A jury verdict has forced Sound Transit to pay an additional $2.5 million to the owner of a Tacoma business that will be displaced as the agency extends commuter rail service to Lakewood.
The agency will pay the owner of Star Ice & Fuel a total of $11.4 million in compensation for taking its property along South Tacoma Way near Pacific Avenue. Sound Transit originally paid about $8.9 million for the property.
Sound Transit officials say the extra cost won’t affect the agency’s plans to finish the Sounder commuter rail service through South Tacoma to Lakewood by 2012.
“It’s not as if the project’s been held up by this,” said agency spokeswoman Linda Robson. “The project has progressed.”
The dispute over the Star Ice & Fuel property is the latest twist for a project that has seen its share of controversy.
Most of the proposed extension from the Tacoma Dome Station to Lakewood is on existing track. But Sound Transit must build a $161 million, 1.4-mile segment from East D Street to South M Street to finish the line. Construction will begin next summer.
Two years ago, the exact route of the new segment prompted debate. So did plans to cross Pacific Avenue on an overpass instead of at street level.
Recently, area businesses and residents have expressed concern about plans to build an earthen berm to elevate the tracks instead of a bridge-like post-and-beam design.
The route will displace several businesses, including Star Ice & Fuel on South Tacoma Way.
Last March, Sound Transit filed an eminent domain petition in Pierce County Superior Court to acquire the property after it could not agree on a price with the business owner.
Star Ice & Fuel countered that the agency had not offered nearly enough to compensate it for its land, building and equipment.
Sound Transit attorney Jennifer Belk said the ice plant was a difficult property to assess compared with a house or other properties that sell more frequently.
Negotiations continued even as a trial approached. A month before the trial Sound Transit offered about $11.3 million for the property. Belk noted that’s nearly identical to the amount the jury ultimately awarded.
“Sound Transit is quite pleased with the verdict,” Robson said.
Though his client ultimately got an extra $2.5 million, Star Ice & Fuel attorney Warren Daheim said the company had hoped for more.
He said Star Ice & Fuel President Richard Reisinger will have to spend up to $6 million for new equipment for a new location. But the jury award accounts only for the equipment’s depreciated value, not its replacement value.
“It’s a very stressful situation for a business owner who wants to stay in business,” Daheim said.
Reisinger could not be reached for comment.
Robson said the trial was a rarity for Sound Transit.
“We’ve acquired hundreds of parcels,” she said. “Only a handful have gone to court.”
The litigation isn’t over. The court still must decide the amount of rent Sound Transit owes the business based on a previous agreement.
Meanwhile, Star Ice & Fuel is preparing to leave the site where it was established in 1887. Daheim said it will move to Fife.
“It’s an irreplaceable site,” Daheim said of the South Tacoma Way location. “He hopes to get done and get moved in by March 1.”
David Wickert: 253-274-7341
david.wickert@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/politics
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