UW clearcuts

[Oxman]

University of Washington is pouring money into campus construction projects.

The city code has little power to require environmental protection due to weak language, as dictated by developers.

The University of Washington:

is in the process of a 9 acre clearcut in the state Arboretum to install a non-native garden;

recently cut 72 trees that were not in the master plan to erect a scaffold in the campus Hub;

and removed 170 trees near Husky Stadium for construction of a light rail station.

Here’s the link to a SeattlePI.com article about another construction project. The site weas bulldozed prior to the building permit being issued, removing 8 exceptional trees and threatening the 48" dbh Brooklyn Elm Tree, located on the site of a proposed UW dorm.
SeattlePI.com article
Here’s a photo of the 4’ diameter tree. The building at the right is now gone. The new 7 story building is supposed to start right where the old building was, but sprawl to cover the whole block, with zero setback away from the sidewalk. Where will new trees be planted?
Google Street View photo

8 protected Exceptional Trees (defined as the largest 1% of each species in the city) were bulldozed from the dorm site prior to the citizen appeal period.

5 Exceptional trees across the street were removed from another dorm project.

The dorm project received 2 interesting code departures from the city planning dept. To excavate up to the dripline during the rainy season. Another to void the setback requirement & put the 7 story building right up against the sidewalk.

A dozen large American Elms 500' away were removed last summer due to Dutch Elm Disease. I'm concerned this tree may get infected.

Arboreally yours,

 

[Tr33Climb3r]

Yikes that sounds like a huge mess

 

[Dougfir]

In the interest of fair reporting, it should be noted that allowing large buildings to extend all the way to sidewalk is common. As is building demolition while holding a valid demo permit. This is a separate entity than a building permit.

These facts have no bearing on the cutting of these trees, except to cloud other pertinent facts.

The cutting of trees for the Sound Transit project was by and for Sound Transit.

 

[guymayor]

[ QUOTE ]


recently cut 72 trees that were not in the master plan to erect a scaffold in the campus Hub;


[/ QUOTE ]

In the interest of fair reporting, it'd be nice to know more about this.

The arboretum vid quit just as the narrative started.

Keep it up, Mike!

 

[Oxman]

Howdy,

Thanks for the salient comments. This group may bring out the factors affecting the spread of infection of DED thru roots exposed by excavation during construction. In particular, the winter season work removing 6,500 truckloads of soil may affect other trees on campus. I would like to hear experiences in how DED has moved thru an area. This tree was injected with Dutch Trig in the past and Arbotect recently. It was pruned recently.

You can bet a motion to dismiss irrelevant factors will be introduced by the applicant. For those who have participated in the appeal process, it may seem disheartening to see the deference required to be given to the applicant's witnesses.

While the permit process takes into account removals from an individual parcel, it ignores wholesale deforestation of the neighborhood within just a few blocks. The lack of an inventory of the 8,000 plus trees on campus precludes the ability of administrators to see the implications of a particular building project to their campus.

The UW recognizes a larger critical root zone that the industry standard. 1 1/2' of setback per inch of trunk diameter per is the campus standard, yet this tree has a smaller CRZ that is off-limits to the builder.

While zero lot coverage is common, the variance this project received is valid grounds for appeal.

The type of administrative design review required for major institutions involves staff only. The citizen Design Review Board and Planning Commission were not allowed to review this project. Essentially, this means the project was brokered behind closed doors. A total of 3 dorms, located in a contiguous 3 block area, clearcut every tree on all 3 blocks, except for this elm tree. The canopy cover was 31% prior to bulldozing, now it is about 5%. This is inconsistent with our citywide urban forest management plan canopy cover goal of 30%, and our Comprehensive Plan canopy cover goal of 40%.

I have put out some feelers to obtain more info on the Hub removals, which were not mentioned in the conditions on the building permit.

The video of logging the arboretum is short on purpose. The Olmsted society has just asked for a moratorium on tree removals pending a tree inventory. FYI, Fredrick Law Olmstead (landscape architect who designed Central Park in NYC) designed the landscape of the UW campus when the 1905 Exposition was held in Seattle. He subquently laid out Seattle's park system in a series of contracts over the next 25 years.

 

[Oxman]

Other jurisdictions have a mechanism to preserve & enhance the urban forest. In Seattle, our government is doing the opposite—clearing the way for developers to bulldoze for profit.

Here is Neil Jacks' "Tree Officer" video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p005ddtt#

Seattle Post Intelligencer article.http://www.seattlepi.com/local/432183_trees22.html

I did a TV news interview about the UW:
http://www.king5.com/news/Growing-concern-over-cutting-of-trees-at-UW-111289629.html

There was a 5 minute phone-in radio interview on KUOW with Steve Scher during the Green Garden segment. It is at 10 minutes: 45 seconds into the .mp3 audio file.
Weekday MP3 High Download http://www.kuow.org/mp3high/mp3/WeekdayB/WeekdayB20101214.mp3 Trees being bulldozed at Ingraham High School and the Univ. of Washington were the topics, along with Seattle city tree policy.


Here’s a July 2009 Blog interview I did with author Knute Berger:
http://fwix.com/seattle/share/c00f839862/strains_in_the_greengrowth_coalition

KOMO did a blog post about the UW.
http://udistrict.komonews.com/content/appeal-halt-new-uw-dorm-over-extraordinary-tree

Arboreally yours,

Michael Oxman
michaeloxman@comcast.net
Treedr.com

 

[Jubea]

Interesting articles...even more interesting are the comments that follow them

 

[urbnatrboy1]

Just a follow up. The hearings examiner declared that the UW was OK to do everything they did.

 

[Dougfir]

[ QUOTE ]
Just a follow up. The hearings examiner declared that the UW was OK to do everything they did.

[/ QUOTE ]

Surprise surprise. Not that the fix was in, but that what Oxman is crying about all the time is not thought reasonable by reasonable people

 

[Jubea]

UW won't be penalized for wrongly removing trees

So this is the end result.

Wasted tax dollars and delayed development.

 

[moss]

[ QUOTE ]
UW won't be penalized for wrongly removing trees

So this is the end result.

Wasted tax dollars and delayed development.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's a better link to the newspaper story

-AJ

 

[moss]

from the newspaper article:
[ QUOTE ]
...But Alan Justad, deputy director of the city's Department of Planning and Development, said Wednesday his agency will not pursue any enforcement action against the UW. He said removal of the trees was approved in the city's original development decision for the project and "and that decision, in general, was upheld by the (hearing examiner)."

He said the decision require "new tree plantings that at maturity will replace the lost canopy; those trees will be planted on the site and also as street trees north across the street." He said the city normally doesn't pursue penalties where a permit would allow the cutting and replanting is specified.

[/ QUOTE ]

That kind of "replacement" rationalization completely disregards the time investment and value of a mature healthy tree over a non-existent yet to be planted sapling.
-AJ

 

[moss]

Thanks for all your efforts Oxman!
-AJ

 

[Jubea]

[ QUOTE ]
That kind of "replacement" rationalization completely disregards the time investment and value of a mature healthy tree over a non-existent yet to be planted sapling.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree...assuming "mature healthy tree(s)"

The healthiest, mature tree (and largest) on site was retained.

 

[treehumper]

Are they going to build more architectural gems like the one across the street?

Sounds like the UW is abusing it's power in the community. Where it could be a leader in radical architecture that preserves canopy. Instead we have a continuance of old school thinking and teaching.

 

[Jubea]

Again, the majority of tree canopy on site was retained.

 

[moss]

[ QUOTE ]
Again, the majority of tree canopy on site was retained.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you mean the entire campus or the particular construction site?

Quote from Oxman:
[ QUOTE ]
8 protected Exceptional Trees (defined as the largest 1% of each species in the city) were bulldozed from the dorm site prior to the citizen appeal period.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is what I was referring to when I mentioned disregard for the value of existing mature trees when "replacement" is treated as a fair trade-off for the loss of the trees.
-AJ

 

[guymayor]

Projected canopy from replacements is often pie in the sky, if not smoke up the orifice.

How many roots were lost on the elm?

 

[treehumper]

We saw the "before" pic on Google maps. Any "after" shots?

 

[urbnatrboy1]

Mike has no clue how many roots were lost. I do. less than six roots have been removed. Each with a diameter around 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch discovered during airspading activities to discover the presence of any tree roots.