By Patrick Robinson

The landlord/tenant relationship is sometimes difficult and the troubled one between the West Seattle Junction Association (WSJA) and the West Seattle Trusteed Partners (WSTP) continues to be a struggle.

Westside Seattle has covered the issue of the fate of the parking lot land in the past and the history of the relationship extends back to 1954 when a group of land owners and business people agreed to provide free parking for shoppers in the Junction. A covenant with the City of Seattle was formed and today, the lots represent the only free parking for consumers in any Seattle business district. They are funded 100% by the Junction Merchants.

The WSTP Board was almost entirely comprised of local business and land owners until 2017 when Joe Erickson was elected President and Charles Connor was elected Board Vice President. Erickson is married to a local dermatologist and Connor is owner of Connor Homes on the Eastside. The other members of the Executive Board are Leon Capelouto, David Gowey, Jeff Vann, Mark Swanson and Tyler Johnson.

The latest dustup between the two organizations involved the WSJA’s attempt to get donations from people parking by installing five large steel donation boxes in the lots. The idea was to get help offsetting the just over $18,000 a month they pay to provide the parking lots around the West Seattle Junction. The lots are free for customer use for three hours.

In what the WSTP contends was a violation of the lease, WSJA installed the boxes in the lots, without first getting permission or approval.

The WSTP considered it “Pay Parking” though the donations would have been voluntary and said in their meeting minutes from late December that the “Lease does not authorize improvements (including fixtures) without consent. Boxes misleading and confusing plus the unilateral action of installing such items is contrary to the lease.”

The Board of WSTP then voted to issue a 10 day notice to comply, meaning either take the boxes down or vacate the premises. The net effect, if the WSJA did not comply, would mean the lots would most likely continue as is for a time but then face closure and development.

WSTP Secretary and Board member Tyler Johnson, who is an attorney said, “Before WSTP issued the 10 day Notice to the WSJA, I advised WSJA's attorney that WSTP felt that the unilateral action to install the boxes violated the Lease.  He disagreed and no further action was taken by WSJA to remove the boxes necessitating that WSTP direct the 10 Day notice to be issued.  WSTP would have preferred to discuss the whole concept of Donation boxes up front as well as the removal of the same rather than being required to resort to the formal process of the Notice to obtain compliance.”

The cost of the lease took a huge leap this past year when the King County Assessors Office assessed their combined value at $13,220,000. That number will rise again next year, leaping to $15.3 million, at the very least.

Johnson continues,”The WSTP Board I believe is in agreement that the property tax situation needs to be studied in the context with WSJA's revenue structure so that both the viability of the WSJA can be considered as well as the interests of WSTP.  In my view this would lead to a much more thoughtful and deliberative planning process to address all sorts of Junction impact issues as well as future development possibilities.”

Lora Radford, WSJA’s Executive Director said she would be happy to have a discussion with the WSTP Board but noted that previous “improvements” have triggered no response from them. Last year the WSJA repainted the white directional arrows in the lot on 42nd SW (2018), installed new poles for the No Towing (2018) signs and installed Seattle Police Department car prowl signs (2017). The WSTP said nothing according to Radford. Further, in the WSJA’s view the parking boxes are not an improvement. The WSJA was looking for additional avenues to support the community benefit lots.  

The boxes, five of them, will likely go up on the sides of local building owners who support the effort, said Radford.

The issue here of course is money. And having the two parties communicate only through their attorney’s makes an already difficult line of communication more stilted.

Johnson said he’s open to a discussion. “My wish is for both WSTP and WSJA boards to have a frank conversation not only about how to address the nearer term issues such as the rising Property taxes but also to prepare the Junction for Light Rail and as well as to discuss possible development of certain WSTP lots with extensive feedback and input from not only the WSJA but the broader West Seattle community as well.”

The costs that the WSJA faces every month are substantial. They must pay a $6180 base rent, then add taxes and WSTP expenses (ie; accounting) of $12,011, making the total exceed $18,000 every thirty days. The WSJA took up the job of appealing the original 2018 tax assessment which got the Assessor to grant a ramped increase over the next few years. That kept the WSJA afloat but it’s clear they will need to raise a lot more money as a non-profit and/or charge local businesses a lot more to meet the costs.

They’ve made efforts to get people to help.

Through Elliott Bay Brewery they had a “Red Box Red”  beer brewed with profits going to support the Junction. You can still find Red Box Red at The Beer Junction, West 5, Talaricos and at Shadowland.

The WSJA set up donation boxes inside these retailers:

• Hotwire Coffee
• Pegasus Book Exchange
• Verizon West Seattle
• Northwest Art & Frame
• Fleurt
• Next to Nature
• Jan’s Beauty Supply
• Stop n’ Shop
• Emerald Water Anglers
• CAPERS
• Zamboanga
• Husky Deli
• 8 Limbs Yoga Centers
• Thunder Road Guitars
• Wild Rose’s

And also created two other ways to support the Junction including:

Texting 44-321 to WSPARK to pay by credit card and letting people donate via the secure Network for Good link on their website www.wsjunction.org.

At the end of February the WSJA will be launching a campaign called “Round Up for the Junction” in which patrons of the participating businesses will be asked to ‘round up’ to the nearest dollar as a donation to keep the parking lots free.

But it’s useful to understand, the reason they are free for visitors (for 3 hours) is that it’s part of the lease.

The Junction Association even requested the ability to charge for the lots at a suggested rate of $2 per hour. They proposed that the lease be modified to permit the WSTP to begin development of the lots. The current lease states that nothing can be be built on the lot sites except parking. The WSTP Board rejected that offer.

In the past the WSTP Board has cited the need to look after the needs of the WSTP Shareholders in terms of fair lease value for the land as well as the potential for Sound Transit and light rail to potentially claim the land through eminent domain, and has expressed a desire to renegotiate the lease with an eye clearly on developing the land, an offer the WSJA has thus far rejected.

“The WSJA isn’t anti-development” said Radford. “There’s a way for the community and the Shareholders to work in unison to create a sustainable development model for the good of West Seattle”. “This could include free or low cost parking under a hospital, a community center, library or civic center”. The possibilities are exciting! We have the opportunity to do West Seattle proud.”

“As for ST3 and light rail, we’ve attended all of the community meetings, have hosted our Elected Officials and have hosted many Sound Transit walking tours”. “We are stepping into the next phase for the Junction and will be excited to see where the final alignment lands in May, 2019”. Being proactive and speaking up for the merchants and West Seattle has been Radford’s mission since she took over the leadership of the Junction.  

“As the Junction is an Urban Village and we are close to Metro, a developer is not required to install parking”  That fact has led to a lot of public consternation over recent projects whose units easily out number the provided parking spaces. This despite the fact that the transportation infrastructure that would presumably accommodate increased density has not kept pace with a larger population here.

“West Seattle has a critical choice as to the future of the Junction.”

“It may seem like we are at odds with WSTP, it’s not the shareholders as they are both building and business owners in the same district WSJA serves. What we’re trying to accomplish here is halting the development of another large block generic apartments, with zero parking, and retail that will be affordable only to chain stores. We’ve been the advocate for West Seattle for over 30 years with these large lots being one of the most critical and complex issues ever faced by the organization”.              

Development seems inevitable with two seven story buildings already planned to go up at the south and north ends of the Junction in the next couple of years. One by Husky Deli owner Jack Miller, the other by local developer Leon Capelouto at the other. The question of who will develop it and what thought will be given to both the local merchants and the community at large may come down to discussions between the WSJA and WSTP. Discussions which have not yet been set and offer an uncertain outcome.