrell, 206-684-8804, bruce.harrell@seattle.gov
• Tom Rasmussen, 206-684-8808, tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov
• Kshama Sawant, 206-684-8016, kshama.sawant@seattle.gov

Here is what One Home Per Lot suggests to say to City Council:

While a good step in the right direction, the DPD's current recommendations need improving if they are going to have a chance at successfully addressing the problems that are roiling neighborhoods all across the city of Seattle.

This document details the changes that should be made.

Copies of the proposal are available from the City Clerk’s website,  Reference Council Bill No. 118052 or go here.

For more information contact Andy Kim of DPD at 206-684-8737.

One Home Per Lot can be reached at staff@onehomeperlot.com and here.


 

 

Submit Comments Now On "One Home Per Lot" Proposed Ballot To Notify Neighbors Of Upcoming Land Use Decisions



House at 4812 NE 40th Street built on small side yard oringially part of home next 

One Home Per Lot, a city-wide grassroots group monitoring large homes built on side and backyards of existing homes, is urging citizens to submit comments to State Legistature regarding a new Bill, "House Bill 2311" proposed by Washington State Representatives Gerry Pollet and Gael Tarleton to ensure that land use decisions affecting neighborhoods are made with notice to neighbors. 

House Bill 2311 would require that cities with a population of 500,000 or more (that means Seattle, and Seattle only), must adopt regulations and procedures for providing notice. Specifically, the city must "provide notice of the application to all adjacent landowners and residents and an opportunity to submit comments" regarding "land use decisions related to the preliminary short plat approval of a short subdivision or the approval of a boundary line adjustment."

Here are some other points included in the new Bill:

• Declare that the Legislature finds that due process requires notice to be given to adjacent landowners and residents within 300 feet of specified land use decisions, and declares the Legislature’s intent that the Land Use Petition Act’s (LUPA) statute of limitations does not run until notice is provided in accordance with statute.
• Add to LUPA a new date of issuance – i.e., the date that notice of certain land use decisions is effective – that must be considered in determining when LUPA’s 21-day statute of limitations begins to run.
• Require cities with a population of 500,000 or more to provide notice to adjacent landowners and residents of the following: applications for approval and approval of boundary line adjustments, and applications for approval and approval of preliminary short plats of short subdivisions. Applies only to Seattle, where this is a serious problem.
• Defines the term “adjacent landowners and residents” to mean owners, residents, and persons who are both owners and residents of real property located within 300 feet of property subject to approval of a proposed preliminary short plat of a short subdivision or boundary line adjustment.

 

  

One Home Per Lot's recent email says:

If you feel neighbors should be notified, we need you to email or call both Representatives Pollet and Tarleton. Thank them for proposing the bill, and let them know you support it. No convincing needed. We just need to show them there is great support within the city for this bill. They measure support based on the number of calls/emails they receive.

Here is a sample email the group wrote that can be sent to government representatives:

At the reading of the bill yesterday, a representative from the construction industry argued that Seattle already provides its citizens with notice. (Of course, citizens would have to be monitoring the DPD's website every day to receive such notice.)

Worst of all, because no notice is given to neighbors, many miss out on their only opportunity to protest or stop the construction of a backyard / side yard house: a LUPA lawsuit. (Under state law, LUPA lawsuits must be filed within 21 days of a backyard / side yard house project being approved. But, how can citizens be expected to file a LUPA suit within that timeline when they're never notified?)

 

One Home Per Lot told us although there is no formal comment period, as there is for many of the issues the City reviews, there is generally no comment period for legislation pending before the state legislature.

"The state legislature has not asked for comments. However, lobbyists from the development and construction industries will be lobbying the legislators, so citizens need to do the same. Comments should be sent sooner rather than later to show the legislators who proposed the bill that citizens support their efforts," the group added.

Representative Gerry Pollet can be reached at (360) 786-7886 or by email at Gerry.Pollet@leg.wa.gov.  And

Representative Gael Tarleton's phone number is (360) 786-7860 and email is Gael.Tarleton@leg.wa.gov.

Several skinny houses on small lost have sprouted up in Laurelhurst over the last few years, all the work of developer, Dan Duffus, who is well-known around the city for building the houses which are modern in style, tower over the established homes beneath them and don't fit in with the character of the neighborhood..

One is located at 4812 NE 40th Street in Laurelhurst, which sits on a piece of property 30 feet wide, and was segmented out of a side yard which was a total of only 80 feet wide. The house covers all the land, except for 10 feet of the house's previous yard.

John Taylor, who lives directly behind the new home, commented in a recent Seattle Times article, that looming presence over his back yard is like “a guard tower.” He said the neighbors had no notice from the city or the developer that a new house was being crammed in between two existing houses, on what had been the old house’s yard.

Nick Jenkins, another Laurelhurst resident, who lives next door to a tall, skinny house, has posted his experience going through the construction process and now living with one of these houses right next door to him. His blog post titled "There goes the neighborhood and yours may be next" can be found here
 

For more information on One Home Per Lot and background on the issues go here.