SPOKANE, Wash. – A downtown Spokane dance studio and its building owner are suing the City of Spokane.
According to court documents, Dance Street, Inc. leased a building located at 433 West Dean in Spokane in December of 1997. Dance Street, Inc. used the property as a dance studio and also rented the facility for private events, including weddings.
In January 1999, ownership of the building was transferred from Gary W. Smith to GW Investments, LLC.
In 1999, the City of Spokane acquired a property, known as the Carnation building, directly west of the space that Dance Street, Inc. occupied. The eastern edge of Dance Street, Inc. and the western edge of the Carnation building acquired by the city, then shared a wall.
According to court documents, the Carnation building, ‘was and is still in a state of severe disrepair’. The City of Spokane currently uses a portion of the Carnation building for storage and the rest is not utilized, according to court documents.
In early 2001, according to court documents, the run-down condition of the Carnation building started to interfere with the use of Dance Street, Inc.’s property. The City of Spokane was told damage was being caused to Dance Street, Inc. from water draining from the roof of the Carnation building into Dance Street, Inc.’s property. According to court documents, the City of Spokane then considered demolishing the Carnation building, but ultimately, no action was taken.
In March of 2001, Dance Street, Inc. told the City of Spokane that the water that had been leaking into their leased property appeared to be drying, but organic matter was growing on the wall that the two buildings shared. Court documents said there was also a strong odor coming from the shared wall, which customers of Dance Street Inc. noticed. Dance Street Inc. claimed the odor was negatively impacting business. Court documents said because of the organic matter and odor, Dance Street, Inc. had to cancel lessons and events in the spring of 2001 because of health concerns. The City of Spokane agreed to take action to fix the problem at its own expense. The city cut some holes on the roof of the Carnation building in an effort to improve drainage. The city also removed some bricks from its side of the shared wall, and paid for professional cleaning for Dance Street, Inc.’s side of the shared wall. The City of Spokane also paid for Dance Street Inc. to run furnace fans full time for approximately one year to mitigate the damage caused by the Carnation building.
According to court documents, despite the city’s temporary fix, ‘the dilapidated state of the Carnation building continued to cause substantial and unreasonable interference’ with the use of Dance Street Inc.’s property.
In 2002, the City of Spokane was notified that unauthorized individuals were using and occupying the Carnation building, resulting in damage and vandalism. In response to that situation, the City of Spokane told Dance Street, Inc. that it would demolish the Carnation building, a demolition bid package was going out, and demolition would start by September or October of 2002. Court documents said that in November of 2002, Dance Street Inc. asked the City of Spokane about the status of the demolition, but the city never responded.
From 2002 to 2004, nothing further was done by the city to work on the nuisance created by the Carnation building.
The City of Spokane was notified again in early 2004 that the Carnation building was causing damage to Dance Street Inc. because of water leaking into the property, according to court documents. The City of Spokane agreed that the Carnation building was the cause of the water damage and promised to implement a temporary fix to the problem at its own expense. According to court documents, the city failed to make any permanent solution.
Dance Street, Inc. received more water damage in 2007 from the Carnation building, according to court documents. The City of Spokane was notified again, and acknowledged that the disrepair of the Carnation building was causing water damage to Dance Street, Inc.’s property and ‘expressed frustration at its inability to address the ongoing issues’. According to court documents, the City of Spokane asked Dance Street, Inc. for suggestions on how to resolve the situation. As it had done in the past, Dance Street, Inc. asked the city to demolish the Carnation building. In November 2007, the City of Spokane claimed that it was seriously exploring a demolition plan. According to court documents, no progress was made on a demolition plan and the city did not do anything to improve the ongoing nuisance created by the Carnation building remaining in severe disrepair.
From 2007 to 2012, the Carnation building remained in disrepair, which resulted in leaking and moisture damage to the Dance Street, Inc., according to court documents. Complaints were brought to the city at ‘various times’ during this time period, but no action was taken to fix the problems. Court documents said despite promises of a permanent fix to the problem by demolishing the Carnation building, no action was taken by the City of Spokane.
In early 2014, Dance Street, Inc. again notified the city of damage to the property caused by the Carnation building. Court documents said the city assessed the damage and determined that the Carnation building drains were clear, but a seal along the edge of the roof of the building had failed. Despite the find, the City of Spokane told Dance Street, Inc. would have to wait until it was warm and dry enough outside to implement a temporary fix to the problem. Court documents said there was no discussion of a permanent fix.
In the fall of 2014, Dance Street, Inc. contacted the City of Spokane again to check that the promised temporary repairs had been made, but court documents said they had not and the leak actually intensified. Dance Street Inc.’s walls became wetter and started to grow ‘yellow crusty scum’ and the odor worsened. Dance Street Inc. claimed it harmed its wedding venue business, which was prized for its brick walls and overall atmosphere.
In September 2014, the City of Spokane commissioned Coffman Engineers to analyze the structural integrity of the Carnation building. According to court documents, Coffman reported to the city that it had several areas of structural concern. Coffman advised the city that it had concern in particular with the structural integrity of the southeast portion of the Carnation building roof and recommended that all access to this area of the building be blocked due to safety issues.
When the City of Spokane attempted to repair the latest round of damage producing leaks in December 2014, it was discovered that the Carnation building’s roof drains were plugged with raccoon feces, and was leaking through the shared wall. It caused a strong and foul odor, along with wall discoloration and other environmental harm. According to court documents, the City of Spokane again attempted a temporary fix by cleaning the drains and spraying impacted walls with an enzyme cleaner. During this time frame, the City of Spokane advised that its risk management department was looking into a permanent resolution to the ongoing problem.
According to court documents, despite the city’s attempt at another temporary repair, the damage to Dance Street Inc.’s property continued. The City was advised of the health risk and adverse consequences incurred by users of Dance Street Inc. Specifically, customers of the dance studio were complaining about odors and the owner of Dance Street, Amanda Hansen, suffered breathing problems when she was in the studio.
In February 2015, the city was again advised of the adverse health impacts and the damage to the dance studio caused by the Carnation building. The city was also notified that the conditions were harming Dance Street Inc.’s business.
In late February 2015, Hansen sent an e-mail to several city officials, including the mayor and city council. The e-mail summarized the ongoing problems and the numerous attempts to get the city to address the issues.
In March of 2015, the City of Spokane agreed to both a short-term repair solution to the damage the Carnation building was causing and a long-term commitment to demolish the Carnation building to ensure the problem was permanently resolved. According to court documents, while nothing was immediately done to fix the issue, the City of Spokane asked the Plaintiffs to ‘take a leap of faith’ and be patient with the city and a solution would eventually be implemented.
The City of Spokane hired another contractor to deal with air quality issues and damage to the shared wall between the buildings. The city was advised that the stains, odors, and breathing problems inside the building remained. According to court documents, by March 2015, the issue had become so severe that the city was notified that the dance studio was rendered uninhabitable due to the damage caused by the Carnation building. Still, no permanent repairs were made, according to court docs.
By late March 2015, the problems became so significant that Dance Street Inc. could no longer accept new bookings and had to move previously booked events to other locations, which resulted in loss of income. As a result, Dance Street Inc. told GW Investments that it would no longer be paying rent on the property, as it was rendered unfit for its intended purpose due to the damage caused by the Carnation building.
In May 2015, the City of Spokane claimed it was moving forward with bids to demolish the Carnation building, but in order to do so it needed to utilize an engineer to assess how demolition would impact the property occupied by Dance Street, Inc. In June 2015, Coffman Engineers issued a report to the city which said, in part, demolishing the Carnation building would not be possible without structural risk to Dance Street, Inc.
Right now, Dance Street Inc.’s location remains uninhabitable due to the damage caused by the Carnation building. According to court documents, the City of Spokane has not repaired or worked on the nuisance caused by the Carnation building’s state of disrepair.
In late September 2016, Dance Street Inc. filed a claim for damages with the city, which the city has not paid.
All parties involved in the suit are expected in court Monday, March 26 for a pre-trial hearing. The trial is set to start at 9:00 a.m. on Oct. 22, 2018.
