Seattle’s worst city council member never ceases to disappoint. This is the same person who described the removal of homeless people from an abandoned home as “humane relocation.” That’s the kind of phrasing used to describe the rehoming of a food-habituated bear or nuisance family of raccoons. Or perhaps how indigenous peoples were sent to industrial schools or reservations…you’d think someone who puts their indigenous heritage front and center would be more aware. But then you wouldn’t be thinking of the same person. So what is she up to this week?
She seems to think this local business that is open one night a week and sits on 8800 square feet of prime developable land is worthy of our praise. A roadhouse smaller than most houses in the area, open one night a week…how much tax revenue that that generate for the city, that we should be so grateful? What acts play there that we should appreciate its status as Seattle’s last roadhouse?
The fact of the matter is it sits on 1/5 of an acre of land on Lake City Way, a busy arterial/stroad/busway, where housing or mixed-used development would be welcome. As you can see, the tavern is a teardown, valued at $1000, the lowest value you’ll see. And the land is valued at $1.1 million, up from $71,000 at the end of last century and $528,000 10 years ago.
And this valuable contribution to District 5 remits $5,690.58 in property taxes every 6 months. About 1% of the assessed value over the course of a year. Seems like a great deal for someone. Not Seattle or anyone who lives there though I will give the owner full marks for using the business address for his tax mailings. Not Bellevue or Glendale, CA…
District 5 has Lake City Way, Aurora Ave, Northgate, and Holman Road/15th Ave NW, all inhospitable stroads/car sewers, as well as half a dozen strip clubs. Not that I care about how people make a living but one of them a block away from where I live, on half an acre of land, has an adjacent parcel zoned for multi-family development. To no one’s surprise, it remains undeveloped. In the same block is a disused car wash, closed for about 2 years now and taking on a new life as a graffiti canvas.
Just up the block is an installation of a couple hundred eco-blocks, placed there after some local vigilantes attacked an RV/homeless encampment. I didn’t see that attempt at “humane relocation” mentioned in her newsletter.
Further up the street we have a disused car lot, an idled truck sales office, and entirely too much low density development for such high value land. Further south, more disused land and low-density development on a high volume roadway. But at a 1% tax — no pressure to increase density or redevelop that land — everything is fine, as far as our councilor is concerned. I asked. She thinks it’s great.
Hayekian property rights outweigh human/civil rights, it seems, in this progressive city. Certainly in District 5.