EVERETT — Yvonne Ricker was out for a walk Friday morning when she saw something that stopped her cold.
A wrecking crew was tearing down an old house in her Port Gardner neighborhood, a 1916 Craftsman that still had the original leaded windows.
She later learned that the Puget So
und Kidney Center had hired the wrecking crew to knock down two houses on the 1100 block of Pacific Avenue for a parking lot.
The sight upset her so much she rushed home to call anybody she could think of to stop the demolition: the Office of Neighborhoods director, the planning department and even the police.
By 9 a.m., she was pacing back and forth in front of the remains of the house, a phone book clutched in her arms and tears in her eyes.
“I was too late,” she said.
Now she wants to know why neighbors weren’t notified of the demolition. She’d like to start a conversation about the fate of vintage homes around town.
She understands owners can do as they want with their property, but she thinks there might have been a way to salvage some or all of the house — and to warn people who live nearby about the change.
“We didn’t know something was happening that would impact the appearance and design of Pacific Avenue,” Ricker said.
She thinks people should.
Right now, all that’s needed from the city to knock down a house under 4,000 square feet is a $54 demolition permit and a permit to cap the sewer, said Kirk Brooks, a building official for the city.
It’s more complicated if a house is located within one of the city’s historic overlay zones.
Two parts of the city — one on Grand and Rucker avenues between 10th Street and 24th Street, the other in the Riverside neighborhood — require a review of construction projects so that designs are in keeping with the areas’ historical character.
While demolitions can still happen there too, projects go through a review process with the Everett Historical Commission. Neighbors are notified and have a chance to comment.
In this case, even if notification were required, neighbors still wouldn’t have known.
Brooks said it did not appear the demolition company handling this project had a permit when they began work. When the city received Ricker’s call Friday morning, a staff member promptly went over, asked the contractor to stop work and then allowed them to file for a permit.
Brooks said the company, Wrecking Ball Demolition, won’t be penalized for filing after they started work.
J.K. Keith, a foreman for the Everett company, says they had the permit but did not post it at the site.
Puget Sound Kidney Center did obtain a demolition permit for the two houses, but there was a mix-up getting it to the site Friday morning, said Teresa Wharton, a chief administrative officer for the organization.
The center wants to provide more parking for the 72 employees working at its building just a block away. Another $1.5 million construction project also is under way next to the kidney center.
“We worked closely with the city of Everett to make sure we were in compliance with all zoning and permitting issues,” Wharton said.
She also said the contractor salvaged anything of value in the house.
The other house on the property, built in 1915, is scheduled to be torn down Monday.
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197; dsmith@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
