Ruling faults Edgewood

A Pierce County Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of some Edgewood property owners in a dispute over the city’s new sewer system.

Judge John Hickman’s ruling means the nine property owners will get a new hearing before a hearing examiner to challenge the amount they have to pay toward the $21 million project.

Hickman said in his ruling that the landowners weren’t “fairly informed” that only certain evidence would be considered at the original hearing, that the hearing examiner made some mistakes, and that landowners weren’t given enough time to make their case to the City Council on appeal.

Jeff Stokes, one of the appealing property owners, said he wishes the judge had ruled on the assessments themselves. But, “we’re going to go through the steps again, just like we did before. Hopefully the city will hear it this time and look at it through a fair set of eyes,” he said.

Eric Docken, another appealing property owner, said: “The citizens shouldn’t have to take the City Council to court to correct how they make decisions.”

The city argued it followed the law.

“I’m extremely surprised and disappointed for the rest of the participants in the (local improvement district, or LID),” who share the sewer costs, said City Manager Mark Bauer. “The LID process is spelled out with nearly 100 years of history behind it. We followed the statutes, we believe, to the letter.”

The city plans to appeal to the state Court of Appeals, said attorney Zach Lell.

Judge Hickman’s ruling applies only to the property owners who took their case to Superior Court, although an attorney representing some of those landowners has filed a motion asking that all the assessments be declared void.

The LID includes about 160 parcels.

The sewer system along Meridian Avenue is a first for Edgewood, which incorporated in 1996. Most properties in the city of 9,400 people on the hill north of Puyallup rely on septic systems.

But that limits development, and in 2008 some property owners petitioned to form a LID to pay for sewers. The city got loans to cover costs; landowners will pay the city back over 20 years.

An appraiser determined the per-parcel assessments based on the estimated value that sewer adds to the land. The city has said the assessments range from about $7,000 to more than $1 million.

Several property owners challenged their assessments before a hearing examiner, and then appealed to the City Council. The council approved the assessments over the summer.

The sewer is the city’s largest-ever public project, with roughly nine miles of sewer line stretching into south King County, where the utility district under contract to operate the system is based.

Sara Schilling: 253-552-7058 sara.schilling@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/street