Waldo Woods supporters turned out last night in a protest gathering to voice their outrage over the threatened loss of trees at the old Campfire property on 15th Ave NE in Seattle. The Campfire Girls organization sold the old Waldo Hospital grounds and building to a private developer rather than offering it to the city as a possible neighborhood park. It abuts the neighboring reservoir which is to be lidded and would have made a natural addition to the proposed lid area and park existing on Roosevelt Ave NE.
The Maple Leaf Community Council went through numerous meetings and attempts to save the trees on the property. More than half will be cut down. The Community Council recently lost a decision before a Seattle Hearing Examiner that pitted them against the city and the developer. The Hearing Examiner ruled against them despite errors in the developer’s application before the city and the magnitude of trees to be lost.
When trees go up against developers in Seattle, trees lose. The cards are stacked against saving trees because Seattle has a very weak tree preservation ordinance that only looks at saving exceptional trees which are few in number. The City Council has passed an ordinance urging the DPD Director to include tree groves in the category of trees to be saved.
You can read more about Waldo Woods by going to: http://www.mapleleafcommunity.org/savewaldo_5.html
