Battle lines drawn in fight over historic district designation in Wallingford

Residents of Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood have spent years pursuing a National Register of Historic Places (NHRP) designation from the federal government, and as that goal materializes, opposition has sprung up over concerns that the designation could curtail efforts to add denser housing options in the future.

Wallingford could be next battleground in Seattle’s war for density

The effort to pursue the historic designation dates back to 2019, spearheaded by a group known as Historic Wallingford. After undergoing extensive fieldwork and background research, the group will soon submit its revised application to the NHRP, focusing on an area in the northern section of the neighborhood comprising nearly 600 single-family homes, as well as 56 “domestic multi-family” buildings, five religious facilities, two commercial buildings, and 38 homes converted from single-family to multi-family.

A listing in the National Register of Historic Places is largely an honorific title that doesn’t affect the ability of developers to demolish or build over existing properties, nor does it prevent potential upzones. And while Historic Wallingford hasn’t explicitly outlined a goal to restrict denser housing, it has hinted at a need to emphasize the “preservation” of an area that it says contains “one of the largest and most cohesive examples of early 20th-century architecture left in Seattle.”

“Without the focus of a preservation plan, Wallingford’s historic fabric could be lost to future generations,” its website reads.

In the past, a National Register listing has also proven to be an initial step toward added protections against upzoning in Seattle neighborhoods. That played out in January of 2019, when Seattle’s Ravenna-Cowen neighborhood acquired a National Register listing for over 440 homes within its boundaries. A month later, Seattle City Council approved an amendment to remove the neighborhood from the list of urban villages upzoned under its Mandatory Housing Affordability regulations.

Speaking to MyNorthwest in 2019, Historic Wallingford’s Sarah Martin noted that “Ravenna is definitely an example,” and that the group was likely “going to learn from them.”

With focus on ‘preservation,’ Wallingford inches closer to historic district designation

With Historic Wallingford inching closer to a National Register listing, Share the Cities — a local nonprofit focused on “equitable open space, tenant rights, mutual aid, and racial justice in urbanist communities” — has been mounting its own campaign to oppose that effort.

“Given the precedent that Ravenna-Cowen set, combined with the history of both the Wallingford Community Council and Historic Wallingford opposing zoning changes, one can only assume the Wallingford efforts are meant to obstruct future zoning changes,” the group posits.

Share the Cities further points out that the early-20th century “craftsman bungalows” peppered across Wallingford “are not unique to Seattle.”

“In fact, this style of home was packaged and sold by Sears and others en masse in the early 1900s as ‘kit houses’ — pre-cut kits shipped by rail to be easily constructed on-site,” its website describes. “This style of home can be found in many areas of the country, including Indiana, Alaska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.”

In the weeks ahead, the group plans to conduct outreach across the neighborhood, leading into a virtual event scheduled for Tuesday, March 15, where King County Assessor John Wilson and Chief Appraiser Jim Hall will discuss “the tax implications of historic districts.”

Meanwhile, Historic Wallingford is currently waiting on approval from the Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation for its national listing.

Follow @NickNorthwest