Word on the Street

At the October 6 Renton City Council meeting, all councilmembers voted in favor of adopting Ordinance No. 6167: Amending RMC 5-10-1 & 5-10-2 (Criminal Justice Purposes Sales Tax of use of funds for House Bill (HB) 2015).

This ordinance was brought to council following the Washington State legislature passed HB 2015 in the 2024-25 legislative session. HB 2015 enables cities in Washington to consider a sales tax increase to address public safety.

Washington state has ranked 51^st in the nation in officers per resident ratios for the past 14 years, with Renton's resident per ratio lower than the state average. This funding brings Renton up to the state average with the addition of five new officers. Additional staffing in the courts for public defense and prosecution would also be addressed under this 0.1% increase in sales tax.

Public safety has been the top priority of the Mayor and Council, along with the number one concern heard from Renton residents. The funding mechanism provided by the state legislature allows Renton to accurately respond to resident sentiment, and provide the levels of service necessary to best achieve public safety goals in the City of Renton.

Facts

• The current tax rate is 10.3% for Renton within RTA zones.
• The rate is 8.9% for Renton’s non-RTA zone.
• This proposal would raise the tax rate to 10.4% in RTA zones, and 9% in non-RTA zones. (See map here: https://rtamaps2.soundtransit.org/st_determineaddress.html).
• At the register, this would look like a difference of ten cents on a $100 purchase.
• Current sales tax rates as of Q4 2025 are as follows: Renton =10.3% Seattle = 10.35%, Auburn = 10.3%, Kent = 10.2%, Federal Way = 10.2%. Lynnwood, Mill Creek, and Mukilteo are at 10.6%. (Source: WA Dept of Revenue - https://dor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/Q425_Alpha_LSU_flyer.pdf)
• Estimated revenue from the 0.1% tax would equal between $3 million and $3.5 million per annum.

Timeline

• April 27: HB 2015 was passed into law in the 2025 Legislative Session.
  
• August 4: Committee of the Whole presentation.
• September 22: First reading during city council meeting.
• October 6: Second and final reading during city council meeting.
• January 1, 2026: Tax adjustment goes into effect.

Recent Press

• Renton Reporter: Council considers new public safety tax (August 30, 2025)
• KIRO News 7 at 5:00PM: Renton considers public Safety tax (October 6, 2025)
• KIRO News 7 Online: Renton City Council approves sales tax increase for public safety funds (October 6, 2025)

On June 2, 2025, ION Renton LLC entered into a Voluntary Correction Agreement with the City of Renton whereby they agreed to specific milestones to correct the code and safety violations on there property. ION Renton LLC has failed to meet the terms of the VCA agreed to. Pursuant to the agreement, the following activities have occurred in accordance with the VCA.

• On 9/18 a 48-hour Notice of Noncompliance with the Voluntary Correction Agreement was sent to the owners of the property, ION Renton LLC. This 48-hour notice puts the owners on notice that they have missed the deadlines spelled out in the Voluntary Correction Agreement and gives them 48 hours from receipt to bring the property into compliance with the VCA.
• On 9/26 a Notice of Agreement Violation was sent to the owners of the property, ION Renton LLC. This NAV notifies the owners that they have not resolved the violations spelled out in the 48-hour notice. This allows the city to resume fines of $23,300 per day, or amended fees based on actual violations currently documented.
• Currently Code Compliance is gathering documentation of the existing current, actual violations on the property to determine the total amount of fines to be assessed upon the resumption of daily fines. It is anticipated that a formal Fifth Notice of Violation & Order to Correct will be issued to the owner of the property, ION Renton LLC, by the end of day, October 1, at which time daily fines will resume.

On September 18 Mayor Armondo Pavone sat down with Q13 FOX to discuss the building at 500 Park. Watch the interview on YouTube or listen to the podcast.

For those following along with this issue, please see the press release below from the King County Council.

CONTACT: David Shurtleff, 206-954-2368

Environmental and Local Leaders Strike Deal with Lakeside Industries to Halt Asphalt Plant on SR-169

King County Council Vice Chair Reagan Dunn and local community group ‘Save the Cedar River’ have struck an agreement with Lakeside Industries that would halt the building of a proposed asphalt plant along SR-169 and the Cedar River.

“Given the alternatives, this is a far better use of the property, and a big win for the community,” said Dunn, who represents this area on the King County Council. “Rather than rock crushers, truck traffic, noise, dust, and odors, this plan will provide benign warehouse space and avoid the impacts of an asphalt plant on the greater community.”

‘Save the Cedar River’ and other stakeholders have expressed concerns in the past about potential leaks to the nearby Cedar River and wetlands, noise and light pollution, truck traffic, and potential impacts on salmon from the plant. Typical asphalt plants require onsite crude, burners, storage silos, rock crushers, mixing drums, and machines for separating materials.

“This brings an eight-year-long, hotly contested battle to a great conclusion for all parties involved: there will be no asphalt plant, Lakeside Industries can finally utilize their property, and King County can put this chapter to rest,” said Bob Baker of Save the Cedar River. “I could not be prouder of the ‘Save the Cedar River’ organization and the long, hard hours that each member put in during this challenge. And to the citizens, HOA’s, businesses big and small, that supported us, thank you!”

‘Save the Cedar River’ was formed in response to a proposal to site the asphalt plant in 2017. After protests, environmental reviews, appeals, and a lawsuit, Lakeside Industries was issued a permit for the asphalt plant in April 2022. ‘Save the Cedar River’ sued in Superior Court but ultimately lost that legal battle in May 2024. This new deal puts all that in the past.

“We see this as a win-win for the community and Lakeside,” said Mike Lee, CEO of Lakeside Industries. “Lakeside is a third-generation, family-owned, local company. We want to be good neighbors in the communities in which we operate, and finding a creative solution balancing Lakeside’s needs, our obligations to our employees, and the concerns of the community, is a success that took all parties working together.”

Under the new agreement, Lakeside Industries would not move forward with construction of an asphalt plant under its approved permitting. Instead, they would reengage with King County to permit a warehouse as an alternative. ‘Save the Cedar River’ has agreed to support this alternative use and agreed not to oppose the permit application.

“I want to give credit to Mike Lee with Lakeside Industries for listening to the community and finding a solution that is a win-win for everyone,” continued Baker. “And a huge thank you to Reagan Dunn who stood by my side throughout this and for brokering this fantastic deal.”

This alternative use of the site would be a warehouse building for commercial use. The estimated trip traffic for a warehouse is substantially lower than what was estimated for the asphalt plant. The warehouse plan would protect all the critical areas as required by the County Code. However, the alternative use would still need to go through a new permit process by the King County Permitting Department.

ION Renton LLC (“ION”) executed a Voluntary Correction Agreement (“VCA”) with the City of Renton on June 4, 2025. The demo permits June 24, 2025.

Since June 24, when the demo permits were issued, ION has had two people on site working to bring the buildings into compliance with the VCA and initiate the interior demo. Code Enforcement is tracking ION progress daily along with their compliance with the VAC.

1. Graffiti has been mostly painted over, including the graffiti on the very top of the building.
2. This week the city issued the TUP Fence Permit allowing them to start installation of a new fence - removing the old one off of the public ROW. This fence permit was required because the fence is over 6’ with barbed razor wire on the top and will be placed within the setbacks on private property.
3. There are no trespassing signs placed in numerous locations around the perimeter of the site.
4. They have complied with the VCA in boarding up all ground floor windows, doors and openings with ½” thick plywood to a height of 8’.
5. Demo progress – The two ION demo staff have made quite a bit of progress inside the building at Park & Garden on floor 1 removing most everything from that floor (partitions, chairs, desks, etc).

A Voluntary Correction Agreement (VCA) with ION Renton LLC was signed 6/4/2025, giving ION Renton LLC 15 calendar days to pay for and pull the associated demolition permits.

What to expect next: ION Renton LLC will mobilize demolition teams to begin interior demolition of the two office buildings, with a goal of completing this phase within 10 months. The city will continue to monitor progress to ensure efforts to secure the property are maintained. The public is encouraged to continue to report any illegal activity at the property by calling 911.

The city has been working with the owners of this private property for the past two years to issue a demolition permit, which is currently available for the property owner to pick up.

It’s always the city's intention to work with businesses to find solutions, but progress has stalled on the property owner's response to code violations like broken windows, vandalism, and trespassers.

Today, January 10, we have issued a notice, effective immediately, ordering the damaged fencing to be replaced with a higher security barrier ensuring trespassers will be kept out of the property.

The city has also added a DO NOT OCCUPY order in addition to the NO TRESPASSING order, and this additional signage was placed on the existing fencing yesterday.

The Public Works Department reviewed the proposed asphalt plant at 18825 SE Renton Maple Valley Road during the environmental review process and responded to concerns raised in 2019 and 2022. Based on some recent on-line post making assertions about the impacts to the city’s water aquifers, we have provided some background information based upon staff’s experience and expertise.

The proposed site is located outside of the city’s Wellhead Protection Areas. The proposed development is located approximately 1.75 mile outside of the city’s Maplewood Wellhead Protection Area and approximately 3.7 miles outside of the city’s Downtown Wellhead Protection Area. The Maplewood Wellfield is a supplementary supply that provides 20% of Renton’s water during peak summer demand conditions. The assertion that the city will need to buy majority of our water from City of Seattle at a cost of $10 million per year is not correct.

While it has been stated that the proposed development is within Renton’s aquifer area, there is an important distinction between Renton’s Wellhead Protection Area and EPA’s Sole Source Aquifer. The proposed development is located within the EPA’s Cedar Valley Aquifer Area that was designated a Sole Source Aquifer (SSA) by the EPA in 1988, however the SSA designation does not govern the city’s critical areas regulation for aquifer protection. The SSA program is specifically applied by EPA to review proposed projects located within SSA areas that receive federal financial assistance. The proposed development does not include federal funding and will not be subject to EPA review.

As part of the internal environmental review, the Public Works Department evaluated the potential contamination risk to the city’s drinking water sources by the proposed site activities and determined the risk to be relatively low for the following reasons:

• The city’s Maplewood Wells do not pump from the shallow Cedar Valley Aquifer. The Maplewood Wellfield is drilled into the deep production aquifer from approximately 135 to 345 feet below ground surface. The Maplewood Wells are located approximately 3.2 miles from the proposed Asphalt Plant (see the Renton Wells and Asphalt Plant Map).
• The city’s Downtown Wells are located approximately 5 miles away from the proposed Asphalt Plant an even lower risk due to the length of time it would take to travel the 5 miles underground. The sampling wells between the plant and our wells would provide ample notice of a change.
• The Maplewood Aquifer has a low contamination susceptibility rating based on the depth of the wells and the confined layer of clay which acts as a barrier that prevents the downward migration of hazardous chemical spills or other releases of contaminants on the surface.
• The risk to our aquifer is low because of the natural rock and layers of clay that buffers our deep water sources, and the monitoring wells that will provide ample warning to address any issues that could impact them in the future, whether from the asphalt plant or other contamination from vehicles, gas stations, septic systems, etc.

Stormwater Runoff is Not Injected Directly into the Aquifer

The contamination risk is further lessened by on-site requirements of the asphalt plant.

1. Primary and secondary containment for on-site, above ground, hazardous material storage facilities (one 10,000-gallon diesel tank and one 10,000-gallon emulsified asphalt tank). Any spills from those tanks would be confined to the containment areas to allow for cleanup.
2. A spill prevention and response plan are required.
3. Monitoring of secondary containment areas.
4. The proposed Asphalt Plant project will reduce the amount of ground that does not allow rain to be absorbed that currently exists on the site. The stormwater from the impervious areas on the site will be collected in a storm water collection system. Stormwater quality treatment will be provided using an oil/water separator, lined biofilter swales, a settling vault, and a large sand filter before being discharged into an infiltration gallery to infiltrate the runoff into the ground. These facilities are required in accordance with the current King County Surface Water Design Manual, which are the same standards as the City of Renton Surface Water Design Standards. This is treated stormwater that will be infiltrated into the ground.
5. Since the proposed Asphalt Plant’s storm water system infiltrates the onsite storm water runoff, any spill of hazardous materials on the site will be contained onsite making it easier to clean-up and prevents the stormwater runoff from reaching the Cedar River.
6. If a spill of hazardous material were to occur, it would result in an emergency response with King County, federal and state agencies enforcing clean-up and long-term groundwater monitoring to confirm the spill has been cleaned-up and there are no impacts to ground water, surface waters or neighboring areas.

The King County’s Shoreline Management Substantial Development Report and Decision for the shoreline permit required for the Asphalt Plant construction was Affirmed by the State’s Shoreline Hearings Board when it was appealed by opponents of the Asphalt Plant. The Shoreline Hearings Board considered extensive testimony regarding many environmental concerns including impacts to ground water and surface water that could result from the project (SHB No. 22-007 – Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order – Citizens to Stop the SR-169 Asphalt Plant v. King County and Lakeside Industries Inc.)

Water District 90 did pass Resolution No. 1041 in April 2018 opposing the proposed Lakeside Industries Asphalt Plant as the plant location was within the 10-year recharge area of one of the district’s wellfield. The linked resolution and letter explain the district’s position. As to the wells being shut down, It is our understanding that the well facilities of KC Water District 90 are currently not in use because of quality of the water. They must build a treatment plant in order to utilize the water, and at this time it is likely cheaper for them to purchase water from Seattle than to build the treatment plant. We do not know the depth of their well and so cannot comment on the quality of the source of the water. However, it is not surprising given that the city must treat the water from our Maplewood Wells before putting it into our water system.