Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County increasingly finds itself caught in the middle of the current debate on preserving “green space” in the face of an affordable housing crisis. The issue has become more immediate and intense as Habitat steps up its response to the housing crisis. As we build more homes, we use more land, and the loss of green space and trees becomes more visible. Most community members value both affordable housing, as measured by the tremendous support of Habitat’s work, and the green spaces that characterize our rural county. The Habitat mission to create a decent place to live while also growing community is challenged by this public debate.
It’s our goal to approach every build responsibly, which informs the partnerships we assemble and the designs and builds we pursue. Habitat is committed to providing affordable housing for the community while doing so in a manner that is sensitive to neighborhoods, trees, and sustainable building practices. This commitment goes beyond what public policy requires and is significantly shaped through community input.
Habitat has for decades built affordable homes and neighborhoods using sustainable construction methods, ecologically responsible planning, and energy efficient design. The resulting reductions in environmental impact continue throughout the lifetime of the house.
As part of our routine design and planning process we survey sites for wetlands and sensitive nesting/wildlife concerns to determine whether any mitigation steps are required. In multi-home developments, a certified arborist assesses the trees and makes recommendations regarding which can be preserved safely and successfully. In all cases, Habitat meets or exceeds local tree conservation ordinances and replants trees appropriate to the site.
Public comment and participation play a key role in shaping the character of Habitat developments. These inputs help shape our designs – and in turn, our neighborhoods. For example, input from supporters and community members led Habitat to begin building more multi-family residences like the duplex-style homes known as Landes North in Port Townsend. This concentrates more homes on the same amount of property, which allows more land to remain as greenspace elsewhere than would occur if Habitat spread its building program across more land.
It is unfortunately true that building homes – whether affordable homes, market rate homes, or luxury homes – almost always results in the removal of trees and an impact to green spaces. The desire to build affordable homes in a way that minimizes canopy loss led our board and donors to support the purchase of the vacant airstrip property on Mason Street in Port Hadlock, which will be the future site of more than 120 homes. But empty, affordable lots are hard to find and many of our building sites have a significant number of trees that must be removed to make room for houses.
Recently, some neighbors and community members have expressed dismay over Habitat’s removal of trees on two lots near Howard and Hastings in Port Townsend. We have heard their concerns and evaluated what we could have done differently. First, we dropped the communication ball and didn’t follow our usual practice of contacting neighbors to alert them to our plans; this left people with questions and concerns but no answers. Second, due to an error on our part, two trees were removed that should not have been cut. I take responsibility for both mistakes and offer my sincere apologies. We have instituted safeguards to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again. We will also replant a higher number of trees to make up for the two we didn’t intend to remove.
We continue to listen to the community and adapt our program to help address the housing crisis. We believe homeownership opportunities help provide individual stability and community resilience. We are committed to doing the very best we can to honor the values people most care about as we carry out our mission for affordable housing.
Please contact me with any questions or feedback. I remain,
In partnership,
Jamie Maciejewski
Executive Director