Chuck Read, owner of Read Products on 15th Avenue West, admits he wasn't a monorail fan when the public narrowly approved the system in a 2002 vote. He's even less of one now.
That's because the Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) needs access to some of his property on the Magnolia side of the Emerson Street Bridge. It's a vacant lot and not much to look at, but the way the agency has gone about getting access to the land has the business owner fuming.
"Actually, they're asking for an air easement," said Read, adding it's not a problem for him. For example, he said, it was no big deal when Metro needed part of the same property to put in a sewer pipe connecting to the West Point treatment plant.
However, the longtime Magnolia resident complained, the SMP served him with court papers announcing a condemnation action to get the air easement before anybody came by to talk to him about acquiring the rights.
"I just don't think it's right that they sue first and negotiate second. I don't like being sued," he said, adding that being sued can mess up his credit rating.
Monorail spokeswoman Natasha Jones described the snafu as "an unfortunate bit of timing." Indeed, Read got a heads-up about his situation in a Jan. 28 letter from the SMP.
The letter announced that an acquisition agent from PHAROS Corp. would be contacting him, but there was a catch. "In order to maintain the agency's schedule," the letter goes on to say, "the Monorail will file an action in Superior Court to obtain a trial date, in the event that you and the Monorail are unable to reach a voluntary settlement."
Starting the ball rolling so early for a court case is necessary because it takes eight months to get a trial date, Jones explained. In all, she added, 18 other property owners are in the same boat as Read.
But Read said he thought everything was taken care of when he called PHAROS and was told that the deal for his air easement was a relatively simple matter. Read also said he was assured that someone would get back to him in a few weeks.
Before that happened, though, the lawsuit was dropped in his lap. "Basically, I think it's just totally unfair," he said.
The news prompted an upset Read to make a flurry of calls to monorail officials, but the meeting that was finally set up between Read and the PHAROS agent didn't go well.
It turned out, he said, that signing the agreement wouldn't stop the court case. "They told me if I signed, all that would happen was the case would be put into continuance."
On top of everything else, Read said, the SMP isn't even sure whether it needs an air easement from him or - if it does - exactly how much. "They might want more property in the future," he said.
Jones at the SMP confirmed that and added that the agency is still checking property records to find out if Read's property is needed because he doesn't own the entire parcel. She also noted that the SMP is required by law to pay fair-market value for air rights.
In any event, Read said he has so far refused to sign the agreement. "It would have given them everything they want and given me no protection," he said. "Now I have to hire an attorney and defend ourselves, so that just adds cost."
As far as Read is concerned, the SMP showed him no respect in its effort to fast-track the project, and the local business owner said he's especially burned up about the prospect of dealing with a lawsuit the agency seems intent on filing.
"That's not the Seattle Way," lamented Read. "We just don't do things that way."
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.
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