Drafter
Clerk 10/06/2005
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AN ORDINANCE related to the Waterfront Streetcar; authorizing the sale of certain surplus county personal property, authorizing the King County executive to execute an agreement with the Seattle Art Museum for removal of the Waterfront Streetcar maintenance facility and the associated passenger station and track, and for the subsequent construction of a new passenger station and track to serve the Olympic Sculpture Park, and authorizing the temporary suspension of streetcar service until such time as a replacement maintenance facility is available.
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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
The council hereby finds:
A. King County currently operates the Waterfront Streetcar maintenance facility and associated Broad Street passenger station and track on city of Seattle right-of-way just north of Broad Street near the entrance of Myrtle Edwards park;
B. The Seattle Art Museum plans to construct the Olympic Sculpture Park on the site occupied by the Waterfront Streetcar maintenance facility and associated Broad Street passenger station and track, and upon completion to include a new passenger station and track that are integrated into the Olympic Sculpture Park and designed to allow extension of the track north of its current terminus;
C. The integration of a new passenger station and track into the Olympic Sculpture Park offers a number of significant transit benefits, including that the Waterfront Streetcar line will be linked to a significant waterfront amenity that will increase ridership, the new passenger station will be more accessible because it will be connected to a pedestrian skybridge that will cross over the railroad tracks to the east, and the new passenger station and track will be designed to allow the Waterfront Streetcar line to be extended to the north of its current terminus;
D. King County plans to relocate the Waterfront Streetcar maintenance facility within a mixed-use building to be constructed to the east of Occidental park in the half-block bounded by Main Street and Washington Street in the city of Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood. In order to effectuate this plan, streetcar service will be temporarily suspended until such time as a new replacement maintenance facility is available. This plan renders the existing maintenance facility surplus to King County's needs. The museum's agreement to construct a new Broad Street passenger station and to contribute toward funding a new track on the site of the Olympic Sculpture Park renders the existing Broad Street passenger station and associated track surplus to King County's needs;
E. The planned relocation of the Waterfront Streetcar maintenance facility will provide a number of significant transit benefits, including that the new facility will be a substantial improvement over the current facility for the maintenance and storage of the Waterfront Streetcar fleet and will meet the service needs of the Waterfront Streetcar system in the future, the new facility is expected be part of a mixed use development with a substantial number of residential units and to be part of an overall expansion of residential units in Pioneer Square, all of which will increase ridership opportunities, and the new facility will be more accessible and open to viewing by the public, which will support transit use and emphasize the important role of transit in the history of Seattle;
F. As part of the Olympic Sculpture Park project, the Seattle Art Museum has agreed, at its sole cost, to remove the existing Waterfront Streetcar maintenance facility, Broad Street passenger station and associated track, to build a new passenger station, and to contribute toward funding a new track. The county will have a perpetual right to use and maintain the new passenger station;
G. The Seattle Art Museum further has agreed to construct and operate the Olympic Sculpture Park, providing additional public benefits to the residents of King County;
H. To further these public purposes and provide these public benefits to the people of King County, the federal, state, county and city governments have contributed over $14,000,000 for the Olympic Sculpture Park, including county contributions of $1,509,750 from the conservation futures tax, the King County arts commission and the department of natural resources and parks;
I. Pursuant to K.C.C. chapter 4.56, the county has determined that the Waterfront maintenance facility and associated Broad Street passenger station and track on city of Seattle right-of-way just north of Broad Street at the entrance of Myrtle Edwards park are surplus personal property; and
J. The county operates the Waterfront Streetcar in part under the terms of a utility permit issued by the city of Seattle. According to a binding letter from the city, dated October, 2005, the suspension of Waterfront Streetcar service does not constitute grounds for a lapse of this permit.
SECTION 2. The Waterfront Streetcar maintenance facility, the Broad Street passenger station and the associated track are surplus to the county's needs, and under these unique circumstances a negotiated direct sale of these items to the Seattle Art Museum is in the best interests of the public, and the King County executive is hereby authorized to execute, substantially in the form attached as Attachment A to this ordinance, an agreement with the Seattle Art Museum titled "Waterfront Streetcar Maintenance Facility and Passenger Station Agreement Between King County and the Seattle Art Museum."
SECTION 3. On execution of the agreement, the county and its agents are hereby authorized to take all actions necessary to implement the agreement, including relocating equipment, temporarily suspending Waterfront Streetcar service effective November 18, 2005, until such time as a replacement maintenance facility is available, and providing replacement bus service. The director of the department of transportation shall restore
Waterfront Streetcar service at such time as a replacement maintenance facility is available.