Attorney asks to dismiss lawsuit over parking assessment

A request has been made to dismiss a lawsuit against the city of Whitefish over the downtown parking structure currently under construction.

The owners of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building filed the lawsuit in Flathead County District Court claiming the city unfairly created a special assessment to fund operation and maintenance of the structure. Attorney Sean Frampton, who owns the building on Central Avenue, filed the lawsuit last fall.

City Attorney Angela Jacobs filed a stipulation, agreed upon by both parties, in district court Aug. 8 to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning the lawsuit could be filed again later. The document states that the city waives any statue of limitations in the case until October.

Frampton said last week he plans to sell the Frank Lloyd Wright Building, and as long as that sale goes through he is not likely to refile the lawsuit.

“It was a friendly request from the city and we complied,” he said of the decision to dismiss the case.

Offices for the Morrison & Frampton law firm are set to relocate to a building on Baker Avenue outside the city’s special improvement district for parking structure, he noted.

Jacobs said since Frampton agreed to dismiss the lawsuit, the city agreed to waive any statute of limitation defense until October to allow the lawsuit to be refiled in the event the sale of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building does not go through.

“The city was in favor of the stipulation for dismissal because our bond counsel warned us the lawsuit could have affected our funding for City Hall [and the parking structure],” she said.

The lawsuit claimed the city’s funding formula for the parking special improvement district is “unlawful” and “inequitable” and the manor in which the district was created did not follow state law. The suit originally asked the court for a declaratory ruling that the city ordinances creating the district are invalid and unconstitutional.

The city approved an ordinance and resolution in August 2015 related to the special improvement district and prior to that approved a resolution of intent to create the district. At the time, the city said through the district the downtown business owners were directly sharing in the cost of the parking because of the benefit they would derive from the structure.

When the ordinance passed, the city estimated that businesses would face an average annual assessment of $348. The assessment is based on a number of factors, including proximity to the parking garage, square footage of each property and credit for parking spaces provided by the business. Properties are exempt if they are residential, vacant, federal properties or outside city limits.

In the lawsuit, Frampton claimed the formula is unlawful because it fails to consider the square footage relative to use and the need relative to use.

Frampton claimed the city violated state law, which says the city in creating an assessment for off-street parking, must consider a number of factors including, the benefit received by each parcel of land, the need for parking spaces for each parcel, the square footage and uses of any buildings and the availability of onsite parking space on any parcel.

During a July 2015 City Council meeting, City Manager Chuck Stearns said assessing the properties based on the usage of the building would be difficult and state law says the city only has to consider the use of the building, but it does not have to be a basis for the assessment.

Frampton also claimed the city violated state law when it did not pass an ordinance setting the formula to be used in determining the assessment prior to creating the district and also “by not correcting any errors and inequities” in the formula as raised by the public during a hearing.

According to the city’s minutes from the Aug. 17, 2015 City Council meeting, Council passed an ordinance setting the funding formula and separately passed a resolution creating the district.

The SID will not be assessed until the parking structure is complete or nearly complete. Construction won’t likely be finished until the spring of 2017.

In May 2013, Council approved designating a new City Hall to be built along with an attached parking structure. At the time, council also said some kind of funding district needed to be established to fund operation and maintenance costs for the parking garage.