My wife and I saw the Northern Lights early this morning from our home in North Renton Highlands. We got this view at about 5:50 AM, two hours before sunrise. These iphone photos make the colors more prominent than they appeared to our unassisted eyes, but the colors were visible and enjoyable without the phone.
First day of demolition of 500 Park Avenue North, Renton, WA; photo courtesy of Maggie Howard
Demolition began today on 500 Park Avenue North, the smaller of the two buildings at Garden Plaza as anticipated in my blog entry of December 19. Thanks to Maggie Howard for sending me these photos.
Removal of this dangerous, blighted building will be cause for celebration. It’s sad that the once-desirable office building was able to sink to this level of deterioration during the past three years.
First day of demolition of 500 Park Avenue North, Renton, WA; photo courtesy of Maggie Howard
First day of demolition of 500 Park Avenue North, Renton, WA; photo courtesy of Maggie Howard
500 Park Avenue North, Renton, Wa, before recent neglect. The 1970’s building received a major update in the 1990s, when glass block that was wrapping the stairwells was replaced by sheets of glass matching the rest of the exterior. This building was pleasant to work in, with large bright office spaces, a great layout, and excellent parking.
When writing my previous blog entry about the pending demolition of 500 Park Avenue North in Renton, I ran a google image search for the property and noticed that the photos that came up were mostly the building in its current sad state of decay. After demolition, this building and the nearby 535 Garden Avenue North building will ideally be remembered the impressive way they looked for the first 30-50 years during Boeing use, not the dystopian way they looked during the last three years under ION Renton ownership. To help us remember them in a positive way, I captured some views from Google Maps in the years before the recent neglect set in, and I’m posting them here for posterity.
500 Park Avenue North with 535 Garden Avenue North in the background, Renton, Washington. When under Boeing ownership.
The Park Avenue North entrance to Renton’s Garden Plaza office park. 535 Garden Avenue North is on the left, 500 Park Avenue North is on the right, and the 4 story parking garage (with connecting skybridges) is at the back. Photo from 2018, when Boeing had ownership.
535 Garden Avenue North, Renton, Wa. This entrance is actually on North 6th Street. Photo from time when Boeing had ownership.
The North 5th Street entrance to Renton’s Garden Plaza Office Park. This entrance off of a quiet side street provided an easy side access to the parking garage and both buildings. Photo from during Boeing ownership.
The Garden Avenue North entrance into the Garden Plaza Office Complex, Renton, Washington, under Boeing ownership
For several months distraught residents and visitors of “The Reserve at Renton” senior living apartments have been attending Renton City Council Meetings and complaining about towing. Many have testified that they or someone they know had their car towed to Kent unfairly, and they say they were billed as much as eight hundred dollars to reclaim their car.
I posted two blog entries about this controversy in September that you can find here and here.
On my first post an anonymous commenter wrote “I’d be curious if the towing company is licensed to do business in Renton”. I assumed the company probably had a Renton license, as it seemed unlikely that a company that was being discussed so publicly at Council meetings would not be checked by anyone at the city as to whether they had a Renton business license. But I told the commenter I would look into it.
Anonymous comment on my blog post
I only recently followed up on this comment, and the answer surprised me.
The city publishes an 81 page list of active Renton business licenses, and Lynn’s Towing is not on it. There are nineteen other tow companies on the list, including many in Renton and some in Seattle, Issaquah, Burien, and elsewhere. There are also many other types of businesses with headquarters on Central Ave in Kent, near Lynn’s towing address of record. But Lynn’s Towing does not appear to be on the list. Readers can check the list for themselves here.
The active business license list can be found on this page of the Renton City Website
Lynn’s Towing would have been in this part of the list if they had a Renton business license
This excerpt from Renton’s website says they are required to get a Renton business license.
Note that I’m only commenting on whether Lynn’s Towing appears to be on the published list of Renton business licenses. Towing companies also need Federal DOT and State Business License, and I think that they meet those requirements; State license records show them with a current license. I tried to access the company’s website today to find their posted license information, and unfortunately the site appeared to be down both times that I checked it.
Their website appeared down or the public was locked out when I checked it today
I’m not an attorney, so I can not say whether a lack of a city license would have any bearing on the legality of the towing actions that were discussed at the Renton City Council meetings. Towing procedures are covered primarily under state law (and at this time I assume the business has the necessary state licenses). City business licensing concerns would primarily be an issue between the city and the business, and often involve payment of taxes to the correct jurisdiction.
Anyone in Renton whose car gets towed involuntarily could ask for proof that the towing company is licensed to do business in our city. A business found to be ignoring licensing rules has no credibility in making judgements about who is lawfully following parking rules.
The Reserve at Renton on Rainier Avenue South (near Fred Meyer). Motorists patronizing these ground-floor businesses have very few designated parking spots, and if the spots are taken they risk towing if they park elsewhere on the property. Patrons are directed to park in “unmarked spots” which actually belong to adjacent property owners: the Feast Buffet or Fred Meyer shopping center. These adjacent parking lots also have tow signs designating they can tow “unauthorized” vehicles, with a Renton-based towing company’s contact information. There have been no complaints to City Council about the Renton-based towing company or unfair towing.
There have been no complaints to City Council about towing from the Renton Center/ Fred Meyer parking lot or the adjoining Feast Buffet lot (shown here). Patrons and visitors of the Reserve at Renton appear to be effectively directed here, even though this property is under different ownership.
Entrance to Howard Hanson Dam in 2009; from this earlier blog post
Howard Hanson Dam is central to preventing Green River flooding, and it’s been in the news in the past few days. Seventeen years ago the dam needed major updates in order to store it’s full design capacity of water. Public officials from potential flood areas including Renton participated in helping the Army Corps of engineers acquire the necessary funding to make permanent repairs and install temporary levee extensions (walls of sandbags on top of existing levees) in case we experienced a bad flood while completing the repairs.
The concern was not with the dam itself, but rather the soil near the dam. The dam is located in a valley that was narrowed by a landslide 10,000 years ago. This ancient landslide was beginning to seep water, and the Army Corps of engineers ultimately injected concrete into this landslide zone to stop the water from forming streams that ultimately could have grown into a washout. The concerns subsided in spring of 2010 as repairs were completed.
This blog post from 2009 documents a visit by public officials to this site where we got a personal view of the problem near the dam. Councilmember Terri Briere and I attended and represented Renton.
Public officials from Renton, Kent, Auburn and King County inspect the Howard Hanson dam in 2009; see this blog post for more photos
Renton Councilmember Terri Briere inspecting the Howard Hanson dam in 2009; see this blog post for more photos
To see all the posts I’ve published concerning Howard Hanson Dam, please click here.
My home as at the corner of NE 23rd Street and Harrington Place NE, which gave me both a power outage and a front-row seat to the power restoration during the last 24 hours. We were one of the estimated 100,000 PSE customers without power at the end of last night’s storm.
A large seemingly-dead cedar tree fell across NE 23rd street, snapping the high-voltage power lines and yanking a utility pole out of alignment. My daughter-in-law who lives in a home nearby and was still awake at 2:00 AM heard the crash and saw the sparks on the street as the wires grounded and shorted out. Thankfully no one appeared to have been injured.
I’ve been told Renton Firefighters arrived quickly and inspected the area, ensuring no one was underneath the tree and that there was no lingering fire danger. They closed the road with tape, and city road crews followed up with additional signage.
Early this afternoon Puget Sound Energy workers and a tree service arrived in force, and removed the tree and restored the wires in about two hours of work. We and 56 other households were of course all happy to get power restored. Residents along NE 23rd street were also happy to have the intimidating wires picked up so they could get out of their driveways.
Here are some photos from the restoration:
Accumulated floating debris between the Renton kayak launch and the Boeing 737 factory near the Cedar River delta illustrates how much material came down the Cedar River
Large logs and silt have accumulated at the Cedar River delta as a result of last week’s flooding. The large logs will ultimately need to be dealt with by authorities for the safety of Renton’s seaplane base. While the woody material and sand bar is good for salmon, it attracts seabirds which is undesirable for all airplanes using Renton airport. (In this photo the Cedar River is entering the lake from the left, midway back in the picture.)
In my previous entry on December 9th, I shared the concern that NOAA was predicting a five-foot increase in the water level in the Cedar River in Renton over the next few days (December 9th-12). Their predictions proved fairly accurate, and our city went through an anxious and restless few days as water levels in the river ultimately rose to the bottoms of some of our downtown bridges before finally subsiding.
As an atmospheric river deluged Western Washington and the Cascade foothills, city crews and residents worked to protect our city and others as best they could while Army Corps and Seattle engineers captured as much water as they could in reservoirs on the Cedar River, Green River, Skagit River, and elsewhere.
Thankfully, the rain slowed about when NOAA had predicted, right when Cedar River’s Chester Morse reservoir was topped out at about 10 percent above it’s normal high water mark– a point where no more water could have been sequestered.
During these events many Renton residents (me included) had taken to Facebook and other social media to share real-time information and photos. With this blog entry, I’m bringing this blog up-to-date on these posts.
Authorities are only beginning to assess the damage from this flooding, and I’m sure there has been hardship and property damage that we are not yet aware of. There have been reports on social media that some people in Renton were displaced from their homes at the Riviera Apartments and likely elsewhere. My sincere sympathies are with everyone who has been impacted, and I encourage everyone to report any damage to the city for possible Federal and State assistance.
Even with the new rain we are experiencing, NOAA shows the Cedar River might only touch the “minor” flood stage, about four or five feet lower than last week’s record flood stage.
However, today a new threat to Renton and Tukwila arose when a Green River levee failed near Southcenter mall, causing an emergency evacuation of parts of the valley.
This warning was issued early this afternoon. A warning is still in place but is being scaled back to a smaller area as work continues on the levee.
Current NOAA prediction for Renton shows only the potential for minor flooding on the Cedar River in the near-term foreseeable future
Below the cut I’ve included my Facebook posts from the past week, along with photos of the high water in the Cedar River that crested last Thursday and Friday.
Bike Dismount Zone; the riverfront walking path near the Don Persson Senior Center is currently underwater
The current weather forecast shows that water could rise potentially another five feet in the Cedar River. We’re currently at 12 feet, and we could go to 17. (Note this is a forecast, subject to change.)
Looking upstream from Renton’s Don Persson Senior Center. Tomorrow and Thursday we’ll begin seeing large floating logs and debris, including whole fallen trees from last year’s bomb cyclone.
Concern Area: This is the view from this afternoon looking downstream from Renton’s Senior Center. If the river level ever rises above the bottom of this Logan Avenue Bridge, the bridge will act like a dam. Water will then accumulate behind the bridge, forming a lake, as it rises enough to overtop the bridge. The Wells Ave and Bronson Way bridges have similar situations upstream (near the library.)
This image shows that if water ever backs up behind the Logan Street Bridge, the Senior Center could be in danger of flooding. This was one of several risks that led us to dredge the river in 1998 and 2016.
Motorists on South Second Street are warned about Rainier Ave traffic delays ahead
One key lesson every good project manager learns early in their career: if you want a project to come in on budget, it must come in on schedule. Delays create extra labor costs, out-of-sequence work, tool and equipment shortages, evolving requirements, and other consequences that can dramatically increase the costs.
I previously described the eight months of delays and $4,000,000 cost increase on this project in a blog post in March: “Motorists and businesses losing patience with delayed Rainier Avenue project, originally scheduled to finish this week”
Monday we learned that these delays have cost Renton another $3,400,000. The complete ten-page spending bill can be found here.
Excerpt from this December 1, 2025 spending bill
The following excerpt from one of the engineering contractors on this project shows how initial delays cascade into further delays, and new costs rapidly accumulate as requirements and processes shift over time (emphasis added).
“All documentation was developed by our team and subsequently approved by the City and its legal review team expeditiously following Notice to Proceed. Unfortunately, we were unable to proceed with presenting and securing these property rights due to evolving pre-certification review complications between WSDOT and City management lasting approximately seven to eight months. That said, we’ve been notified recently that these oversight issues are resolved and that our team will shortly be given approval to make offers.
The complicating factors at this point, and the purpose of this contract amendment request, is that all valuations are now over six months old, as are the project’s title reports, and WSDOT recently has undergone extensive updates to its Right of Way Manual in the last 60 days resulting in a total redrafting of all of the City’s temporary construction easement documents. Also notable: in an unprecedented compliance order for all local public agencies, WSDOT is now requiring pre-approval on all Administrative Settlement Justifications on a parcel-by-parcel basis for negotiations settlements $1 or more above Fair Market Value. It is difficult to estimate how much more effort this WSDOT review will cost, but we will be diligent to secure these approvals as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Regarding our increased fee request, the revisions to all (26) Appraisal Waivers and redrafting of all of the offer packages are effectively a restart of most of our efforts.”
Keeping on schedule starts at the top. Renton’s previous Public Works director brought in earlier phases of Rainier Avenue improvement on time and on budget, with very few lane closures. He personally inspected the construction sites daily, and kept the project moving as planned. When anything got off schedule, those of us in elected office would help him get it back on schedule. Renton’s current Public Works director often phones into meetings from his home on Bainbridge Island, and has never lived in King County. Lengthy lane closures and delays have been the norm on this project, and it feels like little has been done to protect the schedule or cost to taxpayers.
Motorists have had to contend with perpetual jams from constant lane closures during most of this project; previous phases of Rainier Ave Improvement were done with few lane closures.
Residents should make it clear to Renton leadership that no more delays and no more tax money will be tolerated for this project– it’s way past time to get it done.
The countdown clock on the left gives public speakers yellow and red lights as their three-minute time expires during their hurried comments to Renton City Council. The clock on the right records the time of day (and official meeting length). Weekly council meetings have been averaging just 44 minutes, so Council should consider allowing five-minute public comments again.
During the 28 years I was on Renton City Council, we gave members of the public who attended our meetings at least five minutes to speak. If someone was giving complex testimony and needed more than five minutes, we would almost always grant it. I always felt that anything less than five minutes was too rushed, and particularly difficult and unfair to those who speak English as a second language. Occasionally over the years various members suggested shortening it, and I always pushed back, insisting on maintaining at least five minutes.
I retired from Council in December 2021, and in the following year the standard was changed to three minutes. This change has resulted in too much hurried testimony, missed opportunities to solve problems early, and complaints from residents who often feel they are not being heard. Rushed testimony doesn’t just miss key points– it also can come off as more hostile than intended, as hurried speakers often side-step pleasantries, don’t have adequate time to gauge how their comments are affecting their listeners, and sometimes may not feel they can slow down to breathe.
I personally recommend that Renton Council restore the five minute testimony. Current Renton Council meetings average about 45 minutes, and this change would only make them 5-10 minutes longer. Since Councilmembers are paid about $500 per week for their service, it seems fair that they give members of the public two more minutes each to speak on issues of concern to them. (It’s typical to have between 2-5 speakers, and five speakers talking for two extra minutes would only add ten minutes).
The Council has also become shy about discussing the issues brought up by the residents, and I’ve covered that concern in a previous blog entry here. The Council could add another five to ten minutes of interactive problem-solving with residents who come to speak, and still keep their average meetings to about an hour.
Below is a screenshot of the top of the agenda from my last Council Meeting in 2021, and the last paragraph shows that audience members still had five minutes each to speak to council, and even longer if we offered an exception (which we frequently did).
Below that is a chart showing the typical council meeting length.
This graph was provided to me by a resident who has been asking for increased time to speak at Renton City Council Meetings.
I-405 through Kennydale is empty in this September 10, 2023 photo, as freeway traffic detours its way through Renton streets, during one of the contractor’s many disruptive and burdensome closures during the past few years.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) just announced the I-405 Renton to Bellevue widening project has fallen a year and a half behind schedule. We’re just being told now, a few weeks before the “2025 expected completion” date that WSDOT had been sharing on their website for years.
Perhaps the worst part of the planned delay is that it will now stretch through TWO more summers, with presumably the same random full-freeway closures that we’ve endured the past few summers. These freeway closures have created unexpected traffic jams throughout Renton and the eastside that make it very challenging to create and keep weekend travel plans. The closures and jam-ups also make it difficult for residents to access emergency rooms and pharmacies when they need to.
Our State Department of Transportation needs to crack down on the contractor’s use of full freeway closures as part of their discussions with the contractor about the new timeline. Twenty years ago such full closures were virtually unheard of; meticulous planning would enable freeways to be worked on a lane at a time. But this past summer it felt like the freeway contractors were throwing random full-closures of a north or south direction at us every other weekend– and the unofficial detour routes always went through our neighborhoods, keeping us virtually stuck at home.
Below is a screenshot of the Washington State Department of Transportation blog entry announcing the delay.
Even when the freeway lanes are not closed, the construction is causing jams, even during non-peak hours. This photo on Saturday July 19th at noon (taken by my passenger) shows a typical off-peak stop-and-go slowdown on I-405.
The City of Renton’s current logo, shown above, includes images representing Renton’s significance as the birthplace of commercial jet aviation, the headquarters of the Seattle Seahawks, and the host of one of our region’s key salmon runs.
The City of Renton is considering dumping the images in the City’s logo that set our community apart from others. At last Monday’s Committee of the Whole Meeting, the Council was presented with a staff proposal to “refresh” and “simplify” the City’s logo. The proposed new logo would drop the airliner, football, and salmon from the logo. The new logo would appear as in the picture below.
The proposed new logo removes the Renton-specific icons, and just keeps one of the two generic four-pointed stars in the current logo.
Dropping community-focussed images is a departure from our neighboring cities’ approach, as well as a change to Renton’s approach of the last 60 years. Below are some logos from nearby cities, including images like a sailboat conjuring Des Moines’ impressive waterfront, a waterfall representing Snoqualmie, a tree-covered island for Mercer Island, a maple leaf for Maple Valley, and trees and mountains and water images for other cities.
Our neighboring cities use icons of waterfalls, trees, sailboats, mountains and even a maple leaf to project their community in their logo.
As a career airplane designer, I feel a special connection to the commercial airliner in Renton’s logo, as it recognizes our city’s importance as the world’s birthplace of commercial jet aviation. The salmon in the logo acknowledges Renton’s natural environment. and the significance of our Cedar River as home to the largest natural-origin Chinook Salmon run in the Lake Washington Watershed, as well as a key spawning ground for Coho and Sockeye salmon. The football (which I half expected to soon see paired with a soccer ball) reflects our identity as a headquarters for professional sports, and Renton’s overall support of recreation and entertainment.
This chart shows the evolution o Renton’s logos during the decades. The first Renton-specific icons were added to the logo 60 years ago.
The presentation to City Council justifies the change as a “simplified design.”
The Committee of the Whole briefing is not the final word on this topic. Before the decision becomes final, the Council has to formally pass legislation implementing the simplified logo.
[Update 2/3] Fortunately, several council members expressed concerns about the proposal, and have so far prevented this staff proposal from advancing. Ed Prince was very vocally against the logo change, along with Ruth Pérez & James Alberson and Valerie O’Halloran. Two members were absent from the discussion. The topic has so far not been reported out of committee.
The full details of the proposal can be found here, as well as the staff’s proposed phase-in plan. Anyone with an opinion on this issue can write to the Council at council@rentonwa.gov, or write to the Mayor at mayor@rentonwa.gov.
An 18-inch gap under the security fence is large enough for adults and children to easily access the dangerous Garden Plaza buildings (often referred to as Park Avenue building). People are also using the retaining wall (on the far right) to step over the barbed wire here.
Every time I’ve driven past the derelict Garden Plaza buildings I’ve easily spotted one or more holes in the security fence. Everytime these failings are brought to the City’s attention, City leaders insist that permanent repairs by the building’s owner are imminently forthcoming, or an all-new fence is about to be installed that will be far more more impassible and secure than the previous one. But the result is always the same.
The latest barbed-wire-topped fence was the subject of a September Renton Reporter article, in which the Mayor addressed on-going neighborhood concerns about this building. The mayor assured the public the city had issued a firm deadline for construction of this new fence which was supposed to be “unscalable” (the article said “upscalable,” which I assume was a typo.)
I easily spotted the current fence openings from the road. A large gap at the bottom of the fence near a staircase provides enough room for even an adult to easily slide under; the bare spot in the fallen leaves shows the gap is in use. For those trespassers that don’t want to slide under, the concrete retaining wall enables intruders to take a large step over the barbed wire above the gap; the sagging barbed wire shows this is happening.
The public has been promised that this property would be secured. The unsecured property full of broken glass, open drops, and biohazards continues to be a deadly risk to curious children and people seeking shelter. It’s also a severe fire hazard for the neighborhood, and thrown objects from these buildings have put motorists at risk.
The owners of this property have had years to comply with city requirements. They are making a mockery of Renton’s code enforcement. Strong code enforcement could have saved these buildings when they first went into disrepair; now we need strong code enforcement to protect human safety.
The code requires all the doors and windows be secured on vacant buildings, with either their original materials or architectural panels that match the building design. It also requires that fire protection systems be maintained. The code includes no exceptions or special privileges just because the building might be torn down in the future. At some point every building will eventually be torn down– but it still has to meet code in the meantime. If the owners won’t do the work to meet codes, the city should do the work and bill the owners for it, putting a lien on the property if necessary–which is allowed under the law.
If you want to help you can email the Council and Mayor, and insist that code enforcement be taken seriously on these dangerous and blighted buildings: Send emails to: council@rentonwa.gov and mayor@rentonwa.gov.
For further background on this property and the relevant codes, click here.
This retaining wall provides an opportunity for intruders to step over the fence at the top of the stairs; the sagging wire shows it is happening.
These buildings are dangerous! No one should be entering this building site without authorization and appropriate protective equipment. Even standing next to the buildings could be deadly due to falling glass and debris.
The Renton Airport Advisory Committee discusses the increase of nighttime jet traffic over Mercer Island at the Committee’s September 9 meeting.
The Renton Airport Advisory Committee discussed intensifying noise concerns at their third-quarter September 9 meeting, and the link to the zoom recording of the meeting was just made available. The video can be watched here.
The noise discussion starts at 43 minutes, first with some questions by Jeff Dineen (representing South Renton and RAAC vice-chair) regarding how pilots get trained on noise abatement procedures, followed by an intense discussion of overnight jet traffic over Mercer Island. Tom Imrich (representing Mercer Island and a highly-experienced commercial jet pilot) makes the case that too many of the takeoffs are occuring at just a few-hundred feet above Mercer Island’s tree-tops at all hours of the night, and that a higher take-off profile or an east-channel (over-water) departure route should be invoked to spare Mercer Island’s neighborhoods from the noise and safety risks of the low-flying jet traffic.
The RAAC discussion covers some of the concerns that precipitated a firm letter from Mercer Island’s Mayor to the Renton Airport Director in September.
The video and draft meeting minutes were made available in conjunction with the announcement for the fourth quarter RAAC meeting, to be held on November 18th at 5:00 PM. I’ve attached the agenda below. (Meetings of the RAAC are open to the public, although public comment is typically not taken at the meetings.)
In several previous blog entries I’ve expressed concern that a new focus by Renton Airport leadership on inviting jet centers into Renton Airport, diplacing historic small-parts manufacturers and piston-aircraft users, would lead to increasing conflicts of this type. All my earlier blog posts related to Renton Airport and the RAAC can be found here, or by clicking “Airport” in the Category sidebar.
(Standing from left: Tim Schlitzer, Jesse Tanner, Toni Nelson, Randy Corman, Kathy Keolker, Bob Edwards; Seated from left: Mayor Earl Clymer, Dick Stredicke.)
As last-minute voters fill out their ballots for Renton’s caring and talented Mary Clymer (don’t forget!), I thought I would share this photo from when I served with her grandfather Earl Clymer in the mid 1990’s. Earl served 18 years on Council followed by 8 years as Mayor and left a family legacy of service to Renton.
Per the Seattle Times: “As a council member and as mayor, Mr. Clymer was known for his efforts to protect Renton’s aquifer, expand its parks system and senior-citizen services, and attract and retain businesses.”
I’m looking forward to seeing Earl’s granddaughter Mary, who already serves our community in many other ways, carry on Earl’s legacy at Renton City Hall.
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