Shaw Road warehouse developer sues Puyallup again over city-imposed fees
A Puyallup warehouse developer has filed another lawsuit against Puyallup over city-imposed fees.
This is the third case against Puyallup brought by Shaw Road developer Viking JV LLC. Previously, Viking has sued the city over park impact fees and stormwater surcharges over its development of 22 acres on 33rd Street Southeast.
The lawsuit filed April 7 in Pierce County Superior Court argues that the city should back pay Viking for building sewer lines and a wastewater pump “lift station” that could be used by future development and the city’s Van Lierop Park.
“The sewer facility is a public facility, approved by the Puyallup City Engineer, that will benefit numerous properties in Puyallup, including the city’s Van Lierop Park,” the complaint said. “Here, the city did not participate in financing the lift station. The city made an undisclosed, private side agreement with a party whose land was already available for the lift station.”
In 2013, the state Legislature passed a law that cities must allow developers to be reimbursed for bearing the upfront cost of building water or sewer facilities in undeveloped areas. Previously, there had been voluntary agreements by the cities and counties with developers.
Future and existing developments would pay the initial developer to connect to the sewer and water infrastructure already built. The practice is known as a “latecomer agreement” or “reimbursement agreement.”
The latest complaint filed by Viking asks the court for a revised latecomer’s agreement with the city and for Puyallup to pay proportional fees connected to the sewer facilities.
The first developer in the Shaw Road area was PMF Investment’s Pioneer Crossing, which includes a Safeway.
PMF Investments approached the city about a rebate plan, city attorney Joe Beck said.
The developer would build sewer facilities, and the city would offer fee discounts down the road rather than contribute to the cost of the facility.
“The city did not have immediate available funds, so instead agreed to rebate system ... to offset some of the costs of the sewer lift station facility,” Beck said.
The city rebated PMF Investment’s Pioneers Crossing about $250,000, Beck said.
Separately, the developer reached an agreement with Viking in which Viking would build the sewer facilities.
The city was unaware of the agreement between PMF Investment’s Pioneer Crossing and Viking until after the agreement was reached, Beck said.
According to its complaint, Viking paid $3,229,564 to build a sewer lift station and over 2,500 feet of sewer lines.
“The city did not communicate to Viking that it was providing (system development charge) credits to PMF,” Viking’s complaint said. “The city certainly did not communicate to Viking that it intended to claim this credit extended to PMF, which provided no benefit to Viking and reduced none of the costs incurred by Viking ...”
PMF Investments agreed to contribute $600,000 toward the construction costs, according to the court documents.
PMF Investments’ attorney Aaron Laing declined to comment on the lawsuit but provided the following statement:
“PMF Investments was honored to contribute land and resources toward this much needed infrastructure as part of Pioneer Crossing, and PMF is proud to know that the project and this infrastructure will serve the community for decades to come.”
Viking’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.
Beck said the lawsuit is about more than the fees.
“We are holding them accountable for their share and pay for the impact of their development for the benefit of citizens and constituents,” he said.
In one of the previous lawsuits, Pierce County Superior Judge Shelly Speir determined Nov. 6 that Viking JV LLC must pay the required $388,000 in park impact fees.
In the other suit, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff ruled in October that Viking had to pay $571,000 to hook up to the city’s stormwater system.
Viking has appealed both of those decisions by the Court of Appeals.
