OUTRAGE IN UPTOWN

City’s move to take down artwork draws fierce response

A crowd of almost 100 people gathered around the Raccoon Lodge on Saturday, Nov. 12 to both celebrate the work and voice their support of it staying in place.
A crowd of almost 100 people gathered around the Raccoon Lodge on Saturday, Nov. 12 to both celebrate the work and voice their support of it staying in place.
Leader photo by Derek Firenze
Posted

A whimsical doorway for wildlife to explore has been condemned by the city of Port Townsend.

Kevin Mason’s art piece “the Raccoon Lodge,” is a wooden structure built into an ancient stump with flourishes aplenty thanks to his more than 50 years of carpentry experience.

The city, however, claims the structure needs a permit.

The potential removal of the artwork has prompted a public outcry in artsy Port Townsend.

Mason held a gathering Saturday for people to enjoy the Raccoon Lodge one last time before having to take it down. The removal of the piece has led to a petition that has garnered more than 2,000 signatures in less than a week.

At the event to honor the art on Saturday, almost 100 people came out to support Mason’s work.

“All I was trying to do was create a loving place for the raccoons and the birds,” Mason said.

“I tried to do something with love for the community,” he added.

The brouhaha began when the city received a complaint from one of Mason’s neighbors about an unpermitted structure in Mason’s backyard that he has since dismantled.

When city inspectors arrived, they noticed the Raccoon Lodge.

On Oct. 10, city code enforcement officers informed Mason that his art piece was considered dangerous and in violation of local regulations because of its proximity to the sidewalk.

“It’s a request for voluntary compliance, it’s not a notice of violation,” said Planning Director Emma Bolin. “In a sense, that is setting a deadline for the structure’s removal or for the property owner to work with the city toward compliance or some other solution.”

Mason has also been informed that after he takes down the work by the Nov. 30 deadline, the city intends to search his property for further code violations.

“They’ve been so disrespectful. Now they’re threatening to go in my backyard after I remove the structure on the tree,” Mason said.

“It’s been a nightmare, what they’re putting me through,” he added. “I’m usually a peaceful, peace-loving guy, but this makes a knot in my stomach. It keeps me from sleeping.”

Mason bought his house in Uptown more than 17 years ago. From his property near the corner of Clay and Harrison streets, he’s enjoyed watching and hearing the wildlife in front of his home.

“Generations of raccoons have been born in that tree, and raised in that tree, and lived in that tree. And they still walk over my roof and I sometimes think, ‘Man, I’m dropping the ball if I don’t give them back someplace to find shelter,’” Mason explained.

He claims the complaint dates back to a longstanding feud.

“This was brought on by a vindictive neighbor,” he said, arguing that it started years ago when he filed an insurance claim for damages on his house due to an accident during a furniture delivery at his neighbor’s house.

“They came unglued. They were just yelling at me, screaming at me, ‘Why did you call your insurance company?’ But they never offered to do anything,” Mason said. “That created a rift between us that they’ve finally gotten their revenge.”

The height of the Raccoon Lodge and its proximity to the right of way is perhaps the biggest sticking point.

City officials said the rules are clear.

“Seven feet is what would trigger a building permit requirement for something like a fence,” Bolin said.

The Raccoon Lodge stretches far above that.

The city also claims the tree is rotting, noting a section that cracked off a few years ago.

“To be absolutely fair, this is a rotting tree stump. This art will have a limited life; it’s not like a bronze statue that will be there for many, many years,” said Public Works Director Steve King.

Years ago, the remaining branches of the 150-year-old Monterey Cypress tree, once the largest in Washington state, were deemed too dangerous and were trimmed down, leaving the jagged, 52-foot circumference stump behind.

“That tree stump is not going to move. You couldn’t move that tree stump with a D8 CAT,” Mason said referring to the Caterpillar-built tractor most often used as a bulldozer.

For Mason, the stump became a haunting reminder of the vibrant life he once enjoyed observing in its branches.

“A big ugly tree stump that looks terrible and depressing,” is how he describes what remains.

During the pandemic, he tried to use his creativity — which he is well-known for with his yearly performance closing out the Concerts on the Dock — alongside his carpentry skills to flip the script on the stump and celebrate the life of the tree and the animals that once called it home.

The inspiring nature of the work and the public outcry has drawn the attention of the city council.

Council member Ben Thomas, for one, felt called to add his name to the petition.

“As a city councilor, I want people to know that we don’t want this to come down. Our overly strict (in my opinion) code is complaint-activated. The council can’t override the rule of law. But we’re going to try to find a creative solution if there is one to be found,” Thomas wrote in a comment to the petition alongside his signature.

At the celebration of the tree on Saturday, as people showed up to share their love for what Mason has done, Port Townsend Mayor David Faber could be seen in attendance.

“The situation is complicated,” Faber said. “I think the problem we have in any situation like this is trying to find objective, universally applicable rules that don’t result in something like this.”

Still, the public support has not left the council unmoved.

“We are, and the city manager is, actively looking for a creative solution. This is not that there is a desire to take this down. There is a public safety concern and there may be a pathway forward. We’re trying to see what that looks like,” Faber said.

To keep the tree art in place, the city would require not only a building permit application, but also a structural engineer’s review to demonstrate public safety.

Those are things Mason has said he simply cannot afford.

In 2010, Mason was diagnosed with cancer and has been regularly receiving treatments out-of-pocket, leaving him financially and emotionally drained.

“I’m 75 years old and I’m a cancer patient,” Mason said. “If that’s what they’re going to do is tear that down, that’ll be the end for me. It’s already kept me up for weeks. It’s kept me from sleeping. It’s really hurting my health.”

Other ideas the city has offered include donating the work to the city with a public art maintenance plan and an insurance policy that Maon would be required to provide, another expensive option.

“It’s not the city’s full responsibility to 100 percent carry that,” said City Manager John Mauro. “We really need the property owner to come to the table and be part of the solution process and not just give it to the city and use us as a convenient target because we’re supposed to come up with some sort of magic answer. That’s not going to happen.”

“The city’s been in good faith trying to work through this problem with the property owner,” Mauro added.

City officials have also proposed modifying the structure to bring it under 7 feet.

“We’ve also thrown out there that art and a structure, they’re not mutually exclusive, and there may be some nonstructural ways to honor the tree that would not pose a safety hazard, that could enhance the wildlife habitat that was the original intent,” Bolin said.