City Council Votes To Buy Salty’s Site $2.78 Million Purchase Approved, Clearing Way For Lincoln Street Bridge

FROM FOR THE RECORD (Wednesday, March 5, 1997) Correction Dennis Beringer, city of Spokane real estate director, said that during construction of the Lincoln Street bridge, crews will have to “Blast basalt rock, jackhammer basalt rock.” He was misquoted in a story in Tuesday’s paper about the Spokane City Council meeting.

At least one member of the Spokane City Council called Monday night’s decision to buy the former Salty’s at the Falls restaurant a no-win situation.

“This is one of those issues that we’re damned if we do, … and a few years from now, we’ll be damned if we don’t,” said Councilman Orville Barnes.

Saying the action ultimately will save taxpayers money, the council voted unanimously to pay Happy Guest International $2.78 million for the land the city says is vital to the $29 million Lincoln Street bridge.

While some residents may criticize council members for buying the land now, others would blast them during bridge construction for spending money to build around the restaurant, Barnes said.

Ramps and retaining walls needed to keep the restaurant in business would cost at least $2 million, said Dennis Berringer, city real estate director.

The restaurant’s owners also might have sued if they had decided bridge construction was harming their business, he said.

Bridge crews will have to “blast salt rock, jackhammer salt rock, grade and fill” on the north bank of the Spokane River near the restaurant site, said Berringer. “We find it difficult that an operating business could stay there under these impacts.”

In a Feb. 11 letter from Happy Guest, vice president Scott Switzer told the city his company has “no viable alternative for the property other than to sell to you. … It would also appear that by buying the property now, the city will save the taxpayers a lot of money in the long run.”

Three members of the Lincoln Street bridge citizen advisory committee, formed in 1993, spoke in favor of the purchase, saying the land should be converted into park land.

Committee members recommended buying the land in 1993, they said, but the council chose not to because the bridge project was tied up in a lawsuit.

Now, critics say, the city thwarted Clinkerdagger Restaurant’s recent plan to lease the building.

Clinkerdagger’s Seattle-based owner, RUI, announced plans in December to move its Spokane restaurant into the Salty’s building - before signing a lease with Happy Guest. In January, RUI officials learned of the city’s plans to buy the land for the bridge project.

“This is just another case of the city undermining private enterprise,” North Side resident Allen LeTourneau told the council.

“Their negotiations were with Salty’s, not with the city,” said a visibly irritated Mayor Jack Geraghty.

“We can’t force anyone to retain ownership of a property,” said Councilwoman Phyllis Holmes. “We’re talking here about personal property rights.”

, DataTimes