Last Urban Conifer Grove on Private Property in Green Lake Set for Development

Trees to be removed to build one single family home

SEATTLE, WA, UNITED STATES, April 10, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Neighbors are petitioning to save the Green Lake Sequoia, a local landmark likely a century old that is one of the last 200 mature Giant Sequoias on private property in Seattle. Part of the last large conifer groves on private property in the Green Lake area, the Green Lake Sequoia–along with about 14 other trees–are set to be removed to build one single family home.

“The Green Lake Sequoia has been a neighborhood landmark in Green Lake and a

community asset,” said Max Sevareid, one of the neighbors working to save the tree and grove. “Preserving it is important to maintain the local tree canopy that is paramount in fighting heat islands and climate resiliency as the city increases density.”

The group, along with the non-profit Tree Action Seattle, have contacted the architects for the project and the property owner to suggest small changes to the design to preserve the tree and the surrounding urban forest. Tree Action Seattle consulted with its own architects to provide changes that would accommodate the trees. However, neither the project architects for the project nor the property owner have responded to either group.

“Seattle’s urban tree canopy plays an important role in preventing urban heat islands and fostering climate resilience, ” said Sandy Shettler with Tree Action Seattle. “Trees on private property represent the vast majority of the city’s tree canopy, and protecting them is vitally important. According to the City’s own data, there is no way to achieve the city’s 30% tree canopy goal with trees on public property alone. This makes it critical to protect trees on private property, especially when it is easy to design around them.”

More than 1400 signatures have already been gathered on this petition.

Under Seattle’s new tree ordinance, there are different tree protection standards for homeowners and properties under development. Removal of any and all trees is allowed when development or new construction is proposed, said Shettler “This (the Green Lake property) isn’t even a case of removing trees to increase housing density or build middle income housing. It is a case of a new property owner removing trees to demolish the existing single family home simply to replace it with a larger one,” she said.

About the Green Lake Neighbors Group
“Save the Sequoia” is a grassroots coalition of Green Lake neighbors who want to preserve the Green Lake Sequoia, a Heritage-quality tree just one block from Green Lake with an estimated age of over 100 years. The Green Lake Sequoia is as old as the neighborhood itself and is located right in the heart of the Green Lake neighborhood, just a block from the park. It stands over 100 feet tall and its trunk is five feet wide. For more information on saving the Sequoia, please visit www.greenlakesequoia.com.

About Tree Action Seattle
Founded in 2023, Tree Action Seattle is a collective dedicated to celebrating and fighting for Seattle's urban forest. It is a sponsored organization of the Seattle Parks Foundation, which has been partnering for 25 years with the community to champion thriving and equitable parks and public spaces. For more information on Tree Action Seattle, visit www.TreeActionSeattle.org. For more information on the Seattle Parks Foundation, visit https://www.seattleparksfoundation.org/