State lawmakers will have a chance to address land use notification this legislative session, answering what many neighborhoods have been calling a major problem with development.

Citizens have all seen those big land use signs in front of construction sites; House Bill 1084 would require something like that for nearly all development projects. Rep. Gerry Pollet (D-Seattle) and other legislators are introducing the bill.

The Ballard News-Tribune has covered its share of stories surrounding development. A running vein in many of those stories has been the lack of notification to neighbors from the Department of Planning and Development before a project starts. In many stories neighbors report not even knowing about the project until a construction crew is well underway in making a structure that one day looms over neighboring homes – too late for anyone to have a say. In one case a family lost more than a view; they could reach out their kitchen window and touch the neighboring row house.

Last May, the Seattle City Council did meet to make new rules for big homes being built on subdivided lots. But citizens report the council did not go far enough and that the rule extends to only limited situations.

For Renee Remlinger-Tee o f North Ballard, the new bill is exactly what she has been asking the City to do since last summer when she stumbled upon plans for an almost 8,000 square foot live/work structure set for construction down the street from her house. The neighborhood had no notification of the project.

The project is located at 819 NW 70th St. It requires a boundary line adjustment for a line that has not been used since before the 1950’s. However, at the time of the proposal, plans had the building fall on two land segments, so two different proposals were used, yet the structure was one. The building was divided in half at a wall that fell on the property line. The total square footage of the building is approximately 7,777 square feet, which would normally require neighborhood notification for comment, design review and a SEPA evaluation; but because the structure was considered two, all three reviews were waived by the DPD.

Remlinger-Tee and her neighbors petitioned the DPD, City Council, and Mayor Murray to review the project and at least view it with “some common sense” to determine that one structure is one structure, not two, even if it is divided by two proposals.

Since then the developer, Blueprint – a company that provides funding for builders in Seattle and financed 32 percent of the new homes in Seattle priced between $400,000 and $1 million in 2011 – was asked by the DPD to explain how the structure is two buildings and the plans were change to have a 12-inch gap in between the structures. The project is moving forward, and even now the DPD will not issue a design or SEPA review for the project.

Responding to the lack of notification, Remlinger-Tee and other neighbors formed a notification group that keeps tabs on projects in the neighborhood. They pass out flyers and started a blog.

“When there's public notice (letters sent to surrounding residents and a sign posted on the property), at least residents have a chance to publicly comment and try to mitigate the development's impact on the neighborhood. Regular people should have a say in how their community changes and grows, not just developers, who don't live there. Once it's built, you can't take it back,” Remlinger-Tee.

Remlinger-Tee says her story is the story of what’s happening all over Seattle.

" The City is failing us and not applying the law and due process, while privileging developers. …We're ignored and we're not getting a response from our city government, so I'm hoping that the state government will put pressure on the City.”

“Developers who don't live in the neighborhoods build developments and many in the community think is inappropriate, particularly when it's small lot development. That's what's happening on the corner of my block and all across the city without public notice and community input. Neighbors feel steamrolled and disenfranchised in this “wild-west – like” approach to development that's happening with the City's approval.”

Reacting to the bill, developers say that more notification will inundate the City with lawsuits, which the City will have to defend. In addition, developers say this will drive up costs in permit fees, which could bring up housing costs, and furthermore, slow down projects.

Remlinger-Tee doesn’t buy into the idea that housing costs will go up. She thinks that more public say would actually work to the benefit of developers.

“Ideally, the community's input will motivate them to build something that excites the community and helps the developer's bottom line. It doesn't have to be an either/or situation. However, without the bill and public notice, developers too often ignore the interests of the community they're impacting.”

As for driving housing cost up, Remlinger-Tee said that the tenants at 819 project were pushed out to make room for work/live spaces valued at more that $500,000.

“How is that affordable housing?”

Remlinger-Tee hopes that the new bill will make changes in the land use process and make the City do what she says they should already be doing.

“This bill will hold the city accountable in including the community in the planning and development process. Obviously, developers aren't going to do it on their own. Right now, the city isn't always honoring a process that's already in place--public notice so that the community can give input. This bill will help make sure the city does honor it.”

For more information about neighborhood group visit https://divisionaveblog.wordpress.com.