By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for White Center Now
For the first time since pre-COVID, the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council (NHUAC) met in-person last week for their monthly meeting. This meetup of neighbors was made possible because planned renovations have been completed at North Highline Fire District HQ, which had been the NHUAC group’s long-time meeting venue.
The meeting was facilitated by NHUAC vice president Barbara Dobkin (at center, below), because president Liz Giba wasn’t able to attend. Dobkin was joined by board members Pat Price, Christine Waldman, Brigitte Vaughn and Amelia Cullinan.
The meeting was highlighted by a presentation and Q&A with Leon Richardson, who was recently appointed as the Director of King County’s Department of Local Services. Richardson (at left, in the photo below) was joined at the meeting by fellow county staff Jesse Reynolds (Economic Development Program Manager, at center below) and Bong Santo Domingo (Community Liaison, at right below):
Sto. Domingo has been a fixture at NHUAC meetings and White Center gatherings in the past, and talked about the ongoing importance of civic engagement:
Reynolds encouraged attendees to participate in the team’s “What should downtown White Center look like?” online survey, which is open until the end of October. The survey is part of the White Center Fire Impact Zone (WCFIZ) Community Vision effort, kicked off largely in response to the various 2021 fires in downtown White Center. The goal of the beautification project is to “celebrate diversity and enhance public spaces to create a vibrant, attractive and welcoming area for residents, local businesses, and visitors that reflects White Center’s distinct character.” Reynolds said the results of the survey will help inform county leaders and community designers as options are explored for downtown White Center.
Richardson, who has held leadership roles for King County since 2019, was appointed to the Local Services director position in July 2024 by King County Executive Dow Constantine. He said that he lives in Federal Way and has been staying busy traveling throughout the county, “from Fall City to Vashon and everywhere else,” meeting with community members and “showing up” to support citizens. Local Services began in 2019 with a mission of providing new and better ways to serve unincorporated King County (which includes North Highline), and the department became responsible for essential services such as zoning, permitting, code enforcement and road services.
Richardson added that earlier that day he had spent time in White Center talking with business leaders such as the owners of Tim’s Tavern (more on Tim’s below), as well as various community members and stakeholders.
Dobkin and the NHUAC board had submitted some questions to Richardson in advance, and Dobkin went through them as Richardson provided summary responses (and said he’d follow-up with the group with more details later), and attendees also asked additional questions throughout:
- Q: Does Local Services advise regarding zoning and codes?
- A: Yes, Richardson said you can reach out us (206-477-3800 or AskLocalServices@kingcounty.gov), and if we don’t know, we’ll try to figure out the answer. Our goal is to be partners with the community, we are here to help, and can work with you to get the answer.
- Q: How do you work with permitting?
- A: The director of the permitting division reports to Richardson (who said he also receives a lot of direct calls about permitting).
- Q: We are very concerned about Tim’s Tavern (the volume of the outdoor music), which has been an ongoing source of frustration since they opened in White Center in April 2023. (editor’s note: see WCN coverage from NHUAC’s June meeting which was attended by county’s permitting director Jim Chan and external-affairs director David Daw). Our viewpoint is that the volume and hours of the music have not changed, and it is our understanding is that Tim’s is now working on a non-conforming permit. We know that our deputies are busy and we don’t want to bother them with noise complaints, but we also don’t want to have to move because of this. It’s negatively impacting our quality of life. Staff from Tim’s Tavern don’t seem interested in truly fixing the issue.
- A. Richardson said he does not know all of the answers or the latest information, but he committed to look into it very closely with his staff, and to get back to the NHUAC group in November with a timeline for getting answers and next-steps for working toward a resolution. He apologized for any misinformation shared by prior staff, and said “we will strive to do better; hearing all of this from you is helpful to me as the ‘new guy.'” He added that he met with staff at Tim’s Tavern earlier in the day to discuss some of the things he’s heard, and he said that Tim’s acknowledges that they had previously said they’d make some changes that haven’t been done yet, because they’re waiting to see what’s happening with permitting to see if they can keep their music and business going before they make large infrastructure investments. He said that typical processes are always followed unless a situation “represents a life safety or environmental impact” (upon saying that, several meeting attendees were quick to say that the situation certainly qualifies as a major disruption to life in the neighborhood).
- Meeting attendee Erick Thomas, a state liquor inspector, said that he had some familiarity with Tim’s Tavern, and location’s prior business Drunky Two Shoes (WCN coverage here), which also had live music. Thomas said that Tim’s holds essentially the same type of license, but with a different business model — having a band in the outside service area 5-6 nights per week, rather than a couple of nights per month at Drunky Two Shoes. Thomas said their 2024 license was just renewed, and next year will be up for renewal in September 2025 (someone can contest that, no later than 90 days prior for renewal). The state Department of Revenue will typically list the old business as well as the new business. (one meeting attendee noted that the online parcel viewer still says Drunkys).
- Attendee: My impression is that the people who run Tim’s don’t want to engage with us, and want to wait things out. At what point would a more forceful legal action be taken? A: Richardson said his understanding is that Tim’s has been cited twice for noise complaints, they went to court and prevailed in each case (that’s what he has been told, anyway, he said he would take a closer look). He said Tim’s is going through the county’s code enforcement process right now, which involves two aspects: use of the facility, and the structure(s) itself.
- Dobkin mentioned a potentially related situation with two bars in Covington that had similar issues (over the noise limit with indoor music), but mitigation steps were taken and they aren’t doing it anymore. She added that “I’ve never in 20 years called in a noise complaint. It’s not that we don’t like music. We don’t want to shut them down, we just want them to do the right thing.”
- Jesse Reynolds (from King Co) said it’s his understanding that Tim’s is currently working on the non-conforming permit, which is based on the structures built by the prior owner (Drunkys), and that per standard process. this is a private hearing.
- Richardson stressed that it will take him some time to get up to speed on the issue, and he said “in November we will follow-up with information for you.”
- Q: What can we do about dogs barking in the neighborhood in the middle of the night? A: Richardson said this falls in same realm as noise complaints. It’s not for Local Services, it’s for the King County Sheriff’s Office. We do partner with that office, though, and if you let us know the issue then we will work with them.
- Q: What about the quality of roads? Several attendees gave example of trouble spots (rough road 107th on the south side by Taco Bell side, a large divot 116th crossing 4th Ave northbound, standing water on 4th Ave SW just south of 108th on the east side). A: Richardson and his staff wrote down notes and said they’d look into it.
- Q: Is there any way you could help get air conditioning in Greenbridge where the Boys and Girls Club meets? Answer from Sto Domingo: They are their own entity, which reports to the national Boys and Girls Club group, we encouraged them to apply for an “Alan Painter grant” but to my knowledge they haven’t yet. That’s the best way for them to proceed.
- Q: Dobkin said “there’s a loophole” that has allowed properties in the community to be divided into 2500 sq ft lots, as people leave or pass away, which is “destroying the neighborhood” because many large areas are being paved and developed, with no trees or greenspaces. She said that Jim Chan had previously said he’d look into it. A: Richardson said he appreciates the feedback and that his team will look into it.
- Q: Dobkin said “we’re losing walkability in our neighborhood” with a lack of sidewalks, people driving way too fast, etc. Another attendee noted that they’ve repeatedly asked for roundabouts at 17th Ave SW and 100th St as well as speed bumps on other streets, but have not had much luck, and said that the county had done some traffic studies indicating that there hasn’t been an increase in traffic “but I can tell you there is.” Other attendees noted that they fear that traffic mitigations in some areas are simply diverting speeders to adjacent streets without really fixing the issue. Someone commented that “we need actual roundabouts; not like the fake one in front of Arbor Heights Elementary.” A: Richardson said some funds had been received from the state for road projects, and that they’d continue to work on things — he and his team made note of the items brought up by attendees.
Another attendee said that from a traffic perspective in White Center, “I feel like my head is on a swivel” because “people know that there’s very little enforcement in White Center, so it’s a free for all – I call it ’16th Ave Raceway.'” Another attendee said he works as a mailman and has seen traffic issues and speeding first-hand, and that it’s a frequent topic of concern in the postal workers’ meetings at the Westwood post office.
- Q: Dobkin asked about the new Rapid Ride “H line,” noting that officials had said it would make White Center a better transit hub, but because one of the main stops is next to the now-closed Bartell Drugs store, “it’s dangerous, it’s an open drug market, it’s not safe for anyone to use.” A: Jesse Reynolds confirmed that there have definitely been complaints, that there was a tent city but it’s gone now, and the alley has been an issue (they have a service doing litter pickup). He put in a plug for the team’s “What should downtown White Center look like?” online survey (open until Oct. 31st) and said his group will also have a booth at the White Center Artwalk on Oct 17th. Richardson noted that, in general, having police officers available to speak at meetings like NHUAC is beneficial for discussions like this, and he’d do his best to help with that (no officers were able to attend for this night’s meeting).
- Q: Dobkin asked about graffiti issues. A: Richardson said that his team had been talking to local businesses earlier that day, and that the consensus seems to be that if a business has a mural painted on it then there’s much less likely to be graffiti painted on top of it, but acknowledged that not every business has the resources to commission their own mural (and many businesses don’t own the building in which they operate). An attendee asked about the feasibility of an ordinance saying that any graffiti needs to be removed within a specific amount of time; but some businesses said it would be very burdensome. Alan Painter grants and community needs grants could help, and one attendee mentioned the 4Culture arts organization as a possible source for artists. Some of the graffiti is suspected to be gang-related, claiming territory, which brings unique problems.
- One attendee said there have been numerous complaints about the new traffic revision on 1st Ave SW south of 108th St., near the church and Axe Kickers, saying that although the changes were meant to help traffic, “it has caused so many near-accidents and constant horn-honking; they should erase and put it back the way it was.” Richardson’s team made note of the issue.
- An attendee said that their neighbors are facing a serious challenge in which an elderly person had lived there but recently moved into assisted living, someone else moved in to help, but there has been “questionable activity going on 24/7 for over a year,” and they’ve talked to the county sheriff’s office about it, but don’t have a resolution, although there was recently a very serious issue in which authorities were called to the scene. What can be done as people in our neighborhood are aging and need to leave, and their properties are taken over by others? Richardson said his team would look into it, and said there is an existing program (he thought it may be associated with the county prosecutor’s office) that he will try to look up and share information about. Another attendee noted that similar issues happen when houses become completely unoccupied, and overrun with pets and (in some cases) squatters. Because there are only 5-6 code enforcement officers for all of unincorporated King County, dealing with these issues can often take a while.
- There was a question from attendees about the status of the “floating islands” which were installed in 2013 in Hicklin Lake (formerly known locally as Hicks Lake) with the intent of helping water quality. County staff said that although the county “went all in” with volunteers on the floating islands, “sadly the water quality hasn’t improved” enough, so they’ll be taking the islands out, but that WALPA (WA State Lake Protection Association) does want to communicate with the community about what’s next. Ideas include a pathway around lake, and other means of improving water quality and keeping the lake clean.
Richardson noted that he would do his best to continue ramping up quickly on the job, and answering community concerns, but noted that he had some upcoming time off because he also serves in the Army Reserves, and needed to fly back to Washington DC for a commitment.
Darlene Sellers from King County Parks shared details about events at the White Center Teen Program (open at the “Log Cabin” at Steve Cox Memorial Park every day Tuesday-Saturday. She said they had a successful free soccer tournament recently for 72 kids, a glow-in-the-dark volleyball tournament coming up, and will soon be able to host cooking classes again because they were approved for needed facility renovations. Their big upcoming event is the “Halloween Bash” on Saturday Oct 26th, which will be a free event with separate haunted houses for younger kids and older kids, and White Center Food Bank donations happening. She said there are more than 100 teens volunteering for various events, across 40 different programs, with great engagement.
Scott Davis from the Kiwanis Club of White Center also promoted the club’s annual pancake breakfast and silent auction, which will be Saturday Oct. 12th from 8 am-noon at White Center Eagles (10452 15th SW). Ticket details here, $10/person and free for kids under 5.
NHUAC meets monthly on the first Thursday of the month, and plans to continue meeting in-person at the North Highline Fire Station in White Center (1243 SW 112th St.)
