Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 7, July 2003

Copyright 2003 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article and photos below in your research. Be sure to quote the Seattle Sun as your source.

City seeks to block Creeks initiative

By JAMES BUSH

On the eve of its campaign kickoff, the environmental group Yes For Seattle got sued by the City in an attempt to keep Initiative 80 off the Sept. 16 primary election ballot.

The initiative would require property owners to "daylight" creeks when they build on parcels containing piped or culverted watercourses. It would also mandate creek restoration on City-owned properties.

Supporters say the suit, filed less than a week before Yes For Seattle's campaign kickoff, is politically motivated. Asked on what grounds the City was suing, creek advocate Janet Way replied, "the grounds are probably that they did some polling and found out we're ahead."

Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr says his office has been investigating the legality of Initiative 80 and only recently felt it was prepared to take this legal challenge to court. "We filed [the suit] the day we were ready to go," he says.

Proponents' suspicions over the political nature of the suit were fed by the list of plaintiffs in the case. In addition to the City and the Port of Seattle, the suit was joined by the Master Builders of Seattle and Snohomish Counties and the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors.

The Master Builders (at $4,000) are the largest donor to Seattle Ballot Watch, the anti-Initiative 80 campaign group. The Realtors also gave $1,000 to the campaign.

Carr says the port and the two private groups learned of the City's intent to file suit and asked to be included as parties. While all are providing legal assistance, the City is taking the lead role in this matter, he notes.

The City Attorney cites a group of four Washington state rulings stating that city or county zoning regulations cannot be modified using the citizen powers of initiative or referendum. In the most persuasive, Lince v. Bremerton (1980), the State Court of Appeals struck down a 1977 initiative which rewrote a portion of the City zoning code. The City's hope is that a King County Superior Court judge will issue an injunction by August 1 (the date ballots are printed) to keep I-80 off the ballot.

Knoll Lowney, an attorney and Yes For Seattle spokesperson, disputes the City's legal claims and says his organization will fight for the right to place I-80 before Seattle voters.