PORT ANGELES — A portion of a dispute between Clallam Transit and the owner of two parcels that are now part of the Gateway International Transportation Center in Port Angeles will play out in Jefferson County on Friday.
The dispute is over just compensation for the property, owned by Anh Voang, which Clallam County Superior Court granted to Clallam Transit on Aug. 30, 2006, for immediate possession and use for the Gateway project.
Clallam Transit does not own the property, which is at the corner of East First and South Lincoln streets, and has not paid for it.
“I still own all property; I pay taxes and mortgage all that time,” said Voang, who also owns the adjacent HarborTowne Mall, which fronts on Lincoln Street.
“I’ve been offered below market price; my mall has diminished in value; I have lost tenants and income.”
Clallam Transit filed for an eminent domain judgment in Clallam County Superior Court on July 6, 2004.
Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser will decide on Friday whether Clallam Transit’s appraisal — conducted by Strickland Heischman & Hoss, Inc. of Tacoma — of $280,000 for the 6,960-square-foot property ¬¬¬– was inaccurate and should be dismissed.
Clallam Transit will acquire the property after just compensation is determined by a jury in Jefferson County on March 30.
The case is being heard in Jefferson County because a Clallam County public agency is involved.
Property for Gateway
Clallam Transit spent approximately $2.6 million to acquire property for the Gateway project in downtown Port Angeles, according to a Aug. 23, 2006, Peninsula Daily News
article.
The figure includes the appraisal for Voang’s property.
The Gateway project, which is expected to be completed next month, will include a two-tiered parking garage, a clock tower, a public plaza, bus lanes, a transit center and a Port Angeles Police Department substation.
Voang and her attorney, Richard Pierson of Williams and Williams law firm in Bothell, have requested that the court dismiss the appraisal on the grounds that it didn’t include damages to the HarborTowne Mall.
Pierson claims the value of the mall has been diminished since a portion of the parcel it sits on is being used for the Gateway project, and it will be acquired by Clallam Transit after just compensation is determined.
Therefore, Pierson said, just compensation should include severance damages for the mall, which would cover a reduction in fair market value of the entire parcel.
That parcel included 11 parking spaces prior to construction that Voang leased from the Port Angeles Downtown Association until 1999.
Pierson claims that the appraisal didn’t properly assess the value of the parking spaces because Voang did not have legal access to Railroad Avenue.
The only access to the parking spaces was through city-owned parking that was connected to the thoroughfare.
Pierson claims that the city of Port Angeles had officially recognized access to Voang’s parking in a 1984 building permit issue to the prior owner, thereby giving the owner legal access.
“They are asking us to ignore what was taking place on the property since the early [1980s],” he said.
Craig Miller, Clallam Transit attorney, disagrees.
No right of access
“As a matter of law, they have no right of access over a former city piece of property to the back end of her property,” he said.
If Verser decides otherwise on Friday, Clallam Transit would agree that the appraisal needs to be redone, Miller said.
Pierson said he will have another appraisal done through Robert Von Jorni of Kirkland if Verser decides in his favor.
It would be the third appraisal of the property since Clallam Transit began the eminent domain process.
Earlier this year, Voang hired Christopher Charles of Bainbridge Island to conduct an appraisal.
Charles determined it was worth $650,000 prior to the Gateway project.
Pierson referred to Charles’ appraisal as inaccurate and said he is not going to use it during the case.
Closed basement
A new appraisal could include compensation for lost income from the mall’s basement being closed during construction of the Gateway project, he said.
Linda Koncicky, mall manager, said the Port Angeles Fire Department declared that the door to the basement had to be closed during construction.
Koncicky said two tenants had to be removed because of the closure.
Voang, who also owns the China First restaurant on First Street, said the basement closure means she is losing $3,700 in potential monthly income.
She said she feels that Clallam Transit didn’t properly consider the implications of the Gateway project on businesses nearby.
The Gateway center is a joint project of the city of Port Angeles and Clallam Transit on East Street and East Railroad Avenue between North Lincoln Street and North Laurel Street.
The project began in June 2007 and is expected to be completed in November.
The city of Port Angeles budgeted $14.7 million for the project, $8.16 million of which is funded by state and federal grants.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
