Columbia Citizens

Here's what I know. The owner of that corner lot (and the Busy Bee and the building to the south of that) is the owner of Wash's Auto, and he wants to develop that corner into a parking log. (!) St. Gobain didn't have anything to do with it, but that's who people assume owns that corner lot because it's right next to one of their former buildings.

Harbor Properties is involved with the redevelopment of the building on Hudson next to the corner with the trees, and is looking for a tenant in that building and has plans to restore it to its original look.

The corner lot with the trees sits within the bounds of the historic district, and the owner had no permit to cut the trees down. The smaller of the two trees was saved, but not before they hacked through $2,500-worth of lights that CCBA, Harbor Properties and Tutta Bella paid for last year for the annual tree lighting ceremony. I grabbed whatever lights were on the ground and they're now piled into a sad heap in my office. A police officer is parked across Hudson, waiting and watching to make sure the guys who were hired to cut the tree down simply clean up what's there and leave. (SPD was great - very responsive.)

The police issued a cease and desist, so the smaller tree is saved for now. But you can't undo the cutting down of a big tree. I was told that trees with trunks of a certain diameter and larger require special consideration, but that tree was denied that because the property owner felt they could do whatever they wanted. I heard that the owner was there, and quite upset that "tree huggers" would get in the way of his plans. But I think this illustrates what happens when property owners live somewhere else, and are only financially invested in a neighborhood and feel that that entitles them to do whatever they want, without regard for the wishes of the people that live and work there.

Some of us invest in other ways: by shopping and paying sales tax, by owning a home and paying property tax, by running a business and paying B&O and City taxes, and many, many others invest with their time and energy to host events, volunteer and build relationships. I wish property owners who lived elsewhere respected these other forms of investment, and worked with all of us so that both their success and the livability of an area were both preserved. It can be a win-win, it doesn't have to be this way.

The second tree is saved for now, but I encourage people to contact city council members to voice their opinions on this.

By the way… the 'skinny kid' that climbed the second tree to save it is none other than Columbia City's very own Nic Warmenhoven. And he is no kid either, he is a full on married grown up, Columbia City house owner with kids. Buy him a beer next time you see him, he was even getting over the flu and still managed to get himself up that tree.

I think Wash has his reasons, and the reality is that it is his property. The City has contacted him, and they're working it out. Having said that, I think it would be much more appropriate to contact Wash at his place of business:

5021 Rainier Ave S
Seattle, WA 98118-1926
(206) 722-3205

Anon, I think it would be a nice gesture for you to delete his home address.

Google: Washin Murakami citylivingseattle for a picture and article.

That's for street trees located next to construction. It's simple, and it works. Sometimes they build plywood boxes around the trunks, to help protect the bark and root zones from heavy machinery and piles of building materials.

In this case (private property, no proposed construction) this practice wouldn't have applied.

But it's clear that cutting shouldn't happen at Rainier & Hudson. Mr. Murakami's lot has no buildings on it, and there's no proposal to redevelop. The tree protection ordinance — Seattle Muncipal Code (SMC) 25.11.040 A1 — prohibits cutting trees >6" wide at chest height, on commercially zoned land with no buildings and where there's no proposed development.

He probably didn't know it, and didn't take the time to find out. But now he knows.

Remember this?

Next week the Landmarks Preservation Board meets to hear Wash Murakami's request to cut down the deodar cedar at the SW corner of Rainier & Hudson — see the second agenda item. The way I see it, there isn't much the Board can do but approve the request.

At one point, the Department of Planning and Development might have stepped up to enforce its tree protection rules, but that would've resulted in a substantial fine for a property owner with deep roots in the neighborhood. It's complicated and too bad this tree needs to go simply to make room for more parking.