An appeal has been filed challenging the conditionally granted design review and the determination of non-significance with conditions for environmental impacts for the proposed Phinney Flats development at 6726 Greenwood Ave. N.
An appeal hearing will be at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 1, at the Office of Hearing Examiner, 700 5th Ave, Seattle Municipal Tower Room 4000.
Since the project was first announced in July 2015, many neighbors have attended design review meetings and written letters to the city expressing their displeasure with the building that will bring 57 housing units plus ground-floor retail with no parking.
Update March 8: We received the following press release from Livable Phinney, the nonprofit organization that filed the appeal:
Livable Phinney, a Washington nonprofit corporation, appealed the City of Seattle’s decision to approve the controversial “Phinney Flats “project at 6726 Greenwood, formerly the home of Stumbling Goat Restaurant and Ed’s Kort Haus. The project, which has generated widespread opposition, would include 55 micro-units plus two tiny “live-work” units on the ground floor. No onsite parking would be provided.
Throughout the lengthy design review process for this project, hundreds of letters in opposition were submitted, but virtually no substantive changes were made. As a result, Livable Phinney decided to appeal the decision. The Appeal challenges the City’s determination to allow the project to proceed without any onsite parking, and also challenges the height, bulk and scale of the building, the setbacks from the adjacent single-family zone, and the failure to properly investigate the site for contamination from former occupants that included a dry-cleaner.
“We understand that the Phinney-Greenwood corridor is likely to be re-developed with multi-family buildings, but the outsize impact of this development is unreasonable and should not have been approved in its current form,” explained Irene Wall, a board member of Livable Phinney.
Livable Phinney obtained accomplished land use attorney Jeff Eustis for this appeal. A hearing before the Seattle Hearing Examiner will take place on May1-3, 2017.
The website for Livable Phinney, livablephinney.org, includes more information about the appeal and how to donate to the legal fund. Livable Phinney is also accepting contributions directly at HomeStreet Bank at Greenwood and 73rd St.
