A new four-story house under construction on Beach Drive has a nearby property owner upset about losing part of the view of Puget Sound because he contends the new structure is taller than what the zoning allows.
The site in the 4200 block of Beach Drive Southwest is zoned L-2 with a height limit of 25 feet, but that pertains to flat-roof buildings. If there's a pitched roof on the building, the structure can be 35 feet high. The new house has a pitched roof.
David Hammond and his brother own a four-story apartment building on the other side of Beach Drive. It was built in 1990. Hammond contends the architect of the new house used a loophole in the state Shorelines Management Act to gain a bit more height for the structure that blocks part of the view for his tenants.
When shoreline houses are built on a slope, each fa