Sustainable Redmond is leading a legal charge to save more than 1,000 trees slated to be cut down as part of a 28-acre, mixed-use, transit-oriented development in Overlake.
The grass-roots organization, along with two local neighborhood groups and former Redmond Mayor Rosemarie Ives, filed a land-use petition in King County Superior Court Tuesday, seeking to block Group Health Cooperative’s plans of cutting down 1,050 “significant” trees from a vacant site of the planned development. Significant trees are defined by the city as having a diameter of 6 inches or more at the height of 4 1/2 feet above the ground.
The vacant property, located at 2464 152nd Ave. NE, is the site of a hospital that closed in 2008. The parcel is bordered by the Microsoft, Corp. campus and is adjacent to a proposed East Link light rail station. The Group Health Overlake Village project would add 10-12 apartment buildings and 1.4 million square feet of commercial space to the neighborhood. It also calls for removing 65 landmark trees, estimated to be 150 to 250 years old, and another 985 trees up to 150 years old, according to a Sustainable Redmond press release released Wednesday night.
Last December, the City Council approved the Group Health plan, which includes an exception to a section of the city zoning code that requires developers to retain 35 percent of existing significant trees. Council member Kim Allen was the only dissenting vote in the Council’s 6-1 approval of the plan, which calls for the removal of all trees, including the significant ones, at the site.
“We would like to see the city continue its tradition of protecting trees and would like the city to uphold its tree preservation ordinance, which states that all landmark trees shall be preserved and 35 percent of significant trees shall be retained,” Sustainable Redmond spokesperson Cindy Jayne said in an email to the Redmond Reporter.
The judge is scheduled to hear oral arguments of the case June 25, according to city attorney Jim Haney. The judge can rule from the bench that day or take the matter under advisement and rule at a later date, Haney added. The petitioners bear the burden of proving that the City Council decision was wrong, Haney pointed out.
“Because the lawsuit has just been filed, I have not had a chance to discuss it in full with the mayor and City Council at this time,” Haney said in email to the Redmond Reporter Thursday morning. “However, I can say that the city believes its decision was correct and that it is supported by the evidence presented to the City Council and the codes and ordinances of the city. The city will defend the lawsuit accordingly.”
Sustainable Redmond is joined in the appeal by Friends at Overlake Village, Villa Marina Condominium Association, and Ives, who served as Redmond’s mayor from 1992-2007. In addition, Eastside Audubon Society, Sherwood Forest Community Club — a nearby Bellevue neighborhood — and Techies for Trees — workers in the Overlake neighborhood — also support the appeal, according to the Sustainable Redmond press release.
VOICING THEIR OPPOSITION
Members from Sustainable Redmond, along with many local citizens and several groups, had urged the Council to reconsider the Group Health Overlake Village development agreement and find a way to preserve some of the site’s wooded areas at public hearings in November and December.
The City Council okayed the Group Health plan and the exception to its zoning code at its Dec. 16 meeting of last year, agreeing with Group Health that complete tree removal is necessary because tearing up the existing pavement would hurt the trees structural integrity. In addition, the removal of surrounding trees would weaken the root system of trees that remain, making them vulnerable to wind storms.
But according to the filed petition, the evidence does not support Council’s approved exception to the zoning code.
“The city’s decision that the request satisfied the criteria is an erroneous interpretation of the law and a clearly erroneous application of the facts not supported by substantial evidence,” the petition says.
In addition, the Sustainable Redmond petition argues that the project’s compliance with the State Environmental Policy Act for the proposed master plan was not met because the plan did not analyze the impacts of clearing all trees and other vegetation from the site.
At the Jan. 3 City Council meeting, Sustainable Redmond asked for reconsideration of the decision, but the council took no action.
CONTRADICTING REPORTS
The project does call for the planting of 3,345 replacement trees in surrounding neighborhoods, something supporting council members pointed out when they approved the plan last December.
But some of the trees can be saved, according to Sustainable Redmond.
A certified arborist, coordinated by Sustainable Redmond and paid for by an anonymous donor, performed a site evaluation last November and concluded “that groups of trees can be saved without undue risk to potential future structures,” according to the press release. “This contradicted the Group Health developer’s assessment that none of the trees can be retained.”
