Belltown Livability: Community Action

Developers from California are looking to build a luxury apartment building to 180ft in a neighborhood where the limit is 145ft.

The city of Seattle's Hearing Examiner has issued a decision that the 198 foot building is not allowed due to the small size of the lot, and is subject to the zone’s current height limit of 145 feet.

The developer has appealed this ruling to the superior court.

We are raising additional legal funds to defend the Hearing Examiner’s decision against this appeal.

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This account will go 100% to the law firm's retainer. We do not know how long this fight will last, but hours will be closely monitored and any unused funds will be returned to doners.

This effort is being run by community volunteers. 

We are donating time and resources in order to protect the integrity and livability of our neighborhood and hope that you will help.

Seattle SDIC Project details can be found here

Please join the effort and add your name to the list of those willing to invest in protecting the character and beauty of this unique neighborhood.

**Photo from February 2021 Project Proposal**

Background:

Our goal is to ensure the height of the proposed new building at 2616 Western conforms to the height allowed under the current land use (zoning) code.

The new construction proposed at 2616 Western Ave (corner of Western Avenue and Cedar Street) exceeds the publicly approved height limit by approximately 55 feet. This results in a proposed 20 story building on a lot zoned for 15 stories (145 ft.).

BLC has challenged this attempt to circumvent the zoning in our neighborhood. The first major threshold of this process, reviewed by the city’s Hearing Examiner, was successful. The Hearing Examiner ruled that the building could not exceed the height limit of 145 feet as specified in the zoning code. The developer has appealed this decision to the King County Superior Court.

The BLC, a community coalition, represented by Bricklin & Newman LLP, now needs to fund the legal response to the developer’s appeal. The process will include writing the response brief and preparing to attend the hearing on the merits. The hearing is currently scheduled for July.

Given the Hearing Examiner’s Decision, the burden to overturn the HE's decision now rests on the developer, and the city can no longer side with the developer in court.

Belltown is a very dense neighborhood, second-densest in the city; this is by design, and the zoning regulations were put in place to ensure livability by mainlining access to light, air, etc.

The significant height of the building will reduce the ground exposure to sunlight as specified in the Green Street criteria designated for Cedar Street.

This attempt to circumvent a key element of these regulations, if successful, would set an unfortunate precedent for the enforceability of our zoning rules and future livability of the neighborhood. Further, the approval of a project that exceeds the zoning limits in one area of the city questions the enforcement of code limits in any other area of the city.