HATED
Neighbors hate them, realtors can’t sell them, but so-called
megahouses just aren’t going away. Up in the Cedar Park neighborhood of
North Seattle, where four massive “luxury Craftsman homes” sit unsold
(“Not My Beautiful House,” by Erica C. Barnett, Feb 14), at least
three more large new megahouse developments are in the works. All
four proposed developments involve building nearly lot-line-to-lot-line
on lots adjacent to areas designated “environmentally critical,” and
rely on what Department of Planning and Development spokesman Alan
Justad calls “unusual” interpretations of zoning rules, including
bizarrely shaped “pitchfork” lots and “dumbbell” lots
like the one that made the “luxury Craftsman” houses possible. The city
council and DPD are looking at ways to make it harder for developers to
build megahouse projects—DPD by limiting the amount of impervious
surface it allows, the council by strengthening language in the
land-use code to prohibit the odd-shaped lots that enable
developers to skirt environmental and land-use rules. Land-use
committee member Tim Burgess calls megahouses “a blockbuster issue that
is going to affect many parts of the city.” He wants the council to
move quickly to address megahouses as part of a comprehensive list of
land-use changes that have just come before the city council. ERICA
C. BARNETT
Fetid
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has shut
down two Aurora motels in as many weeks for a series of gross
health violations. The DOH has ordered the Seattle Motor Inn and Orion
Motel—both near North 120th Street and Aurora Avenue
North—to close, after inspectors found a number of electrical,
fire, and air-quality violations.
According to a DOH report, rooms at the Orion were filled
with mold, while the Seattle Motor Inn property was littered with
garbage, old tires, broken furniture, and appliances. Inspectors
also found a “five-gallon bucket filled with brown fetid water“
left in one bathroom. According to a DOH spokeswoman, the Orion is
working on a settlement agreement, and the owners of the Seattle Motor
Inn have agreed to give up their motel license, although they will
likely apply for a new one.
The motels’ owners have one month to appeal the closures.
JONAH SPANGENTHAL-LEE
Flushed
Seattle’s automatic public toilets had a good run. But after
four years, Seattle Public Utilities has recommended that the city
shut the toilets down to save taxpayers $4.5
million.
While each of the city’s five automated
toilets—located in four city parks and on Broadway—are
visited an average of 218 times a day, they’re also frequently used for
drug dealing and prostitution. The city hopes to open some
now-private toilets to the public, and provide bathroom attendants
to keep facilities clean and crime-free. JONAH
SPANGENTHAL-LEE