Owner claims city of Medical Lake is discriminating against him
It appears Andy Louie bought a lemon, and wants to make lemonade, but the city of Medical Lake won’t let him.
The lemon in question is a 99-year-old, 888-square-foot building located at 110 S. Lefevre St. in Medical Lake that Louie purchased in March 2018 for $35,000, according to county documents.
The structure was later deemed uninhabitable after complaints from an adjacent business and local residents prompted a city inspection, according to City Administrator Doug Ross.
Farm Salvation owner Gerri Johnson, one of those who complained to the city, noted that the structure emits a strong moldy smell when it rains. Chunks of siding had fallen onto her property. A tree or bush can be seen growing up out of the back roof.
According to a September 2018 city letter to Louie, after the inspection the city condemned the structure and ordered it demolished by Jan. 1.
But at a hearing held that October, the city agreed to delay the demolition if Louie hired a structural engineer to assess the integrity of the building and determine how to make it habitable.
Louie said during a recent on-site interview that his vision when he bought the “historic building” was to offer it as leased commercial space.
Inside, a portion the north wall and floor had been exposed. Both clearly sagged. Beneath the floor was little or no crawl space; dirt was visible just below exposed floor joists. No foundation was evident. The exposed wall was actually not the original exterior wall, but a second 2-inch-by-4-inch wall installed along the interior of the original exterior wall.
This area was the crux of the problem in Louie’s opinion; a minor repair job, he said.
The engineer he hired told him to install a small concrete foundation slab to support the wall.
But Louie’s carpenter was chased out of the building by Ross when he tried to install the slab, according to Louie.
He felt the city was being unreasonable and obstructionist — even discriminatory.
“The building department says, ‘we don’t want to look at it until I get a structural engineering for a few pieces of 2x4s,’” Louie said.
In his opinion, the building wasn’t going to collapse. He felt the city building inspector should advise him.
“It’s your job to tell me what to do,” he said of the city inspector.
Except that’s not their job, at least according to Cheney building inspector Terry Mourning.
“For the building inspector, our role is to check and see if they’re following the plans, and that it meets code,” Mourning said. “But at the end of the day — for example, a contractor — it’s their responsibility to make the decision about how to go about it.”
Louie said he is owner of Polytech Construction, and a real estate investor who owns over 150 properties in the Spokane area, and has been doing construction in the greater Spokane area for nearly 40 years.
He repeatedly complained about being forced to hire a licensed engineer to provide a plan for what he considered simple repairs to the aging wood structure.
“You don’t need a mechanic to change a tire,” he said.
City officials disagree, and paint a different story.
According to a May 6, 2019 letter from the city, the engineer’s report and construction plans Louie agreed to provide after the hearing never arrived. City officials again informed Louie the building had to come down, this time by July 1.
On May 24 the city received another letter from Louie that included an engineer’s report. But the report focused on remediating only part of the structure — the concrete footing Louie tried to install.
It further recommended replacing rotten floor joists and wall studs in the area, and constructing a “cricket” — a dormer-like roofing structure — along the entire north side of the roof to channel rain and snow melt away from a narrow, six-inch space between Louie’s building and Johnson’s.
The engineer’s report also made it clear that the remainder of the building had not been “fully analyzed.”
“Other defects and weaknesses may exist within the existing structure that did not come to our attention during our limited investigation,” the letter concluded.
The partial analysis wasn’t good enough for city officials, who gave Louie until June 30 to supply a full set of construction plans and obtain all necessary construction permits.
Louie has two options, according to Ross: make it habitable or demolish it. Stalling isn’t one of them.
“It’s really up to the property owner if he wants to bring up and make it structurally sound according to the structural engineer,” Ross said.
Louie claims he has hired the same structural engineer to conduct a second, complete structural analysis of the building. That report, he said, was due “anytime.”
The city has heard it before.
“The only thing we’ve done is extended his timeline to give him a chance to get a structural engineer … and get plans done,” Ross said. “His whole beef is having to get a structural engineer, which he never seems to mind when it buys him a little more time”
Louie sent a hand-written letter to the city dated June 26, stating he was in the process of obtaining an engineering review and structural drawings for the entire building. He requested an extension.
“I’ve given him to the end of this month, I believe,” Ross said.
Louie accused the city of being racially discriminatory because he was Chinese.
“When I look at Medical Lake, I don’t see any people of color,” he said, threatening a lawsuit. “I can see the bottom line is that (Ross) wants me out of here.”
Ross noted that the condemnation process was not unique to Louie and was codified in Medical Lake ordinances. The situation had nothing to do with discrimination.
“That’s our process,” Ross said. “No exceptions were made for Mr. Louie, or any different process.”
As for accusations of discrimination, Ross stuck to his position.
“I don’t have a response to that,” he said. “It’s the process.”
Johnson pointed out that her business partner is Ben Cabildo, a local businessman who is of Filipino descent.
Nearly 6 percent of the Medical Lake population is foreign born, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Just over 3 percent are Asian, and 1 in 10 are of two or more races.
“I made a mistake and bought a building in this town,” Louie said.
Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].
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