HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 57 - 09-11-2020 - DESC - Mtn for ReconsiderationITEM NO. 57
HEX-000699
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DOWNTOWN EMERGENCY SERVICE CENTER’S
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION -- 1
NORTHWEST RESOURCE LAW PLLC
101 Yesler Way, Suite 205
Seattle, WA 98104
206.971.1564
BEFORE THE CITY OF RENTON
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
IN RE THE MATTER OF THE APPEAL
BY:
RENTON HOTEL INVESTORS, LLC,
DOWNTOWN EMERGENCY SERVICE
CENTER,
KING COUNTY,
Appellants.
No. CODE-20-000321
DOWNTOWN EMERGENCY SERVICE
CENTER’S MOTION FOR
RECONSIDERATION
In his Final Decision issued August 31, 2020, the Hearing Examiner stated that:
Downtown Emergency Service Center] is further authorized to request
reconsideration and submit additional declarations to the extent that such evidence
would address whether the terms of this Decision would materially affect the
ability [of] DESC to further the public health officer[’]s objectives of de-
intensifying homeless shelters.
Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Final Decision, Appeal of Finding of Violation,
Renton Hotel Investors, LLC and King County, Case No. CODE20-000321, 20 (Aug. 31, 2020)
hereinafter “Final Decision”). The Final Decision sends Downtown Emergency Service Center
DESC”) down what will be a complicated and potentially contentious permitting process, the
outcome of which could entirely prevent DESC from furthering the public health officer’s
orders. DESC should not be required to seek a permit for its operations and in concluding this,
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DOWNTOWN EMERGENCY SERVICE CENTER’S
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION -- 2
NORTHWEST RESOURCE LAW PLLC
101 Yesler Way, Suite 205
Seattle, WA 98104
206.971.1564
the Hearing Examiner may have misunderstood the nature of DESC’s shelter and associated
services. The purpose of this Motion for Reconsideration and the accompanying Declaration of
Daniel Malone is to clarify the operations and services that DESC provides at the Red Lion Hotel
to ensure that DESC can continue to implement the public health officer’s order to de-intensify
homeless shelters.
DESC is currently operating its main shelter at the Red Lion Hotel. Prior to the
COVID-19 pandemic and Dr. Jeffrey Duchin’s order to de-intensify the shelter, DESC’s main
shelter operated at the Morrison Hotel in Pioneer Square in Seattle. COR 2, ¶ 7 (Declaration of
Daniel Malone, July 15, 2020). Clients of the Morrison Hotel arrived from all over King County
and Washington State, as the main shelter is a primary resource to which hospitals discharge and
law enforcement refer individuals from across the region. Id. at ¶¶ 9, 18, 19.
DESC’s clients at the Red Lion are almost entirely suffering from behavioral disabilities
due to mental illness and in some cases substance use disorders. Id. at ¶ 14. They are also
medically fragile. Id. at ¶¶ 9-12. They are disabled within the meaning of the Americans With
Disabilities Act, the Washington Law Against Discrimination, and other laws forbidding
discrimination against the disabled. The services DESC provides to its clients are the minimum
necessary to support individuals with behavioral disabilities that have resulted in homelessness.
Declaration of Daniel Malone (“Malone Decl.”), ¶ 4.
DESC’s shelter is not a “night shelter” – which opens at some point in the afternoon and
from which its clients must leave in the morning. Id. at ¶ 3. It provides shelter to formerly
homeless individuals on a 24/7 basis. Id. at ¶ ¶ 3, 4. Like hotel guests with a multi-day stay,
clients may remain at the shelter all day if they choose or may leave during the day and return at
night. Id. at ¶ 3. At the Morrison Hotel, where sleeping accommodations were in a bunk room
and there was limited common room space, more clients tended to leave during the day than is
the case at the Red Lion. But in both circumstances, clients were not and are not now required to
leave during the day. Id.
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DOWNTOWN EMERGENCY SERVICE CENTER’S
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION -- 3
NORTHWEST RESOURCE LAW PLLC
101 Yesler Way, Suite 205
Seattle, WA 98104
206.971.1564
The Hearing Examiner also seems to have overstated the nature of the services that
DESC provides for its clients at the shelter. The services DESC actually provides are food and
cleaning, which the Hearing Examiner recognized are akin to typical hotel services, see Final
Decision, 14, plus case management services and crisis management services. Malone Decl.,
4. As described in the Declaration of Daniel Malone, the crisis management services are rare,
but because of the fragile nature of DESC clients, they do on occasion go into crisis and DESC is
prepared to respond to that. Id. The case management services are provided to address the needs
of the DESC clients based on their disabilities. Id. None of those services are available to the
general public, so these services do not attract people who are not DESC’s clients to the Red
Lion. Id.
These facts are significant, because they demonstrate why the Hearing Examiner erred in
suggesting that while DESC’s use may be permittable as an unclassified use, it should be
required to obtain a conditional use permit for its “day shelter” use. DESC’s operations should
not be divided into two distinct services, a “night shelter” and a “social service organization.”
See Final Decision, 11-14. The shelter cannot operate without the services DESC provides
because these services are required to support its clients, given their disabilities. Malone Decl.,
4. DESC’s services do not stop at a certain time of day, they are not open to the public, and
they are not temporally distinct as a “day shelter” and a “night shelter.” DESC’s use is more
properly viewed as a hotel that provides temporary accommodations for disabled individuals and
offers services reasonably required to support those individuals.
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DOWNTOWN EMERGENCY SERVICE CENTER’S
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION -- 4
NORTHWEST RESOURCE LAW PLLC
101 Yesler Way, Suite 205
Seattle, WA 98104
206.971.1564
DATED this 11th day of September, 2020.
NORTHWEST RESOURCE LAW PLLC /
s/ Elaine L. Spencer________________
Elaine L. Spencer, WSBA #6963
espencer@nwresourcelaw.com
206.971.1569
Lisa Chaiet Rahman, WSBA #51531
lrahman@nwresourcelaw.com
206.971.1568
Attorneys for Downtown Emergency Service
Center
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DOWNTOWN EMERGENCY SERVICE CENTER’S
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION -- 5
NORTHWEST RESOURCE LAW PLLC
101 Yesler Way, Suite 205
Seattle, WA 98104
206.971.1564
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I declare under penalty of the perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that I
caused the foregoing documents to be electronically filed with the Hearing Examiner for the City
of Renton by email to cityclerk@rentonwa.gov, as well as served upon the following parties at
the email address listed below:
Sumeer Singla, WSBA #32852
WILLIAMS KASTNER & GIBBS PLLC
601 Union Street, Suite 4100
Seattle, WA 98101-2380
Attorney for Renton Hotel Investors, LLC
ssingla@williamskastner.com
Shane Moloney, WSBA #35433
Leslie C. Clark, WSBA #36164
Alex Tuttle, WSBA #41743
CITY OF RENTON
1055 S. Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057
Attorneys for City of Renton
smoloney@rentonwa.gov
lclark@rentonwa.gov
atuttle@rentonwa.gov
srary@rentonwa.gov
Howard Schneiderman, WSBA #19252
Youn-Jung Kim, WSBA #23516
Lena Madden, WSBA # 41246
DANIEL T. SATTERBERG, King County Prosecuting
Attorney
W400 King County Courthouse
516 Third Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98104
Attorneys for King County
howard.schneiderman@kingcounty.gov
jina.kim@kingcounty.com
lena.madden@kingcounty.com
Chip Vincent, Administrator
Dept. of Community & Economic
Development
1055 South Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057
cvincent@rentonwa.gov
Phil Olbrechts, Hearing Examiner
Renton City Hall – 7th Floor
1055 S. Grady Way
Renton WA 98057
olbrechtslaw@gmail.com
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DOWNTOWN EMERGENCY SERVICE CENTER’S
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION -- 6
NORTHWEST RESOURCE LAW PLLC
101 Yesler Way, Suite 205
Seattle, WA 98104
206.971.1564
DATED this 11th day of September, 2020, in Seattle, Washington.
s/Eliza Hinkes
Eliza Hinkes, Paralegal
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