Developer must pay to hook into stormwater system, but not as much as Puyallup wanted
A Shaw Road warehouse developer has to pay Puyallup a portion of stormwater connection fees, a Pierce County Superior Court Judge has ruled.
The $571,000 was less than the city asked for.
“I wanted a grand slam and got a run batted in,” City Attorney Joe Beck said.
Judge Bryan Chushcoff said in a verbal ruling Sept. 29 that Viking JV LLC needs to pay $571,000 to hook into the city’s stormwater system.
Viking attorney Bill Lynn said the ruling is an “improvement” to the first price Puyallup presented.
Initially, the city quoted the price of accessing the city’s stormwater system at $977,282. Viking rejected that offer and threatened to sue. To avoid litigation, the city reduced the price to $571,000. Viking filed a lawsuit in mid-2019.
In agreement with most previous decisions, Chushcoff said the offer could not be rescinded after Viking filed a suit.
The stormwater pipes feed runoff water into the Puyallup River. On the site of what once was a Van Lierop daffodil bulb farm, Viking has built a 450,000-square-foot warehouse.
“They took 20.4 acres that previously absorbed water and turned it into an impervious surface. They should pay a fair share of stormwater utility,” Beck said.
Lynn said the city asked for the 20.4-acre project to include a pipe along 33rd Street that wasn’t needed.
Viking intended to build a storm system for the warehouse and to add a new outflow pipe connecting the city system to the Puyallup River, Lynn said, but Puyallup is requiring Viking to include additional, oversized pipes for water coming from other properties.
Lynn said the city should have offered credit toward adding a pipe that benefits others.
“We think the city has demanded things of this project that it hasn’t demanded on other projects,” he told The Puyallup Herald.
The lawsuit is one of two between Viking and the city. In November, a second dispute over park impact fees will be decided.
Viking’s parent company, Michaelson, also owns the Knutson Farm property next door, where a seven-warehouse project has been stalled. Last year, Puyallup was awarded the rights to an environmental impact study before the project will move ahead.
Beck said the city is in the process of negotiating with Knutson Farms over payment for the environmental impact study.
