City of Seattle Records

To expand our understanding of how Seattle is handling the placement of eco blocks we submitted a records request to the Seattle Department of Transportation, asking for any complaints related to the placement of eco blocks in Seattle from the past ten years. The request was submitted on February 24th and the records were received on April 7th. The records included a spreadsheet listing complaints, PDF copies of complaints, and email exchanges from within SDOT and with outside individuals. 

Some of the Department of Transportation complaints linked to complaints that were registered with the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI). To construct a more comprehensive dataset we downloaded all SDCI complaints mentioned in the records we received from SDOT. SDCI complaints provide more detailed information about the level of enforcement that was pursued for eco-block placement. From looking at these complaints it becomes clear that the highest level of enforcement possible is a warning to the property owners. It is not clear in what instances a SDCI complaint number is issued, as opposed to when the issue stays with SDOT. There seems to be no clear procedure within SDOT for handling eco block complaints, as the note accompanying SR-22-00133372 reveals:

“I don't necessarily have a straightforward answer regarding Ecology Blocks. Our perspective at SDOT is that we highly discourage Ecology Blocks as they can create mobility and operational conflicts, as well as be a less than ideal way to activate public right of way. However, SDOT has permitted Ecology Blocks in the past on a case-by-case basis; in those situations, we consider the applicants request, location, and SDOT operational concerns in our application review. It is still a rare thing that SDOT permits Ecology Blocks.”

Some of the SDCI complaints state that the placement of eco-blocks violates Chapter 15.04 (HE) Use and Occupation Permits but that there is little SDOT can do to enforce this violation. For example, an internal email conversation from from April 10th, 2024 from SDOT contains the following statement:

“It is not worth continuing or escalating the enforcement on ecology blocks... we can if needed but prepare yourself for not much to happen. I have never seen an ecology block moved from all my notices, and from what I understand we cannot write a citation even if someone tells us they put the blocks there. If SPU needs space for the station move the SPU block(s) in question, plus they are requestors for said permit.”

The spreadsheet of complaints makes it clear that there is a correlation between the placement of eco-blocks and RVs. There are complaints both related to the presence of eco-blocks, where the complainant is asking the city to move the blocks, as well as complaints asking the city to install blocks. 

“The homeless encampment has trash covering the sidewalks, there are needles, drug dealing, and other activities not appropriate to have on the walking route to my kid's school. Please get the campers removed. Please also have ecology blocks installed to discourage this the future.” - Complaint to SDOT, 9/21/21, SR 21-00203861

“Approximately 2 days ago, 5 or 6 cement eco blocks were placed in the public parking area behind the shell gas station on 20th Ave NE between Lake City Way and NE 88th St. Its the small road right behind the Shell gas station on Lake City Way. For a while there were 2 RVs parked there. When one left, someone placed a bunch of those blocks in the road I'm assuming to dissuade RVs from parking there. The problem is that there are many apartments in the area and those concrete blocks are restricting our ability to park there. Is it possible to have them removed since it is a public roadway?” - Complaint to SDOT, 11/4/22, SR 22-00280502

Both SDOT and SDCI complaints commonly have locations associated with them, allowing us to add these to the map. We included complaints related to eco blocks across the entirety of Seattle. Some of the complaints are in Georgetown, and in some cases clusters of blocks we recorded correspond to locations from the complaints.