Update: There’s an interesting discussion of this issue on the P-I’s North Seattle blog, lead by Marc Phillips who, although he does not say so in his initial post, is the president of the Maple Leaf Community Council.
Update: Here’s a response from Camp Fire:
Mayor Mike McGinn might have signed off on an ordinance to preserve Waldo Woods, but that’s no guarantee Seattle Parks and Recreation will take possession of the grove of 80 Douglas fir trees as intended.
According to a news release from the Maple Leaf Community Council Executive Board, the previous owners of the property at the corner of 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 85th Street, Camp Fire Puget Sound, is refusing to sign off on the paperwork. We have a call in to Camp Fire.
Camp Fire, which recently sold the property to Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder Day School, still has an interest in the land because of a $425,000 lien it holds. But it’s also the only interested party that has refused to sign off on the conservation easement.
The nonprofit organization and the Community Council have been battling over the preservation of the trees since Camp Fire announced in 2006 that it had sold the 1.6-acre lot for a townhouse development, a deal which fell through while the battle was being fought in court.
Since then, Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder Day School has begun construction on the former Waldo Hospital, which originally was built in 1924 by Dr. William Waldo.
