Seattle’s building boom displacing least loved denizens – rats New city rule meant to prevent rodent exodus from demolished buildings

A new city of Seattle law is meant to prevent developers from booting rats from buildings slated for demolition. (They're supposed to kill them instead.) Take a look at some of the city's vacant buildings that have troubled neighbors in recent months. less A new city of Seattle law is meant to prevent developers from booting rats from buildings slated for demolition. (They're supposed to kill them instead.) Take a look at some of the city's vacant buildings that ... more Photo: Frank Greenaway, Getty Images Photo: Frank Greenaway, Getty Images Image 1 of / 75 Caption Close Seattle’s building boom displacing least loved denizens – rats 1 / 75 Back to Gallery

From crane operators to the boring machine drivers, Seattle’s building boom has been good to plenty.

As the city is a national leader in new high-rise construction, though, some Seattle residents have struggled to find a place in the high-flying city. All but the rich, the worry goes, are being pushed aside to make way for a new skyline and new cityscape.

And that turns out to be doubly true for the least among us – Seattle’s rats.

Seattle has been very good to its rats. A recent Census Bureau survey found the city to be among the country’s rattiest, with rats being reported in more than 1 in 50 Seattle homes.

Rats are drawn by food and shelter. Speaking with KUOW recently, Fordham University rat expert Jason Munshi-South said the milder winters and earlier springs aren’t helping any either.

“We had a very mild winter for the most part,” Munshi-South said. “If it gets warmer over time, which seems to be happening in cities, which are already warmer, then when the spring rolls around you’re already going to have a lot of rats and they’re going to reproduce even more.”

They take to the sewers – local health officials bait Seattle’s sewers to draw out the rats, and, horrors, asks that residents report any rats that emerge from their toilets. The blue dots on the map below represent the “rat in toilet” complaints made in Seattle last year:

Photo: Public Health -- Seattle & King County Each blue dot represents a "rat in toilet" reported to Seattle...

Rats also like wooded, overgrown spaces and vacant or underused buildings. As it happens, so do developers.

And there’s the problem. Unlike lower-wage workers or other folks of modest means, the rats don’t move to the suburbs when they’re pushed out. They tend to cross the street. Displaced rats don’t stay displaced for long.

Starting in January, a new city of Seattle regulation will require that builders complete a “rat eradication” before demolishing a building. That’s likely to be good news in a city that has seen a spike in complaints of abandoned, troubled homes in the past year.

The city has seen reports of troubled, abandoned properties spike to levels not seen at the end of the last recession. The 2015 complaint tally – 245 homes and commercial buildings empty and concerning – was up 35 percent from 2012.

Check out this "heat map" showing where vacant properties are concentrated around Seattle:

Photo: City Of Seattle Data This heatmap created with city of Seattle data illustrates how...

One theory explaining the increase is that homes are left empty as developers wait to demolish them, Department of Construction and Inspections spokesman Bryan Stevens said previously. Seattle housing preservation laws generally prevent owners from demolishing existing structures until rebuilding plans have been finalized.

Speaking with MyNorthwest.com, Stevens said developers will be required to submit a rat eradication program for review 15 days before a demolition. The aim is to kill the rats before they flee.

“When you come in to demolish a building, where are the rats going to go?” Stevens said. “They are going to disperse and become a problem for everyone else in the neighborhood.”

According to a city of Seattle notice, builders will have to produce a statement from a licensed exterminator before proceeding with demolition.

Public Health – Seattle & King County offers all the information anyone could want – and much more – on how to respond to rat problems.

Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 orlevipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.