Townhouses miff neighbors

A 13-unit townhouse development under construction in the Gatewood neighborhood is raising hackles among neighbors who claim the developer flew under the city's regulatory radar by dividing the project into three seemingly separate projects.

The developer, a Queen Anne company called Soleil (pronounced "so-lay"), received separate permits from the Seattle Department of Planning and Development for each of the three buildings that will comprise its new project in the 7200 block of California Avenue Southwest. There will be four townhouses in two buildings and a third building will contain five townhouses.

Developers must seek a "master-use permit" from the city for projects of at least five housing units. A master-use permit carries environmental requirements not required of smaller developments. Even though Soleil is building a 13-unit project, the only part of it that will require a master-use permit is the five-unit building in the center of the development.

"Undoubtedly they would find more (environmental impacts) with a full 13-unit review than just a 5-unit review," said Vlad Oustimovitch, an architect who lives a few blocks from the project site.

Had the Gatewood development been more thoroughly scrutinized by the city, Soleil would have to make improvements to the public infrastructure around the site such as better sidewalks, storm-water detention and street trees, Oustimovitch said. Probably the biggest environmental impacts of the project will be on traffic and parking, he said.

The developer might also have had to stabilize a 22-foot-tall bluff just east of the site. Perhaps a view corridor would've been required so passersby could still see an old log cabin that neighbors call the hunting lodge, Oustimovitch said.

Soleil applied for 11 different permits for its Gatewood project. Dividing a project into sections with separate applications for each is a practice called "piecemealing" or "segmented permitting," he said.

Soleil acknowledges it submitted numerous separate applications for the Gatewood project, but it is a strategy to save time and money, said Brittani Ard, a permit expeditor representing the developer.

If Soleil had applied for the site to be replatted as a full subdivision for a 13-unit project, it would take up to two years to get city approval, Ard said. Permit fees would've been higher too.

Applying for separate permits for each component of a new development reduces the processing time to just four to six months, she said. City fees are lower.

But Oustimovitch points to state law, which notes that "interdependent parts of a larger proposal" should be evaluated in the same environmental documents.

Ard countered that the environmental review being done on the five-unit building that's part of the project will reveal any significant environmental problems.

Alan Justad, spokesman for the Seattle Department of Planning and Development, said segmented permitting is normal practice for developers. Since three separate but adjoining parcels are involved in the Gatewood project, each parcel can be treated separately. Justad called Soleil's 13-unit townhouse development a "routine project."

Considering that time equals money, developers' costs increase the longer it takes to get through lengthy environmental reviews, he said. It's even more expensive if an environmental review is appealed. That can add months to the permitting process.

Oustimovitch also is perturbed that the new townhouse project is being built in what the Morgan Junction Neighborhood Plan calls the "Green Crescent." The C-shape curl of land takes in public parks and green spaces from the Eddy Street Ravine through Pelly Place, Lowman Beach Park, Solstice Park, the Orchard Street Ravine and the Myrtle Street Reservoir. Oustimovitch said building a 13-unit townhouse project in the Green Crescent also should have triggered an environmental review.

He also is concerned that the new development will hide the view of a century-old log cabin, "the hunting lodge," that stands east and above the building site. In a letter to the Department of Planning and Development, Steve Sindiong and Cindi Barker of the Morgan Community Association wrote that blocking the view of the old log cabin "will impact the community character of the neighborhood."

Ard said the log structure is not an official city landmark so there is no obligation on Soleil to maintain a view corridor to it from California Avenue.

Further, there is no requirement that the developer stabilize or landscape the 22-foot bank east of and behind the townhouses, Ard said. The steep bank is part of an old north-south-running street right of way for what's called Parshall Place Southwest. Because the steep bank is a city-owned right of way, stabilizing and landscaping it is a city responsibility, Ard said.

Oustimovitch also pointed out the city did not require Soleil's 13-unit project to post a public notice until citizens complained. However, Oustimovitch said he had to put up public notices to alert neighbors that he's building an addition on his own house.

"The city is too focused on little projects and not enough on big projects," he said.

If the city issues a master-use permit for the townhouse project, neighbors are considering appealing the decision to the city hearing examiner.

Tim St. Clair can be reached at timstc@robinsonnews.com or 932-0300.