Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 7, Issue 12, December 2003
Copyright 2003 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.
Is Wallingford street end actually public property?
By JAMES BUSH
Unlike most other Wallingford streets, the City doesn't own the right of way for First Avenue NE where it meets Lake Union.
Or does it?
On Nov. 9, the Wallingford Community Council submitted a letter to the Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) questioning whether the First Avenue NE street end was legally vacated and deeded to the former property owner, the Pioneer Sand & Gravel Co., some 50 years ago.
This historical mystery could have modern repercussions. There is an active land-use application on the site, a parcel comprised of the former street end and property on both sides, to construct a dry boat storage and launch facility.
G. Lee Raaen, a neighborhood resident and attorney, investigated the property's history for the community council and said he was left with more questions than answers.
Raaen first became interested in the First Avenue NE street end while serving as chair of the South Wallingford planning process.
"When I was taking a look at the plat maps I was struck by the fact that all the other street ends had public access," Raaen said.
According to City records, Pioneer Sand and Gravel requested that the City vacate the street end in September 1926, writing that control of the City-owned property was necessary for "the full and proper development" of a depot for building materials on the adjoining parcels.
The City's Board of Public Works recommended against a permanent transfer of the property, however, noting presciently that "access to Lake Union will be a valuable asset in time to come." A handwritten note in the file directs the preparation of a deed allowing Pioneer control of the property for 30 years, with ownership then reverting to the City. The City Council approved the street end vacation through a simply worded Dec. 27, 1926 ordinance (#52269), which doesn't mention the 30-year deal.
About three years before Pioneer's interest in the property was set to expire, the City Council again took the up issue of the First Avenue NE street end. On June 8, 1953, it officially renounced any City interest or ownership in the property, with the title apparently reverting to Pioneer.
Was this a legal transfer of title? Beverly Barnett, the City's current street vacation supervisor, thinks so. She looked into the situation at the request of City Council member Nick Licata.
Barnett notes that the 1926 council ordinance placed no conditions on the vacation and adds that the deed to the property wasn't accepted by ordinance as required.
Not so fast, replies Raaen. He points out that, while the original ordinance vacating the street was approved on Dec. 27, 1926, it wasn't signed by Mayor Bertha K. Landes (Seattle's first and only female mayor) until Jan. 3, 1927.
That's the same date on Pioneer's deed, indicating that final approval may have been delayed until the City had the deed in hand. The City also recorded the deed with King County the following year.
Andy McKim, an attorney for the Seattle Department of Planning and Development, said he received Raaen's letter, but has not yet come up with a response.
"I'll be checking with the Law Department to see what they make of his arguments," McKim said.
Ironically, the current property owners may not have learned of this potential dispute, which could cut a 60-foot swath through the middle of their presumed holdings. Officials at Sea and Shore Development, the building permit applicants, could not be reached for comment and DCD officials said they have not been forwarded a copy of Raaen's letter.