CONSERVATION FUTURES TAX LEVY (CFT) APPLICATION FOR 2021 FUNDS Project Name: East Duwamish Greenbelt: Brick Pits Project Location: City of Seattle- East Duwamish Greenbelt Applicant’s Agency or Organization Name: Seattle Parks and Recreation Proposed Project Acreage: 21 Acres CFT Funding Request: $1,000,000 Total Project Acreage: KC PL Funding Request: (Estimate total acreage at project completion for multi-year projects) (King County projects only: dollar amount of KC Parks Levy requested) Seeking a match waiver? ☒ Yes ☐ No Total Funding Request: $1,000,000 (If yes, applicant must submit “Supplemental Form #1.) (Sum of CFT + KCPL requests above) Type of Acquisition(s): ☒ Fee Title ☐ Easement ☐ Fee or easement TBD ☐ Other: King County Council District in which project is located1: 2 WRIA/watershed in which project is located2: 8 APPLICANT CONTACT INFORMATION Contact Name: Chip Nevins Phone: 206-233-3879 Title: Strategic Advisor Email: [email protected] Address: 300 Elliott Avenue West; Seattle, WA Date: March 4, 2020 98119 SECTION 1. PROJECT SUMMARY Please summarize your project in the space below. Goal: The goal of this project is to acquire a large vacant property in the East Duwamish Greenbelt. The targeted property comprises approximately 21 acres along Beacon Hill, stretching between South Columbian Way and South Dakota Street. The City is requesting $1,000,000 in CFT proceeds to go towards purchase of the property. If negotiations are successful, it is likely that we will need additional funding in the future. Background: The area was once known as the Brick Pit, for two brick manufacturers that once made their wares with clay from the north and south pits. The bricks were used to rebuild Pioneer square after the 1889 fire that destroyed most of Seattle. Viewed from the freeway the property looks like part of the East Duwamish, but it has been in private hands for decades. The property is the largest undeveloped, privately owned and residentially zoned lot left in the city and developers are seeking to build up to 124 single- family housing units on it. However, retention of the tree canopy is vitally important for the health of the community by combating the air and noise pollution that is plaguing Beacon Hill. 1 King County Council District information here: https://www.kingcounty.gov/council/councilmembers/find_district.aspx 2 Find WRIA (“watershed resource inventory area”) here: https://www5.kingcounty.gov/kcgisreports/wrialookup.aspx Application – Page 1 SECTION 2. OPEN SPACE RESOURCES • Before answering Sections 2 & 3, please review “Application Evaluation Criteria.” • Please mark an “X” in the checkbox for each criterion that applies to your project. • For each criterion you marked, briefly describe in the space below how the project would meet that criterion. If relevant, consider the landscape setting and/or planned restoration actions. ☒ A. Wildlife habitat or rare plant reserve ☒ F. Urban passive-use natural area/greenbelt ☐ B. Salmon habitat and aquatic resources ☒ G. Park, open space, or natural corridor addition ☒ C. Scenic resources ☒ H. Passive recreation opportunity in area with unmet needs ☒ D. Community separator ☒ I. Project that seeks to redress historic disparities in access ☐ E. Historic/cultural resources to open space in opportunity areas A. The purchase of the target property will connect Parks ownership and enhance a critical wildlife corridor in one of Seattle’s largest greenbelts. Neighbors have seen red foxes, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, and other wildlife in this heavily forested portion of the designated greenbelt. C. The target property is a large part of the scenic forested hillside above I-5, which is visible from Downtown, West Seattle, and the freeway itself. D. The property is a part of the wooded buffer between I-5 and the residential neighborhood at the top of the hill. F. Current City holdings in the East Duwamish Greenbelt total around 90 acres. The East Duwamish provides a wildlife corridor stretching along the east side of I-5 almost all the way from I-90 on the north to Boeing field on the south. The target property fills a major gap in public ownership and will help preserve an important urban wildlife corridor. G. See F. above H. Southeast Seattle, location of the target property, is a designated Neighborhood Revitalization Area. The City’s strategies to achieve revitalization include the provision of recreation and environmental amenities. I. Beacon Hill has long suffered from a variety of social and environmental issues. The Beacon Hill population is close to 80% people of color with 44% immigrants and refugees; only 36% speaking English well. One out of five residents are people with low income. Public health studies document that exposure to air pollution, noise pollution, and highways is higher along Beacon Hill than the city average and that the distribution of environmental benefits such as access to open space and access to healthy and culturally appropriate food is lower. The result of this over- exposure to environmental harms and a lack of access to environmental goods is that the Beacon Hill community experiences significantly worse health outcomes than the rest of the city. Application – Page 2 Application – Page 3 SECTION 3. ADDITIONAL FACTORS • Please mark an “X” in the checkbox for each criterion that applies to your project. • For each criterion you marked, briefly describe in the space below how the project would meet that criterion. If relevant, consider the landscape setting and/or planned restoration actions. ☐ A. Educational/interpretive opportunity ☒ B. Impact to open space resources ☒ C. Feasibility: ownership complexity/willing seller(s)/community support ☒ D. Describe any public or private partnerships that will enhance this project ☒ E. Is the property identified in an adopted park, open space, comprehensive, or community plan? ☐ F. Transferable Development Rights (TDR) participation B. The property is zoned SF 5000. A developer currently has an option to buy the property and has plans to build 124 homes. If the property is developed with 124 homes, this neighborhood will lose over 15 acres of tree canopy and the possibility of creating a connected wildlife corridor between Parks-owned properties in this portion of the greenbelt. A study by the University of Washington’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences shows that Beacon Hill and other South Seattle neighborhoods suffer among the highest levels of environmental health risks in the state. Trees help mitigate the noise and air pollution that Beacon Hill is experiencing. For several years, El Centro De La Raza has been organizing the community around the air and noise environmental and health justice issue. C. The City acquired other greenbelt property from the owner in the 1990s. Although the City has been aware of this property for decades, its acquisition has not been a prioritized because of the high expectation of value and low risk of development. With a red-hot home market and more sophisticated developers, the development threat for this property is real. The property was put on the market for $3.8 million in 2018 and was under contract with a developer. The property is not currently on the market, but there has been little activity from the developer. The ultimate cost of the property, which is expected to be between our CFT request of $1,000,000 and the asking price of $3.8 million, will need to be determined by an appraisal and development analysis. This application resulted from the 2017 Beacon Hill Air & Noise Pollution Health Impacts Community Action Plan (CAP) item. El Centro De La Raza and EPA partnered on the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving grant to educate and empower community. They engaged 467 community members who participated in 24 meetings in Cantonese, English, Mandarin, Spanish, Somali, Tagalog and Vietnamese who co-created the CAP. D. Seattle Parks will work with El Centro and Beacon Hill Council to develop a community Steering Committee for the property. Likely partners will include El Centro’s Project partners Got Green, International Community Health Services, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, Puget Sound Sage, Quieter Skies Task Force of SE Seattle Beacon Hill. In addition, Beacon Hill Council which adopted the CAP, is interested in engaging its previous local open space and environmental conservation partners such as Beacon Arts to save Garden House orchard, Cheasty Conservation Group and Friends of Lewis Park, recipient of the 2019 Parks Foundation Denny Awardee for Outstanding Volunteer Stewardship. E. As part of the East Duwamish Greenbelt, the property is included in Seattle’s Green Spaces Policy and in Seattle’s Parks and Recreation 2017 Parks and Open Space Plan. Application – Page 4 SECTION 4. PARCEL DETAILS A. Please provide information about the parcels that are current funding targets, as shown in red on your maps. • No need to list information on the future potential funding targets that are shown in yellow on your maps. • You can find this information on the “Assessor’s Report/Property Details” accessed through King County iMap (https://gismaps.kingcounty.gov/iMap/). Add more rows if needed. Parcel Property Number Assessor’s Assessor’s Estimated Cost Interest (do not use “Appraised “Appraised to Purchase Sought (fee, hyphen, e.g., Land Improvements Desired Property easement, or 1234567890) Acreage Zoning3 Value”4 Value” Interest TBD) 5679501650 26240 SF5000 $ 82,000 0 TBD fee 5679500925 20820 SF5000