If the Capitol Hill neighbors around 18th Ave E north of E Galer act like they own the road it might be because they do.

“Thank you for reaching out to us about the private segment of 18th Ave E near Interlaken,” a Seattle Department of Transportation representative began their kind of complicated response to a recent CHS inquiry about some recent work and new signs around the street. “Because the street in question is private property, it is not part of the city’s right-of-way, and we do not have jurisdiction over its maintenance or management. The property owner is responsible for maintaining the street, sidewalks, signage, and any other features.”

It turns out, Seattle has some relatively long stretches of street that through quirks of real estate, history, and mysteries, are private property.

The property lines run right across the street on 18th Ave E

Along this stub of 18th Ave E, the street is carved up among the eleven residential properties that line it. The city’s records don’t explain why and the SDOT representative said there is no “comprehensive list of private streets in the city.”

Like the city says, maintenance and management of the street is the responsibility of the owners on this stub of street across from Stevens Elementary School and above Interlaken Park and the Seattle Hebrew Academy.

It doesn’t seem to make much of a difference for the properties themselves. One recent home sale on the street did not bother to mention the quirk in its listing and the sale price seems to fall in line with other nearby sales along fully public streets.

It isn’t clear how the 18th Ave E homeowners band together to cover maintenance costs and management of the block.

Things are not a free for all, however. SDOT says it requested a recently added “stop bar” line on the street “during recent improvements on this private street to ensure safe interaction with the public street network.”

Seattle Public Utilities also maintains easement agreements with the property owners for the water main, according to county records.

Meanwhile, those “private street” signs –unlike other recent rogue efforts in the area like this failed guerilla “PHOTO ENFORCED” effort in a nearby traffic circle — are as legit as the neighbors want them to be.

$5 A MONTH TO HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE
🌈🐣🌼🌷🌱🌳🌾🍀🍃🦔🐇🐝🐑🌞🌻 
Subscribe to CHS to help us hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you.

Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 👍