Clyde Hill News: “Save the Mercia Hedge!”
Clyde Hill News: “Save the Mercia Hedge!”
City meetings next week; transparency update
This week’s newsletter reprints an email to the Mercia neighborhood regarding the City’s plans to force the removal of the great hedge at Mercia’s entrance.
First, our standard disclaimer:
Disclaimer: while I am a council member on the Clyde Hill City Council, I write this newsletter in my capacity as an individual resident. Any opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily the position of the City. The information and references here are all public.
A brief note about upcoming meetings: Monday (January 10) there’s a “Special Meeting” (link to agenda) with a presentation (link) about “City Council Do’s and Don’ts” from the Washington Cities Insurance Authority and an Executive Session “to discuss potential litigation.” Tuesday is the regular monthly City Council Meeting. As of noon today, there’s no public agenda or packet available.
“Save the Mercia Hedge!”
Mercia residents Scott Moore and Valerie Wasserman sent this message under the subject line “Save the Mercia Hedge!” to many of their neighbors in the Mercia community in Clyde Hill yesterday. I think it’s of interest to the broader Clyde Hill community and am reproducing it here in its entirety.
Readers may want to hear directly from the Mayor on this topic; this previous newsletter (link) has remarks from the Mayor on the topic of code enforcement. At the end of the letter below is a link to comments from another Clyde Hill resident on this matter.
You can reach Scott directly at scottmmoore(at)gmail(dot)com.
Dear Neighbors,
Happy New Year. Valerie and I hope you are all staying safe and sane in these trying times. We are writing to seek your assistance on a matter regarding the Clyde Hill administration which is causing us significant distress. Disclaimer: while I continue to serve on the City Council, this is a private matter which predates my public service.
The City of Clyde Hill is threatening to cut down the 40 year old hedge that borders our property along 92nd Ave. NE. The hedge is in the right of way, not on our property and hence it is not “our hedge.” We have paid to water and trim the hedge since we moved into our home in 2009. It was planted by the prior owners, Rod and Nina Waldbaum in the late 70’s and has formed the southern entrance to Mercia ever since. When the hedge was planted, NE 92nd was considerably narrower than it is now.
In 2007 or 2008 a matching hedge was planted in the right of way along 92nd to the north of NE 19th street. This project was approved by the City and overseen by Mercia resident and former board president Josh Beloff.
The reason the city wants the southern hedge destroyed makes absolutely no sense. We remodeled our home in 2014 which triggered a provision of a 1990 era law that requires plantings in a right of way to be removed when a substantial remodel is done. The city did not notify us of this requirement until we were well along on our remodel. Because the removal of the hedge would have destroyed our privacy and that of the two homes to our west, we objected and the city ultimately granted us a 7 year permit so that we could plant a replacement hedge behind the one along the street. The replacement hedge is grown and the 7 years are up. We had frankly forgotten about the issue and were surprised to hear from the city that they now want the old hedge removed. The home across 19th street from ours, at 9160 NE 19th was remodeled in 2017 or so and the city did not require the removal of the matching hedge alongside that property located in the same right of way. Likewise, if you drive or walk around the city you will see literally dozens of hedges that exceed the city’s height restriction of eight feet above street level. So the city has, by the Mayor’s own admission, failed to enforce its own out-dated laws regarding hedges, but they seem determined to enforce it in our case.
Valerie and I met with Mayor Klass in December to discuss the matter and seek resolution. Valerie told the Mayor that she is battling Stage 4 cancer and asked why the city would seek to destroy a beautiful and historic planting. To which the Mayor replied, “During my reign, we are going to enforce the rules.” An odd turn of phrase for an elected public servant, but there you have it.
The Mercia Association Board sent letters to the city last year and back in 2014 asking the city to leave the hedge in place, but those requests have been rejected.
We request that you consider sending an email to the city requesting that they withdraw their demand to destroy this hedge. A brief email addressed to the city council and Mayor would suffice. Attached below are a suggested subject line and text.
Thank you for your consideration,
Scott Moore and Valerie Wasserman
To: Mayor@clydehill.org, council1@clydehill.org, council2@clydehill.org, council3@clydehill.org, council4@clydehill.org, council5@clydehill.org
Suggested Subject: Save the Mercia Hedge
Suggested Body:
Please permit the golden cypress hedge along 92nd Ave NE to the south of NE 19th Street to remain in place as it has for over 40 years. This hedge is part of the entrance to the Mercia neighborhood and should not be molested or removed.
Sincerely,
Name
Transparency Update
Readers have asked for examples of good city transparency, and I wanted to offer some from Clyde Hill. At the December City meeting, the John Greenwood of the City set out the process for the Land Use Code (Title 17) review clearly:
Transparency is important so that residents have clear expectations around the City’s work that will affect them. It’s also important so that residents can have at least a say in, if not impact on, that work. As our neighboring city, Bellevue, tells its residents: It’s Your City!
One aspect of transparency is communication. In December, the City noted a change to its Social Media Policy — again, good transparency. At the same time, it’s not clear what the City’s larger Social Media Policy is or when the City Council (responsible for City Policy) approved it. Searches on the City’s website find references to a policy but not an actual policy.
Another aspect of transparency is the City’s selection process in choosing service providers, like the City’s new legal representation. The City has been transparent in its posting of Requests for Qualifications (RFQs); in stating the responsibility of the interim City Attorney for managing the process with a selection committee; and in setting the expectation of bringing a contract to the public and the City Council in February. Great!
Thanks for reading this far! Please forward and share with your friends and neighbors, and if you are not already getting this newsletter, subscribing is both easy and free:
Dean Hachamovitch
Update (Mon Jan 2021): per request from the original authors, I removed the word “substantially” from the sentence beginning “The home across 19th street…” in the fourth paragraph. This reflects an update they sent to the original recipients via email.