On a steep Madison Park hillside, a century‑old coast redwood has become the flashpoint in a neighborhood showdown. Residents have scrambled to save the massive tree after the homeowner secured a city permit to remove it from a recently subdivided 17,000‑square‑foot lot. The redwood is one of six towering trees on a heavily wooded slope that neighbors say helps hold the hillside in place and provides prized habitat for raptors. The owner says he has already scaled back his original plans, but crews could still cut down the single redwood as early as Monday.
According to KOMO News, the property at 700 McGilvra Blvd E is designated an Environmentally Critical Area. Owner David Shearer applied for and received a permit to remove one coast redwood and several smaller trees in order to build a retaining wall and eventually a new home. KOMO reports the parcel already has an existing house on the upper lot and has been subdivided. Shearer told the station his property currently has roughly 92% tree canopy and that he spent 18 months working with two arborists and structural engineers to limit the impacts of construction. Neighbors told KOMO they submitted videos showing eagles roosting in the redwoods’ upper branches and have plastered the neighborhood with signs opposing the removal.
Why Neighbors Are Worried
Tree Action Seattle has listed the McGilvra redwood grove as “At‑Risk,” arguing that the coast redwoods there depend on a network of underground springs and help anchor the steep slope. The group says cutting mature trees on heavily sloped Environmentally Critical Areas can increase erosion risk and chip away at habitat for birds and other wildlife.
Owner Says He Tried To Preserve Most Trees
Shearer told KOMO News he revised his plans so that a retaining wall would sit farther from the redwoods. What he says once could have affected four of the six trees would now require removing only one. He said those changes came after consulting arborists and engineers, and that he believes two homes on a 17,000‑square‑foot lot are feasible while still leaving most of the grove in place.
Policy And The Bigger Picture
The fight over this one tree is unfolding against a broader citywide debate over how far Seattle should go to protect its canopy. Amendments to the One Seattle comprehensive plan and related tree‑protection rules were adopted last year, changing how tree protection areas are defined and giving planners more leverage to require alternative site plans, as reported by The Urbanist. Supporters said the updates were meant to make it tougher for redevelopment to wipe out large, established trees. Opinion pieces in The Seattle Times and advocates, however, argue that enforcement and incentives still fall short of what is needed to protect canopy across the city.
With the permit already issued, the window to cut the tree is relatively tight, and neighbors say they are gearing up to press both the city and the homeowner for alternatives. Tree Action Seattle is keeping the McGilvra grove on its campaigns page, and local residents say they plan to ask the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections to require an alternative site plan or explore conservation tools that could protect the stand. The redwood’s fate will likely depend on whether the owner submits final building plans and whether the city chooses to use its authority to demand changes that would preserve the grove…