Concrete removal in Ballard

The Seattle City Council created the Ballard Avenue Landmark District in 1976. Its guidelines, issued under Seattle Municipal Code 25.16, say no changes may be made to the external appearance of any property in the district that is visible from a public street, alley or way without a Certificate of Approval from the Department of Neighborhoods. The list covers alteration, demolition, construction, reconstruction and restoration.

There is a carve-out. Existing structures may be maintained without a certificate "so long as no changes are involved". A true like-for-like repair may fall under that. Anything that changes what people see from the street or alley is the kind of change the guidelines are written for. The district board meets on the first Thursday of each month and encourages informal conversations before an application, so ask the coordinator at (206) 684-0229 before you book anyone.

The district guidelines single out the ground underfoot. Decorative treatments within the sidewalk, "including special paving patterns and building entryway tiling", are to be preserved. If you own a storefront and the concrete at your door includes old tile or a patterned surface, plan the removal around it rather than through it.

The same guidelines encourage using alleys for services. That helps on a tight block: loading broken concrete from the alley side keeps equipment off the pedestrian frontage the district is trying to protect.

SDOT requires a Street Use permit before a dumpster or storage container is delivered to the public right-of-way. The simpler residential permit has limits. SDOT says a construction container needs a ROW Construction Use permit instead if it sits on an arterial, or on any street inside an Urban Village or Urban Center. Ballard is one of the City's designated urban villages, so check your address against the City's map before assuming the easy route applies.

Wherever it goes, SDOT asks for the container to sit in a legal parking space, at least 30 feet from an intersection, 10 feet from a driveway and 15 feet from a hydrant.

Dirt Exchange, located in Ballard, takes concrete, but its standard tier is clean pieces less than 2 feet across and no thicker than 8 inches, with no rebar. Larger or reinforced pieces go in a separate oversized tier, and the rebar must be cut first. For a whole driveway, the size limit is usually what decides whether you haul it yourself or leave it to the removal crew. Our guide to where to dump concrete in Seattle covers the other yards.