Five appeals have been filed to block the Department of Planning and Development permit for demolishing the aging, run-down building that has been home to the Queen Anne Seventh Church of Christ Science since 1926.
Three of the appeals are based on historical-preservation grounds, and two are concerned with adverse environmental impacts allegedly associated with plans to tear down the church at 2555 Eighth Ave. W, said DPD spokesman Allen Justad.
Justad said he couldn't comment further because the appeal will be heard in front of a city Hearing Examiner, making the dispute a quasi-judicial matter.
One of the groups appealing the demolition permit is the Queen Anne Historical Society, said member John Hennes. "Our goal is to get the church board to reconsider their decision ... to go with this developer," he said of David Fletcher of TM New Homes LLC.
Fletcher plans to build four new homes on the site, but the neighborhood historical group would like to see the church preserved and used by another organization or group, Hennes said.
"What we as a society have asked is for the (church) board to allow a structural engineer in to take a look to see if it can be saved," he said, adding that a structural engineer has offered to do the review for free.
If the engineer decides the building can't be saved and puts that in writing, the historical society will walk away, according to Hennes. However, the church board has turned down the offer, he added.
A phone number for church contact Scott Davis wasn't answered last week, and the line does not include voice mail. But church officials have said in the past that they have already signed a purchase agreement with Fletcher and plan to stick to it.
Environmental concerns add a new wrinkle to the issue, but Tyler Crone said the concerns are real in a copy of her appeal that was e-mailed to the News. She lives next door to the church, has young children and charges that the developer "flatly ignores the health and environmental implications of the proposed demolition."
Crone also wrote that she is especially concerned about lead in the old paint on the building, but Crone is also worried about other chemicals such as asbestos, mercury, PCBs and chromium, according to her appeal.[[In-content Ad]]
