Why Isn’t Ballard Getting Light Rail? Plus, is Melinda French Gates Going To Bring Back the Sonics?

This is CityCast Seattle. I'm Jane Coo, and here's what Seattle's talking about. A pair of cases challenging the city's comprehensive growth plan will be heard after all, and it paves the way for more challenges of city decisions via State Environmental Protection Act challenges. And the Game of Thrones has begun. They've been around for a couple weeks now, and the incident counter for the newly installed public bathrooms just reset to zero after a broken window. But first, last Thursday, the Sound Transit Board met and approved an updated plan for ST3. A lot went down, and people have big feelings about it. So here to discuss, we have Brett Hamill, writer-performer, and the cartoonist behind the weekly series Doom Loop. Hi, Brett. Hello. And we have Ryan Packer, contributing editor at the Urbanist. How's it going, Ryan? It's going great. How are you? Good. Well, Ryan, I know you were at this meeting. And I know it's a big question. But can you run us through what was approved at this meeting and what wasn't approved? Yes, it was an incredibly long meeting with a lot of moving parts and amendments and long debates and a lot of people showing up to give public comment. If I'm having to do the elevator pitch as to what happened on Thursday, most of the... Projects approved by voters in 2016 as part of the Sound Transit 3 package moved forward. A bunch of them, though, are up in limbo with more expenses than we have dollars to allocate over the next couple decades. And that includes, you know, most significantly most of what we would call the line to Ballard. It would only be built as a... second tunnel under downtown Seattle and terminate at Seattle Center if there's no additional funding that can be found until now. I've seen a lot of mixed messaging on what this means for Ballard. So some people have characterized this decision as meaning that the decision for Ballard has been shelved. Others are talking about this as if the Ballard line is completely canceled. But Ryan, it kind of seems like what I've seen from you, you seem to remain optimistic that the board is going to revisit this timeline and actually come up with a plan. So I know that at this meeting, part of the decision that they made was to set a deadline for trying to move this plan forward. And that deadline, I believe, is August. Is that correct? The deadline is for Sound Transit to provide a specific date when available revenue means they would be able to open a station at 15th in Market in Ballard. And so a lot of people are concerned that that date is going to be sometime in the 2050s, which actually would be passed when Sun Transit's current financial plan even extends. The reason I'm optimistic is they're going to advance Ballard to 100% design the entire line.

And that's going to take a lot of work. When we did that for West Seattle, we're able to get it through environmental approval, finally get its federal approval. We were able to shave significant dollars off of that cost. That's because we're figuring out cheaper ways to do the line. We're also advancing it through design, which means you have less contingency, which is where things get really wonky. But it's basically a cushion in terms of... unexpected things coming up. As you advance through design, you have less need for that cushion, and so the contingency drops. Right. So run us through what the stages are for folks who aren't familiar. So there's planning, there's design, there's construction. Ballard is in very early design and currently has its environmental review being held up by the Trump FTA. And so we're trying to get that done as soon as possible so that we can settle on one alternative. Once you get one alternative, it's a lot easier for Sound Transit to really dig in on that alternative. Right now, there's so many different options on the table that it's really hard to zero in and figure out how to actually build the one alternative cheaply and quickly. Brett, I'm sure you've seen your fair share of reactions to this. What do you think of... this new plan that it seems like SC3 is adopted here. I love watching transit beef pop off on blue sky. One thing that I enjoyed seeing too was Katie Wilson really stepping into a leadership role representing Seattle to the entire board, demanding the Graham infill station in South Seattle and also loudly opposing paying for a hundred million dollar parking lot in Renton. I have to learn everything from Ryan, first of all. And if you don't follow him on Blue Sky or read his work on urbanities, please do. The bigger picture for me is just it's this constant city versus region tension. You know, Seattle is the big brother who always picks up the tab and we go out to eat. And now everyone wants their own little appetizers and desserts and specialized cocktails and stuff. And, you know. Big Brother doesn't really want to foot the bill for all that all the time, especially when Big Brother needs to get his own dinner, you know, on the table. So I'm sorry. The metaphor is falling apart a little different. But like you, but I see this, just looking at the broader trends, you see this happening in homelessness with the King County Homeless Authority. Seattle demanding that everyone pay their way as well and everyone else saying, no, we outnumber you. You foot the bill for everything. Seattle has to continually tighten the belts in other ways to. be the, you know, Mr. Moneybags. So, but it was nice to see Katie, you know, snap back on some things. And this is just a great role for her in general, uh, as a total transit geek and transit writer. It's worth noting that, you know, Katie Wilson really put her elbow grease. into saving Graham Street, which was set to be deferred. It's been promised for a very long time. It would be built between Othello and Columbia City. That's the only project, the only project that moved from unfunded to funded.

And so that was a pretty big lift. Obviously, it got pretty overshadowed. The idea of being able to save Ballard is a little bit out of reach for, I think, any Seattle mayor in terms of the $7 to $9 billion that need to be found to do that. But like I said, there's going to be additional opportunities both on the revenue side and the design side to really shave these costs off. So why are we in this giant budget shortfall with Sound Transit? So it's a convergence. It's a perfect storm, really. You know, we're coming out of the pandemic with the intensely high inflation, especially in construction. Construction and inflation is nearing like 70% in the past five years. And so that's combining with some revenue declines because the economy is not doing great. And then you have... Kind of the fact that there was a, you know, kind of a new team at Sound Transit that came in and took a look at the cost estimates that were used to put together all of these projects and kind of put them on paper in terms of what they would cost and kind of take a look at them from the bottom up and had to revise them after a lot has changed. It's worth noting that when Sound Transit goes to the voters, they literally aren't allowed to do most of the planning to actually figure out how this is going to work until they get voter approval. So it's really cart before the horse. And now we're really refining these projects and realizing that assumptions that were made were incorrect or off. And so all those things are coming together to get us where we are now. I was led to believe that there were some efficiencies found in those processes, too, that were celebrated. Yeah, 100%. Like I said, West Seattle was an $8 billion project, and it's going to be around five. Hmm, okay. Well, okay, going back to this idea of Seattle as maybe the eldest sibling who's always picking up the tab, I've seen a lot of Seattleites who are particularly up in arms about the Ballard line right now. And the one argument I've been seeing repeatedly is that Ballardians have paid into ST3. They voted for it. It's unfair that they might not get what they voted for. Could other areas not also make that same argument, though? Like, it seems like all of the lines that are not being built or are being truncated in some kind of way. have also been paying into it. Yes, they are making those same arguments. You've got Snohomish County, the mayor of Everett, making the point that ever since Sun Transit was founded, there's been this idea that they would eventually be able to build up the entire network to reach them. Same thing down in Tacoma and Pierce County. Pierce County is taking a bigger hit with this than...

Sonomish County, their sounder extension down to DuPont. DuPont, you know, on the far reaches of the Sound Transit, voting district actually voted yes on ST3. They said they wanted this. And now their sounder extension is also on ice. East King County, their line has been pushed to 2050, which is I was at a rally last night in Issaquah for that line. And everyone was actually elated because they are so excited that they're on that their timeline is. It's concrete and they can plan around it and hopefully accelerate that. Okay. Last question. You mentioned this $100 million parking lot and rent in. Why are we spending $100 million on a parking garage? Sound parking. I mean, legitimate question. I did not realize it costs that much. to create a parking garage. Is this just a really big parking garage? Yeah, it's a very large parking garage. It's going to be built at the South Renton Transit Center, which is right next to the metro parking ride that's there now. Renton is not getting light rail. They're getting Stride Bus Rapid Transit, which is going to open in a couple of years. You'll be able to get on a bus and head to Berrien or Bellevue every 10, 15 minutes. And so there's been a lot of hurt feelings over in Renton about the fact that they have been kind of left out of the light rail network. and aren't getting a whole lot of direct investment. The stride system was originally planned with parking garages all along it. And so Renton's was going to be one of those. But there was a broad decision made to defer almost all the parking garages to focus on the transit. Poor Renton. They don't get the respect they deserve. But then they behave. Sometimes they show you why. I mean, yeah. You know, the argument from them is that this is a crucial access point for people who don't have direct bus service to be able to get onto the regional network. For me, it's tricky considering the fact that Renton's also trying to create this area in South Renton as a actual mixed-use neighborhood with... with density and amenities and walk bike access. And I was surprised to see the idea that we're going to consider station access so narrowly here as in structured parking. Like we're not even going to actually take a look at maybe we could. cut the garage to size in half if we invest in a transit line, a rapid ride line, a bike network, sidewalk improvements, a pedestrian bridge. I don't know, but like, you know, the first step being just even coming up with the plan, that also costs money, I guess. So it seems like maybe just tradeoffs there in terms of we know how much this will cost versus we have to go back to the drawing board and invest even more money and coming up with a different plan.

True. There is, but like I said, this is not the only deferred parking garage. Another amendment passed from King County Councilmember Balducci as well as Pierce County, executive Ryan Mello and the mayor of Fife, Kimmerosco, looking at this more broadly. And so they are probably going to set up a parking access fund to fund some parking, not massive structures, maybe looking at shared parking, stuff like that. But it's also looking more broadly at what it means to access each station. apart from just driving there. When you talk to a transit geek about this stuff, you can really see the distaste in their eyes in building more parking with money intended for transit. And it's kind of funny. Well, given the fact that I have gotten an email about this. ST3 decision from a listener who is writing an open letter to Sound Transit. I think we will not be hearing the last of this for quite a while. So let's take a break here. And when we come back, we're going to talk about another topic that Ryan, you just touched on, density and a couple of appeals that might affect our city's overall plan for density.

Well, I guess before we answer that, we can kind of talk about how we ended up in this exact position. So like you said, the appeals were dismissed at both the city and the county superior court level. The reason for that is recent state legislation that exempted from environmental review plans for dense infill. development. Essentially, the legislature said these things often get tied up in environmental review, so we're going to actually exempt them because we want to actually build more housing more quickly. We have a housing crisis. We've been calling every single year of the legislature, the year of housing for the past three years. But Monday's ruling, essentially the court of appeals confirmed a loophole, which said that if the city council had taken final action and adopted the entire plan, then the appeal could be dismissed, but because this is a appeal of a procedural determination that happened in an earlier stage that they can go through. And so it's, it is a pretty clear loophole. The hearing examiner, you know, essentially dismissed this saying, like, if this was true, if you were able to appeal at this stage, then the legislation would be rendered effectively meaningless. And they wrote, they purpose built this legislation to stop these sorts of frivolous challenges. Was that focused on preventing these things? So the fact that they were still able to find a loophole. you know, to someone like me thinks it's a rigged game. The legislature did their due diligence to prevent anything like this from happening. And yet it still happens. So what now? And the judge who's going to hear the appeal apparently is owns 150 year old craftsman home in Ravenna, which is a reason for recusal if I ever heard one. And hopefully that will happen. Right. For people who are not familiar with that area, the Ravenna Cohen neighborhood is like right next to the Roosevelt light rail. And. I imagine are part of a neighborhood center that is probably going to get denser in coming years. Yeah, they had originally been excluded from the hub zone focused around the light rail station. So that was a win for them. And then this was a step back for their efforts. Well, I mean, Brett, as you mentioned, like, what now? Like, can there be an appeal to the appeal? Ryan, could you speak to that? Can there be an appeal to the appeal? That's the thing about these. They're so lopsided. Sure, you can appeal, but like you'll just end up spending another year in court when you want things to move forward. Yeah, should a historic neighborhood association that probably doesn't even represent a majority of the area where they live. It's probably the... two to five percent of cranks who don't want to see anything get built, should they be able to override a duly elected legislature, you know, a state of state office? I mean, it's just, it makes no sense. And I think that voters and just normal people who are observing this process, if they can even find a way in to understand what the hell is going on, are going to start rejecting this in larger numbers. When you look at the number of people holding up a project that will benefit.

thousands of people in an entire neighborhood, if not an entire portion of the city, it's just not tenable. We've got to start uprooting these things. Hopefully this is the summer where we start uprooting a lot of this sort of nimbie ad hoc, you know, mechanisms for blocking. It needs a snappy name. I'm working on it. I'm sorry, I didn't have one ready for you, but I'm working on it. Yeah, I mean, the way these things work, you know, they generally throw everything they can at the wall and see what sticks. It seems like the next steps here probably will be quite slow, given that it is going through the legal system. But Ryan, I am sure you will keep us updated. All right, let's take a break. And when we come back, we'll jump into some other of the week's big headlines. We've known for months now that the beloved water park Wild Waves was closing at the end of this year. Some were hoping that a new buyer would swoop in at the last minute, but last week, the Federal Way Mirror reported that it's becoming... a warehouse that's going to be over a million square feet for an industrial building and parking for that building. Did either of you ever go to Wild Waves? Never made it down. I don't think it's super transit accessible. That makes sense. I see you shaking your head, Brett. Never went. Always curious, but I'm sure that COVID was the final death knell, but just considering all the germs and used band-aids sloshing around was not appealing to me. And I'm saying that as someone who's from Florida with some of the filthiest beaches there are. That's actually exactly right, Brett. So property owner Jeff Stock had told the mirror that COVID-related challenges were part of why Wildwaves ended up closing. And he also said that he couldn't share any details about who was moving into that giant industrial building. But the mirror pointed out that Amazon expanded its federal way footprint a couple years ago and that the city documents show that the tenant isn't going to be identified, but that typically they're going to be 98% warehouse, 2% office space. So we have some guesses about who might be showing up in that giant one million square foot warehouse. Yikes. What would we do instead of a giant warehouse or a water park? Like what could we do with a million square feet? Housing is the obvious. My understanding is that the Federal Way Council actually considered a ordinance that would have blocked the site from being like more than 50% warehouse. And they decided not to do that, which is an interesting move. And now their chickens are coming home to roost there. So.

the potentially Amazon chickens, it seems like. And producer Liam is in the comments here telling me new IMAX movie theater. I mean, hey, someone's got to have the money to do that, but it's not me. All right. On Sunday, a video on social media was circulating of one of the new throne public bathrooms near Lumen Field had a broken window. So it was fixed within a day or so. What does it mean that, you know, two weeks into having these public bathrooms, we've seen kind of our first incident. Is this a good sign for FIFA coming or is it kind of an ominous sign? Surprised it took that long, personally. I'm just surprised that I didn't get a Seattle Times news alert about the broken window since there's so much attention on the idea that these are going to fail. The entire point of these restrooms is that they are contracted to have quick service repairs. I've been loving the Pioneer Square restrooms. I basically use them every single day as opposed to having to make a coffee shop for a restroom code or walk up to City Hall. And so we're going to have instances like this. That's not a question. I wonder how many broken windows and city facilities have happened during the two weeks that haven't gotten any news coverage. It's just a little bit blown out of proportion. I think it's good that we're going to have a little test run before we have a lot more people in that area trying them out. I was also surprised to hear that a window is broken in the sense that like you were mentioning Ryan, the advertiser mirrors as being shatterproof. I mean, yeah, if someone came and fixed it within a day, it seems like Throne is doing what they were contracted to do. And the other three bathrooms hopefully will remain. usable for the entire time as well. Ryan, I'm curious about your experience using throw. I mean, you mentioned that you liked it. Was it actually just easy to like download the app and just you like tap to enter? The QR code at the door is just sending, it's just pulling up a text message. And so I just now I have a contact in my phone that's thrown restroom and you literally just copy and paste and I can pull it up as I'm walking toward the thing and it the door opens. It's really really easy. So I don't even need to download anything necessarily. Oh, love that. Okay. That's great. And it gives you a little message afterwards asking how clean the bathroom was on a one through three. And yeah. I love that we're talking about this like a moon shot or something like, will it work? Will people, will there be bathrooms? Like, come on, Seattle. Let's do. Like, can we have nice things for once? It's just a win that we have a public bathroom. And it seems like. You know, this is a test run. We're going to see how these do. And if it seems like they're working for the city, they might stick around and we can reassess from there. Yeah, I believe there can also be installed at the Kent County Metro park and rides that have had the restrooms, Aurora Village and Bury in. The previous iteration, the county really tried to get restrooms there and was literally paying security to stare at the...

Port-a-Pottie 24-7 for a while there. So I think this is going to be a better system. Maybe someday we'll get bathrooms at the light rail stations. I'm just going to keep saying it until it actually happens. All right. Last item here in our midweek medley, Melinda French is now a minority investor in one roof sports and entertainment, which is the parent company of the Cracken and Climate Pledge Arena. People are talking about this in a way where they're kind of like, oh, we're hoping this means that Melinda French wants in for the Sonics return. But I don't know. Does this mean anything? Or are people just trying to see what they want to see in the tea leaves? It seems like she wants to get more involved in her hometown, which I think is positive. This weekend, we're going to have the opening of the brand new Myrtle Edwards Centennial Park revamp that she helped fun. along with what some of my friends have been calling the billionaire ex-wives club. Yes, which I think would make a really great movie or at least maybe just like fanfic. You want them to solve mysteries across the region? You know, Melinda French has got to have so much goodwill. I'm sure that she's had a PR from Look at it, but like there has got to be so much public. warmth for her and her journey and the things she's doing now with that money, one of the billionaires that it's hard to hate. But, you know, the Cracken is super involved in the Monorail. So I'm wondering, you know, my mind is going to what could be next in terms of public investments. Of course. So, you know, are we going to get our Belltown Monorail stop? Or we're going to maybe extend it all the way to Pioneer Square. Melinda, if you're listening, subscribe to the urbanist and start getting up to speed. Wasn't there a Ballard Monorail proposed at one point? We don't have to talk about that. They proposed a lot of things back in the 70s. End of episode. That is all for today here at CityCast, Seattle. Ryan Packard, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks so much. And Brett Hamill, thank you for being here. Thanks, Jane.

I'm your host, Jane Seahoo. Listeners, if you do want to talk about the Ballard Monorail, shoot us an email at Seattle at citycast.fm. You can also text us or leave us a voicemail at 206-8803931. And if you're Melinda French or Mackenzie Scott and you want to drop Citicast or the urbanist or any other local media, a fat stack of cash, get in touch. Until next time, see you, Seattle.