Read a Pacific Northwest, liberal perspective on world, national, and local politics. From majestic Redmond, Washington - the Northwest Progressive Institute Advocate.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Neighbors file lawsuit to stop Seattle Public Schools from destroying Ingraham greenbelt

A group of North Seattle neighbors that have been fighting for months to save a valuable grove of trees at Ingraham High School from being destroyed have taken their battle to King County Superior Court to prevent the Seattle Public School District from moving ahead with its plans to raze the trees this weekend, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

The school district wants to cut down the trees (considered to be a rare plant community under the Washington State Department of Natural Resources' Natural Heritage Program) to make room for an expansion of the building, which neighbors argue could easily be sited elsewhere on the property.

Ingraham Tree Grove From the Air
The above snapshot from Microsoft Virtual Earth, via Windows Live Search Maps, shows the Ingraham tree grove from the air (click for a larger version).

The greenbelt includes sixty eight Douglas fir, Western Red Cedar and Pacific madrone trees. All three species are native to the Pacific Northwest.

Last Thursday, tired of having its nefarious plans stalled by the neighbors' concerns, the district withdrew its building permit applications with the City of Seattle and announced its decision to unleash chainsaws on the grove.

The district purposely withdrew its building permits to escape the environmental review process and duck regulatory oversight from the City of Seattle. Mayor Nickels has condemned the district's scheme and urged it to stop. But the district administration and the school board aren't listening.

The district figures it will just start the construction process over after the Ingraham greenbelt is wiped out and there are no more trees to save.

Out of options, the neighbors went to court.

The School Board, meeting last night in executive session, decided to ignore the lawsuit, declining to postpone the tree razing scheduled for this weekend.

A hearing was originally scheduled for September 2nd, but neighbors, represented by attorney Keith Scully, are now asking for a temporary restraining order to stop the district from chopping down the trees. King County Superior Court Judge Erlick is scheduled to consider the request in an hour in Room W 10-60.

The district's mean-spiritedness seems to know no bounds. According to our good friend Steve Zemke, one of the organizers of the effort, the school district responded in court by demanding a bond from neighbors.
The Seattle School District is further trying to stifle legitimate review of their decisions by asking that a bond of $10,000 be posted because they signed a contact with Weiss Tree Company that money be paid if the trees aren’t cut on Friday. Weiss would pay the Seattle School District $33,000 for the trees.

This contract was obviously written and signed by the School District to be an impediment to Save the Trees or any other group filing any legitimate appeal of their actions. In addition the School District is asking for a bond of $400,000 for inflation costs for the delay of a project that they just withdrew the building permits on from the city review process.
NPI strongly condemns the district's actions. The school board's disinterest in conservation and environmental protection is appalling. It is absurd that those charged with the oversight of the education system in the state's largest and most progressive city simply don't care about the value of urban forests.

We hope that King County Superior Court will put a stop to the district's plans and its intimidation of Ingraham High School neighbors.

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