NPR Piece Criticizing South Park Development for Tree Removal Omitted Key Facts

The story failed to mention that the developer is Habitat for Humanity, and that the affordable homeownership project includes 26 new maple trees.

A Google Maps image shows trees on the site where Habitat for Humanity is building 22 new affordable homes, and planting 26 new maple trees.

By Erica C. Barnett

Earlier this month, NPR ran a story ("Why preserving trees while meeting housing demand is a good thing") produced by Seattle's KNKX radio station about efforts to integrate existing trees into new developments, calling tree preservation a "climate solution" that doesn't have to conflict with new housing development. Trees lower temperatures on the ground and reduce carbon pollution, among many other benefits. The story highlighted two Seattle developments: A high-end project designed by local architects in the tony Bryant neighborhood in Northeast Seattle, and a 22-unit development in South Park, just north of Seattle's southern city limit.

The first development, according to the story, used what one of the architects called an "enlightened" approach: Instead of removing trees, the architects designed around them, preserving trees that the architect sees as neighborhood "residents" in their own right.

The second development—the one the story uses as an example of a developer thoughtlessly removing trees for density—is happening in South Park, on a"cleared lot [where] 22 new units are going in where once four single-family homes stood." The story quotes an activist with Tree Action Seattle, a group that routinely opposes development in formerly single-family areas, positing that the developer could have easily spared a half-dozen trees by adopting a different site plan Tree Action posted on its website.

But the NPR story omitted a number of key facts. The biggest is that the project in South Park, unlike the million-dollar-and-up townhouses in Bryant, is an affordable housing project being developed by Habitat for Humanity, with 22 units available to homebuyers making 80 percent or less of Seattle's area median income. Contacted by phone, a representative from Habitat for Humanity told PubliCola our call was the first time they were hearing about NPR's story on their project.

Another fact the story didn't mention is that Habitat isn't scraping the site clean: Their plan preserves several trees on the north end of the property, and the affordable-housing provider is planting 26 new maple trees to replace the ones they plan to remove—"effectively doubling the number of trees" on the site, according to the group's chief operations officer, Patrick Sullivan.

"We appreciate community engagement and have reviewed the alternative site plan proposed by Tree Action Seattle. Based on our assessment, that proposal does not align with current city code," Sullivan said.

Sandy Shettler, a member of Tree Action Seattle, said the group's alternative site plan, which would effectively turn 16 of the 22 freestanding homes into duplexes with shared walls, would save most of the trees on the site and save money. Shettler argued that dozens of new trees will never make up for removing the trees that are currently on the site, including three large evergreens. "It is physically impossible for the 26 replacement trees to reach the canopy volume of what is already on the property," Shettler said, arguing that the new trees will be packed in too tightly to thrive in the spaces between the new affordable housing.

"Large, established conifers in particular provide critical health benefits to a community with elevated pollution and sparse tree canopy," Shettler said, noting that South Park has less tree canopy than almost any other areas in Seattle.

Sullivan, from Habitat, countered that the plan "meets all regulatory requirements and will ultimately result in more trees on the site and a healthier tree canopy over time." The project will also provide a rare commodity in Seattle: 22 homes with mortgages set at no more than 35 percent of their income, and will place the property in a land trust that ensures the housing stays permanently affordable.