After months of agonizing and a difficult decision by the Bellevue City Council over whether or not nearby property owners should pay for a portion of road projects on 120th Avenue Northeast and Northeast Fourth Street, it was the land owners that made the final call.
According to state law, if owners representing more than 60 percent of the “special benefit” of increased property values coming from the project submit written protest within 30 days of the decision, the city loses the ability to form a Local Improvement District. More than 70 percent of property owners protested, and now the project sits without the $6.8 million it would collect from the LID in 2014, once the project is completed.
Property owners had been outspoken against being forced to pay a sizable portion of the costs of for what they said would be a benefit to others throughout the region, but not the specific properties.
“Costs were very high on property owners,” said Todd Woosley, who is an owner of four buildings at the Briarwood Center on Bel-Red Road near Northeast 12th Street. “The city’s claims that there were special benefits we thought were overstated. We thought properties would actually lose value over the negative aspects of the project.”
The Bellevue council passed the LID to help extend Northeast Fourth Street and widen 120th Avenue Northeast on March 7 with a lower cost on property owners than had been discussed previously ($10 million was the prior figure).
Bellevue Capital Programming Manager Eric Miller confirmed that owners representing 60 of 83 parcels submitted protest letters against the LID formation. Among all property owners, Home Depot was the largest. It represented 20 percent of the special benefit to be received. Attorneys representing Home Depot have been outspoken against the LID throughout the project, and Miller confirmed Home Depot did object.
The council is now left with the task of making up the missing funds, but some council members say it won’t be as daunting as it seems. The council showed unanimous favor to the projects, with the Northeast Fourth extension as one of the highest priorities. Council members said they will look at alternative funding sources to make sure the work gets done.
In meetings about the LID, Kevin Wallace suggested pulling from the council contingency fund to cover what remained. Wallace said Thursday that is certainly an option, but other council members may have different plans for that money.
The council has also noted that the project could come in cheaper than expected. Council Member Jennifer Robertson said the body is still examining a couple different options for the Northeast Fourth Street that could be cheaper.
“We’re really close to having enough budgeted anyway because of the project cost that I don’t think the project is at risk even with the property owners’ protest,” she said.
Whether the project is completed with other funds or not, the actions of property owners raise the question of whether LIDs are an appropriate funding mechanism in Bellevue. This is the first one that’s been done since the early 1990s, Miller said. But several more LIDs comprising significant amounts of other critical road projects will be discussed in the future.
“Is it viable to go spend the staff and legal resources to chase after LIDs in those areas when this one has apparently failed?” Wallace said. “That will be the question we’ll have to wrestle with council and city staff.”
Nat Levy can be reached at 425-453-4290.
