Several residents expressed concern at the June 14 Bellevue City Council meeting about a potential development project for city-owned land located behind the homes that line the northwest intersection of Geiger and Berry avenues.
Many of those same residents met in advance of the city council meeting to discuss the potential development at Three Spirits Tavern.
A gathering organized by a Facebook Group that calls itself the Bellevue Alliance said in that Facebook group that they were upset by contingent letters they received from a real estate agent offering to buy their houses.
The real estate agent in question was identified as Mayor Charlie Cleves’ son-in-law, John Amster.
The mayor confirmed his personal relationship with the real estate agent in question at the June 14 meeting, stating that it was a coincidence that his son-in-law happened to be the agent for the developer who is interested in developing the city-owned land.
“I didn’t know [the developer] was going to ask John to do this,” Cleves said. “I just figured that he had his own real estate guy. It just turns out his real estate guy is my son in law.”
A developer reached out to city leadership to express interest in developing the wooded hillside, which is currently surrounded by several single-family homes in a residential neighborhood. The mayor encouraged residents who were at the meeting to share questions and comments, reassuring them that they were hearing about the potential development very early in the process.
“I have not yet gotten a proposal,” Cleves said. “He said he had a proposal to give the city but I have not been given it because first I wasn’t available then he wasn’t available then I wasn’t available.”
Although council had not yet reviewed proposals during or prior to the meeting, several residents shared concerns with council, urging further due diligence to study the land to determine whether development was advisable.
Resident Lori Hart was the first to address council on the matter during Wednesday’s meeting, noting the disruption that development could pose to her property.
Hart asked about whether the city has done a geological survey, or engineering study conducted on the land to determine whether any sort of development is advisable. The council committed to following up to research answers to resident questions.
“That construction would be in our backyard,” Hart said. “This property is primarily landlocked by our property on the Geiger side. And if they’re going to be doing this construction, I want to make sure that somebody does talk to us about what they’re going to do to protect us from the construction that will be going on back there.”
Resident Rob Schiller shared Hart’s concerns, and urged the council to consider residents who have owned properties on Berry and Geiger avenues for multiple generations.
“There’s reason people don’t sell on Berry or Geiger, because they love it there” Schiller said. “They walk out their back decks in the morning on that that back the wooded portion of Barry and Geiger and they’re like oh my gosh this is beautiful you don’t even know Berry Avenue is there.”
Council member Sean Fisher later provided commentary echoing the mayor’s promise to follow up on answers to questions raised by residents regarding any potential development of the land in question.
“We will do our due diligence once we get more specifics on the exact plan, but a large part of that process will be taking into account the valid concerns raised by those most affected,” Fisher said. “My concern at this point is how potentially disruptive this would be to the neighborhood.”