County to condemn land for new courthouse

EVERETT — Snohomish County pressed ahead Wednesday with plans to build a new downtown courthouse despite cost concerns and pleas from property owners who stand to be displaced.

The County Council voted 4-1 to condemn a half-dozen parcels where parts of the new courthouse would be built. That means the county can pursue eminent domain through the courts if the parties can’t agree on a sale price.

Councilman Ken Klein cast the lone dissenting vote. While they disagreed with him, colleagues said they face no easy choices.

“I was elected to make tough decisions and I think that this is a tough one for me, emotionally and otherwise,” Councilman Brian Sullivan said. “But I’m going to support the motion and I’m going to hopefully be proud of a building that will be here 100 years from now.”

The proposed $162 million justice center would mostly occupy a county-owned parking lot that sits about a block east and across Wall Street from the existing courthouse. The county paid about $1.5 million for the lot in the 1990s, intending to use it as a future courthouse location.

Following Wednesday’s vote, six businesses bordering the county lot would be subject to eminent domain: three law offices, a legal messenger service, a bail bonds business and a small, private parking lot. The parcels front Rockefeller Avenue and Wall Street.

Owners from all three law practices attended the hearing to put the county on notice that they’re digging in for a fight.

Attorney Royce Ferguson, who has owned his law building for about two decades, said the property owners options at this point are to “cave in or get sued.”

“I’m not caving in,” Ferguson said. “I don’t want to leave. That’s really what it is.”

The county also is looking into buying slivers of two other properties on the block, Deputy County Executive Mark Ericks said.

The council on Wednesday increased to $350,000 the amount it’s prepared to pay an outside law firm to handle the condemnations. The county has contracted Pacific Law Group of Seattle for the work.

The existing 1967-vintage courthouse faces a slew of problems. To name a few: worries about earthquake readiness, asbestos throughout the building, and difficulties separating the general public or court officials from criminal defendants.

County leaders have been trying to renovate or replace the old digs since at least 2008.

In late 2012, after convening a study group, the County Council voted to raise property taxes to take out $75 million in bonds for a complete remodel. That plan also included a new three-story wing.

In early 2013, County Council members decided instead to build from scratch, believing that it would cost about the same as renovation. They also reasoned that even a remodel couldn’t fix all of the current building’s problems.

They soon realized that the new building would far exceed their budget.

Last year, County Executive John Lovick tasked Ericks, his second in command, with undertaking a thorough review of the project. Based on options Ericks and his staff presented, the council decided to build on the county parking lot across the street.

The option cost about $30 million more than building on a plaza just feet away from the existing courthouse, but was thought to offer a safer and more usable space. It also meant losing an underground prisoner-transport tunnel to the jail.

The county passed over the plaza location partly because it didn’t provide enough separation from the street.

The latest plans across the street, however, appear to put the future building’s footprint right up to the sidewalk, said Melissa Sullivan, who co-owns one of the buildings in line for condemnation. Sullivan, who is no relation to the councilman with the same last name, questioned the wisdom of approving a design that appears to keep on growing in size and price.

“If you don’t know what the plan is, how can you vote yes?” she asked.

Klein has advocated dusting off the $75 million remodeling plan. The councilman cites the financial difficulties that have emerged since the county approved the courthouse plans last year. They include the millions of dollars the county has spent responding to the March 22 Oso mudslide and the need to bulk up staffing at the jail.

“This is a new fiscal reality and things are much different now from how they were when the council adopted its current plan,” Klein said.

Most of Klein’s fellow council members argue that a remodel couldn’t be accomplished for $75 million and that they originally acted on bad information.

If construction plans advance on schedule, work on the new courthouse would begin early next year and finish by the fall of 2017. The county plans to demolish the old building once the new one is ready, but also may consider other uses, Ericks said. The historic Mission building would remain.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.