Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 6, June 2004
Copyright 2004 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.
City to act on Greenwood groundwater concerns
By JAMES BUSH
City building regulators will establish a "no net loss" policy for ground water in future real estate development projects in area north of North 85th Street and Greenwood Avenue North.
The area, a former swamp, has been plagued by ground movement in recent years (see "Shifting Ground in Greenwood," Seattle Sun, January 2004 issue), which officials believe may be linked to development-related removal of ground water.
Alan Justad, spokesman for the City's Department of Planning and Development, says the no net loss requirement will be extended only to projects large enough to qualify for an environmental review.
The DPD cites a study prepared by geotechnical consulting firm Shannon & Wilson Inc., which found major peat deposits and determined approximate ground water levels in the area. Justad says the study didn't cast blame on any specific project, but showed that ground water levels have been depleted, probably by pumping of ground water from development sites. "The cumulative effect is that they're all pulling a lot of water out of that strata," he says.
The City will also consider changes in its environmentally critical areas (ECA) policies for the Greenwood area, as part of a major ECA review already underway this year, Justad adds.
The new no net loss policy could provide challenges for developers. It's common for new developments to include at least one level of underground parking, resulting in deep excavations and significant water removal.
Justad says one solution might be designing watertight basements, or simply not having underground levels in new projects. He notes that DPD might consider a policy of allowing an extra floor of above-ground space to structures built without basements.
Greenwood Community Council President Michael McGinn says he'd prefer to see such fixes applied on a project-specific basis. "I'd be hesitant to put something into the code, because I do think it should be more flexible and site-specific," he says. "Height's a sensitive issue for lots of people."
He says granting extra height for buildings would be especially problematic along Greenwood Avenue North, which already had a 65-foot (six-story) height limit.