Resident Says City's Street Plan Invites Lawsuits

The issue might be out of the University Place City Council's court, but that didn't stop angry residents from pleading their case.

And one of them warned city leaders that a to connect Bridgeport Way and Sunset Drive West could result in a costly lawsuit.

Doug Lueken, one of the loudest opponents of the proposed extension, said the plan could result in lawsuits from neighbors who argue they received little notification of the plan.

"If the city doesn't remove 37th Street from the Planned Action, you invite claims of lawsuits which can easily be anticipated," he said.

About 10 people testified over the plan for Town Center at the University Place City Council meeting Monday. They weren't necessarily upset about mixed-use development. They didn't want the city to transform their rural neighborhood street — one of the few remaining in mostly developed University Place — into a busy thoroughfare. Patch first reported the controversy in October.

Leuken, who lives on 37th Street West, told officials that if the city persists, "We'll have a long battle on our hands, you and I."

The city tried to assure residents that the proposed extension is under reconsideration. The University Place Planning Commission will re-examine the plan next year.

City Attorney Steve Victor even went so as far to guarantee the proposed 37th Street extension would be reconsidered.

"We're not going to do anything to implicate pushing 37th through without all that" being addressed, he told the City Council.

UP leaders later unanimously approving the overall Town Center plan.