Please take less than a minute to complete WSDOT’s survey on saving the Montlake Blvd Market. Responses are due February 14th at 5 pm. The Montlake Community Club is urging neighbors to tell WSDOT that the market is worth saving for 45 extra days of construction. WSDOT has also estimated that keeping the market open could add $20 million to the project budget, and we say it’s worth it.

We also know their $20 million estimate is designed to be intentionally misleading and ignores the social impacts and other costs of eliminating the neighborhood’s only market and gas station. This was presented without any discussion of the cost for a full condemnation of the property, which could carry a price-tag of more than $30 million. Despite proving that construction impacts to the property can be avoided, WSDOT is still pursuing a full condemnation and pushing plans to use the site as a staging yard for the next decade.

Take the survey today and tell your friends and neighbors to do the same. And please leave comments when prompted. Many of these questions are misleading and based on limited information.

Survey link: https://survey.participate.online/s3/SR520-Montlake-Market-indv

Last week, WSDOT held a public meeting where the department presented new design plans that seek to preserve the Montlake Blvd. Market and limit construction impacts on the market’s property.

The good news is that Graham’s design and proposal will likely cut a year off the project. Further really good news is that it appears WSDOT is conceding it can avoid use of the Montlake Market and Gas Station properties.  Graham’s designs eliminate many of the impacts WSDOT sited in their condemnation and demolition plans for the market property. The bad news, however, is that despite proving their ability to avoid the market and shifting construction impacts away from the property, WSDOT is still pursuing a full condemnation in order to use the rest of the property as a staging and storage yard for the next 10-years, throughout the Portage Bay phase. One of their representatives also claimed they needed the properties for the project’s “associated risks,” although he did not elaborate.

Read more about the meeting in this story by KOMO News.

In terms of saving the market, WSDOT estimated that keeping the market operational throughout construction will add an additional 45 days to the project and $20 million to the cost. This may seem like a lot at face value, but it appears to be intentionally misleading. WSDOT presented this figure without any discussion of the cost to acquire the property and avoided mention of other associated costs, such as lost tax revenue from the market, gas station and cell towers, which runs nearly $1 million per year. All told, WSDOT’s costs to acquire the properties could be as high as $33 million, with WSDOT paying an estimated $20 million on top of that to keep the market operational should the agency proceed with a full condemnation.  Moreover, they are ignoring the social and other costs they’ll impose on the communities we live in, loss of “walkability/bikeability” to and from the Market, drive time, cost and frustration to get to alternative market and gas locations, reduced property values of our homes from proximity to 10 years of loud, noisy construction, and the elimination of one of our few community gathering spots.  And, even using WSDOT’s inflated cost estimate, keep in mind the number is a fraction of the project’s $4.51 billion budget.

These figures amount to what can only be considered as an absurdly steep price to pay, especially in light of WSDOT presenting the new designs last week showing how they can avoid the properties. WSDOT’s only remaining reason for acquiring the Market site appears to boil down to construction staging and storage. The notion of spending $50 million in taxpayer money to turn the heart of Montlake into a construction and equipment staging yard for the next 10 years is unacceptable to the Montlake Community Club. Our neighbors deserve better.

The Montlake Community Club is continuing to engage with our legislators as well as WSDOT to keep staging off of the property and to make sure all options to save the market are pursued. You can help by reaching out to WSDOT Secretary Roger Millar, Speaker Chopp, Rep. Nicole Macri and Sen. Jamie Pedersen at the emails below and carrying this message:

Roger Millar: millarr@wsdot.wa.gov

Speaker Chopp: frank.chopp@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Nicole Macri: nicole.macri@leg.wa.gov

Sen. Jamie Pedersen: jamie.pedersen@leg.wa.gov

We also encourage everyone to take the survey about the market, which can be found here by February 14th at 5 pm.

An independent assessment of WSDOT’s environmental testing of the Montlake Market and gas station properties has some good news for the community ahead of WSDOT’s open house on Wednesday, January 30 (Details: St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm). More info on meeting here.

The report’s author observed WSDOT’s environmental testing conducted in December, took split samples of the drilling materials, reviewed WSDOT’s sampling results, and has assessed the potential risks of the contamination levels on the property. Based on the sampling to date, there is no environmental justification for demolishing the market or closing the gas station to clean-up the contamination that WSDOT has identified. The levels of gasoline-range petroleum hydrocarbons exceeding Model Toxics Control Act Method A clean-up levels are “limited to the Gas Station Parcel.” The assessment concludes that, based on existing data, it appears clean-up techniques routinely employed in gas station contamination clean-up actions can be used here to remediate the soil and groundwater contamination under state law, while leaving the existing buildings intact, the Market in operation, and even avoiding closure of the gas station, except perhaps on a short term basis.

A copy of the report’s executive summary follows below, and a copy of the full report is posted here.

Executive Summary

Operations on the north tax parcel (King County Tax Parcel No. 8805901085, the “Gas Station Parcel”) include a gas station building and three underground storage tanks (USTs) and pump islands. The south tax parcel (King County Tax Parcel No. 8805901090, the “Market Parcel”) contains the Montlake Market supermarket building (Market). The small southwest triangular shaped tax parcel (King County Tax Parcel No. 88059010170, the “Triangle Parcel) is part of the parking lot for the Market. The Market Parcel and the Triangle Parcel together are referred to as the Market Properties to distinguish them from the Gas Station Parcel.

Based on the soil and groundwater sampling and analysis conducted on and near the parcels by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), there is no evidence of soil contamination on the Market Properties that contains the Market and cell towers. Soil contamination (petroleum related) appears to be limited to the Gas Station Parcel where the gas station and associated UST system are located. Impacts beyond these parcels appear to be minimal and limited to areas north of the Gas Station Parcel. Therefore, based on the available data, soil contamination is limited to the Gas Station Parcel, is not a significant threat to the Market on the Market Properties, and there is no need to demolish or impact the Market building or its operations to remediate the petroleum soil contamination on the Gas Station Parcel to the north. And, given the existing information, it is also likely that the known soil and groundwater contamination can be remediated under MTCA without having to close the gas station. Preliminary figures developed from WSDOT’s contractor’s January 2019 Third Supplemental Phase II report showing a summary of both properties and off-properties soil and groundwater sampling results are provided in Attachment 1. 

This information provides a strong backstop for any speculation regarding the extent of the contamination on the property.  The good news is that the environmental contamination WSDOT has identified should have no bearing on whether WSDOT can save the Market, the Market property’s cell towers, and even the gas station from the department’s SR 520 construction plans.

WSDOT has indicated they will provide a “property soil-testing update” at Wednesday’s open house, in an attempt to “be as transparent as possible.” They will also be providing design scenarios for avoiding the market and limiting construction impacts on the property in an effort to adhere to the Washington State Legislature’s directive for the department to preserve the market “to the maximum extent practicable.”

The full report is included here.

Montlake Elementary School is looking for tutors for the remainder of the 2019 school year. As a paid tutor you can work up to 19 hours a week. Tutors assist in one or more classrooms. Tutors do a variety of tasks including working with students one-on-one, assisting with lesson preparations, facilitating small group activities, playground supervision and more! Tutors are such a great asset to our teachers and Montlake as a whole. If you are interested, please contact Principal Julie Pearson at jepearson@seattleschools.org.

From all of us at the Montlake Community Club, thank you! On Monday we gave the University District Food Bank a check for $30,000, the net proceeds from the Montlake 5K Turkey Trot & Kids Run. Said Paul Yunker, Development Director of the Food Bank, “It goes without saying that $30,000 is a tremendous donation. We are aware of the amount of work and the support necessary to achieve a donation of that size. Thank you Montlake Community Club and community!”

At left: Bill Lowie, food bank Assistant Director; Sharsti Sandall, MCC President; Paul Yunker, food bank Development Director; Leah Ball, food bank Board President.

We raised $7,000 more than last year, which we attribute to 3 things: increased corporate sponsorship, raffle earnings–which were enabled by fantastic sponsor donations and generous participants, and increased 5K participation. Consider visiting these local businesses who sponsored the race and donated the prizes: Earth + Wind + Fire Yoga, Glam & Tonics AVEDA Salon, Café Lago, Wilcynski Partners Real Estate, Oculus Eyecare, Montlake Blvd Market, Little Lago, Audi Seattle, Bad Cat Events, Darcy LaBelle Real Estate, KHBB Law, Stokes Lawrence, Rivalry Events, Arboretum Dermatology, Sound Community Bank, Meditate Seattle, HDR, Molly Moon’s, Mont’s Market, and Capitol Hill-Montlake Dentistry.

Our volunteers were essential to the race. Volunteers helped with everything from hanging signs to course monitoring. To all of you who helped, thank you!

Thanks to the Arboretum and the Arboretum Foundation for letting us have the race in this beautiful treasure. The MCC has given a donation to the foundation to show our appreciation, and we encourage you to do the same.