The manicured fairways at Sand Point Country Club in northeast Seattle are drawing attention for what is missing. Neighbors and tree advocates say the private golf course felled or severely pruned more than 200 mature trees during a recent redesign of the course, and they are now asking whether the city is actually enforcing its own tree rules.
Volunteers using the city’s aerial LIDAR maps, along with an independent arborist’s analysis, documented the canopy loss. Nearby residents have connected the changes to flooding and mold damage at a neighboring home. The dustup has produced a new report and a now-settled lawsuit that advocates say expose serious gaps in how the city polices tree protections.
What the report found
A report by Tree Action Seattle and the Thornton Creek Alliance, based on the city’s LIDAR imagery, says an independent arborist identified 207 tree removals on the 88‑acre Sand Point parcel between 2016 and 2021. According to the report, the club received only 18 city tree removal permits during that time.
The same report documents more than 250 English ivy plantings and other alterations in a ravine that feeds Matthews Creek, raising additional questions for advocates about long-term habitat and water quality.
Lawsuit and the club’s response
Sand Point’s general manager, Owen Westervelt, has not pushed back on the broad removal totals in public comments. Instead, he has pointed to the club’s planting plans, saying the course has added 74 trees in the past three years and intends to plant 225 more by 2030, according to KUOW…