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Rainier Vista lawsuit settled

Redevelopment in Southeast Seattle will proceed

SEATTLE—December 24, 2002—All of the parties to a lawsuit stalling progress on the Seattle Housing Authority’s Rainier Vista redevelopment project signed a settlement agreement this morning and appeared before Federal Judge John Coughenour, who subsequently dismissed the lawsuit. Work on the $125 million redevelopment project can now proceed.

"I am extremely pleased to settle this lawsuit," said Seattle Housing Authority Executive Director Harry Thomas. "All of the things that we agreed to in this settlement will only enhance the Rainier Vista redevelopment. This allows us to invest all of our energy and funding into making this the best neighborhood possible for the residents of Rainier Vista and the surrounding Rainier Valley community."

• Stipulation that people earning under 30 percent of median income will have a preference and priority for all of the new low-income housing in the redeveloped community.
  
  

• Agreement that the housing authority will conduct an economic feasibility study regarding the replacement of all 481 units of low-income housing on the current site, as opposed to replacing some off site.
  
  

• Agreements about the current residents’ rights to return to the new community.
  
  

• Agreement on the distribution of handicapped accessible units and gardens.
   

• Confirmation that the maximum number of units on the site will be 1,010.
  
  

• Agreement concerning the preservation, removal and replacement of trees.
  
  

• Agreement on a process through which traffic calming devices shall be employed throughout the new neighborhood.
  
  

• The creation of a Rainier Vista Citizen Review Committee to work with the housing authority and review plans for the redevelopment as it progresses.
  
  

• Agreement to mitigate construction impacts.
  
  

• Agreement to expand the formal notification area around the site.

• Agreement to keep minimum rents for the Seattle Senior Housing Program at $210 until September 30, 2003.
  
  

• An agreement to create a Yesler Terrace Citizen Review Committee, similar to the Rainier Vista committee, before planning for any Yesler Terrace redevelopment takes place.

Parties to the lawsuit, all of whom signed the settlement agreement, included the following: the Seattle Housing Authority, the City of Seattle, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Friends of Rainier Vista, the Seattle Displacement Coalition and two Rainer Vista residents, Laurine Harris and Katheryn Smith. 

The agreement will take effect immediately. Demolition on the site is expected to resume later this week. According to Thomas, "Settling this lawsuit now allows us to get back on schedule for demolition and construction. We expect to see construction of new units begin by summer of 2003. This is a great step forward for the residents of this community. It allows the project to go forward, out from under the cloud of uncertainty caused by the lawsuit."

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