South Park Community Fights Against Tree Removals

In South Park, residents and environmental activists are advocating for the preservation of trees in danger of being torn down. Just weeks after several trees were cut down at the South Park Community Center and playfield, Tree Action Seattle hosted a community gathering to raise awareness about three large evergreen trees on the 1200 Cloverdale block slated for removal, where the Cloverdale housing project is being developed by Blueprint Capital to create single-family residences.

Every tree in South Park is precious, according to tree advocate Sandy Shettler, an organizer with Tree Action Seattle. Seattle has a citywide average of 28% tree canopy, but South Park has less than half that — just 12%. 

“The problem with everything the city does with trees, whether it’s public land or private land, is that they view an existing tree that is protecting people and is thriving and is really large — they view that the same as when they cut it down and plant a stick in the ground,” Shettler said. “Many of those sticks die, and then even if they don’t die, it takes about 30 or 40 years at a minimum to get near where the big tree that they chopped down was.”

Part of the reason why South Park may have less tree canopy, South Park resident Susan Davis speculates, is because of a lack of parks and green space. “We have to drive 20 minutes to get to Seward Park or Lincoln Park,” Davis said. “We just have the street trees and the trees on the lots. We don’t have a big park in the middle. We have these tiny little parks.”

In September, several trees were cut down at the South Park Community Center as part of renovations taking place. One of the trees lost was known as the “Hugging Tree” — children would hug the tree when they felt sad or or just wanted to give it a hug when they were out on the playground. 

“It has been a tree of lore at South Park,” said South Park resident Lashanna Williams. “It’s really beautiful to see and hear family stories [about the Hugging Tree].” 

According to City officials, the Hugging Tree will be replaced with another maple tree. They said it was removed for safety reasons after a branch had fallen, and that its removal was not due to construction. 

“There’s a lot of promises of, ‘Oh, we’re gonna rebuild your canopy,’” Williams said. “That’s great for people 30 years from now. I’m not saying don’t do it. But also, what about us right now? Why are you removing these things that are literally helping us?”

According to a study done by the Duwamish River Community Coalition in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the University of Washington (UW), and other groups, residents in South Park have a life expectancy of 73.3 years — eight years less than the Seattle and King County average of 81.5 years, and 13 years less than the more affluent neighborhoods of Laurelhurst and Magnolia. 

“I think about that a lot, having lived here for 20 years. It’s scary,” said South Park resident Betsy McFeely. “It just doesn’t seem equitable to me. I feel like South Park is a terminally underserved community.”

Some of the disproportionate environmental pollutants of South Park are emissions from cars and diesel trucks on multiple freeways that run through the neighborhood — Highway 99, SR-509, and I-5. The neighborhood is also near King County International Airport and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which makes it susceptible to pollution from airplanes. Air pollution has significant health impacts, such as asthma, heart disease, and slowing cognitive development in children, among others.

It’s no accident that this community takes the brunt of environmental impacts. South Park is historically a community of farmers, many of whom were immigrants from China, Germany, Japan, the Philippines, and Italy. Many settled in South Park because they weren’t able to legally purchase property in other neighborhoods because of redlining restrictions. A 2022 UW and Berkeley study found that areas of Seattle, Tacoma, and Spokane that were affected by redlining endure worse air pollution on average than other parts of the same cities. 

In the early 1920s, Boeing started building and flying airplanes just north of the neighborhood. When the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 was enacted, Highway 99 was created, and later I-5. In the 1960s, the neighborhood was rezoned as industrial, but residents protested and got the zoning changed to low-density residential.

The EPA categorizes South Park as an “environmental justice” community. Seattle created the Duwamish Valley Program in 2018 to prioritize environmental justice and equity in South Park and Georgetown. 

Trees are a cheap and easy way to mitigate the effects of air pollution, Shettler says. “Having a single evergreen tree by your home when you live in a polluted neighborhood makes a significant difference in your health,” Shettler said. “Especially evergreens, because evergreen needles encapsulate the little polluting particles, and they basically render them harmless. They encapsulate them and they drop to the ground, or they stay on the tree, so you’re not inhaling those into your lungs.” 

So why are they being cut down? 

In 2023, Seattle updated its Tree Protection Ordinance, which was opposed by the City’s Urban Forestry Commission. The ordinance tightened tree removal restrictions for homeowners, but loosened them for developers, allowing for trees to be removed so long as the developers pay a fee or replace the tree. South Park has some unique tree rules under “Residential Small Lot” zoning, which allows for large trees to be replaced with “one small deciduous” tree. 

“South Park has gotten the short end of the stick in terms of tree retention,” Shettler said. “Knowing what we know about tree retention, they should have gotten more than the average community in Seattle, and they’ve gotten less.”

According to a study published in late August by Tree Action Seattle, over 1,000 trees have come down in Seattle this year. Of these, over 100 were large trees with trunks measuring over two feet in diameter; 90% of the large trees were removed for construction. Many were in Beacon Hill and South Park.

Currently, residents and activists are fighting to save three large evergreen trees at 1219 S. Cloverdale St. The trees are native and are about 100 years old. Tree Action Seattle found that with a few small changes to the construction design, the trees could be saved without compromising the project — which Shettler says is often the case. The hope is that with enough petitions, the City will reconsider removing the trees. 

“I wish that any tree that legitimately didn’t have to come down, didn’t come down. You work around [the trees],” Williams said. “Is it inconvenient? Absolutely. Does it make for different architecture? Yes, but that’s how we … stop bossing the land.”

The Emerald reached out to the project’s developer, Blueprint Capital, but did not hear back in time for publication.