Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
A Halt to the Work at the Tiffany Park Woods
Too little too late. The beautiful Tiffany Park Woods are nearly gone, the birds and wildlife already evicted, the native flora disappeared. Still, I was heartened to know someone is paying attention to the promises made by the developer when they obtained the permit to raze these woods and replace them with 97 houses. According to a story in today’s Renton Reporter, “a stop work order was issued after inspectors found two protected trees were removed from the site.” I wondered why all had gone quiet.
“In order to lift the stop order, the developers will have to meet conditions set upon by the city, including paying a fine and replacing the two removed trees with 12 other trees. The city will decide on the types and locations of the trees at a later date. In addition, if the developers remove other protected trees once the stop work order is lifted, the city will revoke their permit and cease all construction.” ~ Renton Reporter 6/28/17
There is some justice after all.
I visited the Woods earlier this spring before the work began to document their beauty.
For the last few weeks I have also documented their destruction, which has been far more difficult to observe than I had imagined.
I watched a panicked red-headed woodpecker fly to a large Douglas Fir in my yard (to take up residence I hope) after the large trees around him came down. And I have never seen a sadder looking deer than this one recently taking refuge in a tiny patch of remaining woods as trees were felled nearby. I hope he made it safely to a new home.
For several years, friends of the Tiffany Park Woods fought against this project and lost. What they won were concessions from the builder including a tree retention plan as conditions for the permit. The work stoppage may only be temporary, but if it results in the saving of a few more trees, then it is worth it. I’m glad the developer is being held accountable for the terms that were agreed upon.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 
Praise God for local reporting and enforcement of the law and land covenants.
Yes, amen!
This is so common: developers make promises they have no intention of keeping, and they are rarely caught like this. We have a home built on a steep hillside by our house – and after it was completely done, the city discovered they broke multiple building codes – so now it sits empty and deserted while the bank tries to get the city to let them sell it, claiming it was the Contractor’s fault – so frustrating
Honestly I was so happy to see this article today! They got caught and I’m happy they did! Sorry to hear about your own neighboring situation. It becomes a blame game and yes, so frustrating.
And they had the right to build this awful collection of homes, yet they were greedy and couldn’t do it fair – it happens all the time
How encouraging to discover that this developer was being checked on. I hope they follow it up, to make sure they stick to the new rules.
Best wishes, Pete.
Yes, me too! The article in the paper said they were to preserve 30% of the trees in the woods. I like the strategy from the city: If you take 2 protected trees down you have to replace with 12. Do it again and it’s over. I’m thinking the inspectors will be even more alert now after the first offense. Unfortunately it won’t bring back the woods entirely, but at least should make the developer stick to what was agreed upon when they got the permit. thanks for your comment. 🙂
Is a development worth the loss of natural beauty and wildlife losing their homes. 😦 NO!
I agree with you! 😐