Tree-advocates of the Wedgwood neighborhood in northeast Seattle are working to prevent the unnecessary destruction of trees.

This site, 8314 28th Ave NE, is two houses south of Wedgwood School/NE 85th Street, where a stand of Western Red Cedar trees is threatened by development.  The City of Seattle construction department has approved that all these trees will be cut down on October 22, 2024.  More information is available from: TreeActionSeattle.org

Endangered Western Red Cedar trees at 8314 28th Ave NE, October 2024. Photo by Valarie.

Houses versus trees?  It doesn’t have to be this way.

Seattle needs more housing – but creation of more housing doesn’t have to mean the destruction of the tree canopy.

Western Red Cedars at 8314 28th Ave NE

Housing versus trees is a false dichotomy.  With good planning, more housing can be built while protecting the environment and preserving trees.

Here on the Tree Action Seattle page is the explanation of “lot sprawl” which is the reason for developers wanting to cut down trees.  Instead of clustering new structures on the lot, developers want to spread out buildings all the way to the lot line, so trees on the perimeter are being cut down.

The Wedgwood neighborhood is particularly known for its stands of evergreen trees, including Western Red Cedars.  Groves of trees including cedars, fir and pine grew up in the early 1900s in northeast Seattle before there were any houses in Wedgwood.

Albert Balch was a 1940s developer who named his development plat of land, “Wedgwood,” leading to eventual naming of the neighborhood.  Balch became renowned for the preservation of trees in the original Wedgwood plat, on the west side of 35th Ave NE between NE 80th to 85th Streets.

Groves of Western Red Cedar Trees in Wedgwood

One location of very tall Western Red Cedar trees in Wedgwood is on the blocks from NE 87th to 89th Streets closest to 40th Ave NE, at the edge of the Maple Creek Ravine.

In 2023, alert neighbors noticed that a developer had filed a plan to cut down a Western Red Cedar tree at 3851-3853 NE 88th Street in order to build multiple big houses on the lot.  Extensive protest demonstrations concluded with the developer’s agreement to preserve the tree.  There are now four houses on the site, and it remains to be seen whether the tree will survive.

3853 NE 88th Street with four new houses (two in the front and two in the back) encircling a Western Red Cedar Tree. October 2024, photo by Valarie.

Temporarily saved but damaged, then approved to be cut down

Another threatened Western Red Cedar is at 3003 NE 88th Street, now scheduled to be cut down on October 22, 2024.

Incredibly, although at first the developer was fined by the City of Seattle in 2023, for deliberately damaging the tree to kill it, the City’s construction department later gave permission for the tree to be cut down.  This, despite a previous ruling that this “exceptional tree” was eligible for preservation.

3003 NE 88th Street damage to tree in 2023

City of Seattle notice of permission to cut down the Western Red Cedar at 3003 NE 88th Street, October 2024.

Preservationists struggled to protect the tree at 3003 NE 88th Street but the developer finally received a permit and cut down the tree on October 22, 2024. Photo courtesy of JRV.

The grove of Western Red Cedar trees at 8314 28th Ave NE

Western Red Cedar trees in a grove at 8314 28th Ave NE. Photo by Valarie, October 2024.

In 2024 a developer plans to cut down trees at 8314 28th Ave NE to place the maximum number of new structures on the lot.  The developer has received City approval to cut down all of the trees on this site, on October 22, 2024.

Once again, Wedgwood tree advocates are calling on the community to protest clear-cutting.

Everyone is encouraged to send an email to their City Council representative, asking for better legislation to require responsible development which includes tree preservation.  You can find suggestions of what to write, on Tree Action Seattle’s explanation of how to have both objectives: more housing while preserving trees.

The City Council representative for Wedgwood is Maritza Rivera, email Maritza.Rivera@seattle.gov or write a letter to her at: PO Box 34025, Seattle, WA 98124-4025.