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