KENT, Wash. — During its monthly meeting, the King County Landmarks Commission tabled a decision on whether to name the Seattle-Tacoma Pet Cemetery a historic landmark. During the meeting, many people tuned in to voice their support for the measure.
But after hearing every comment, the board was still split down the middle when it came to the decision. Some board members understood the community’s reason for making it a landmark.
“It’s in South King County I think we need to take into account you know that this is an area of just regular people and those locations are worth preserving too,” Commissioner Amber Earley said.
And while they understood the cemetery has emotional value to many people in the area, Amy Blue argued that there wasn’t enough historical significance at the site that makes it a historical landmark.
“I think that it’s more specific to the local community and the patrons there as opposed to having a historical significance for the whole county,” Blue said.
The pet cemetery has been a big topic of debate in the area for over a year now. Many people who have pets buried there want the cell tower in the middle of the property removed because they believe other animals are buried right underneath it.
Some advocates spoke with KIRO 7 before the meeting. They believe the property does have some historic significance to the county.
“There’s a lioness that was actually put there. I don’t know any other cemeteries out there that have lions. So, that’s pretty unique,” Dean Bey said.
Julie Seitz has also been at the forefront of making the property a landmark. She said before the meeting they had several King County codes and merits that backed their case. And while the future of the debate is still unclear, a lot of people are still hoping the commission will approve the measure.
“Because we want to save the cemetery, per se. And we are just fighting for it to last,” Seitz said.
Since the vote was a tie, the board decided to table the vote and conversation for a later date. It’s still unclear when the topic will be brought up again.
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