the city wants to put a bus stop in front of my shop! help!

[john walker's workshop]

i need the help of my customers and friends to head off a proposed bus stop in front of my shop. if enough people can write a letter to king county transit on my behalf, they may reconsider. basically, if the proposal goes as planned, there will be no parking in front of my shop. i will have to park down the block and in the residential neighborhood, which won't go over well with the neighbors, who need their parking too. tow truck access will be difficult, because they will constantly be blocking the busses. towed in cars will have to be parked a block away, and how am i going to get them back to the shop, other than calling another tow truck when i'm ready to work on them. i can't possibly park all the cars inside the shop during the day. all bus stops also generate a lot of graffiti and other property damage, as well as garbage, wierdos, requests for change and restroom use, and urinators. fumes from the busses will travel right up the driveway into the shop. with a bus every 15 minutes, access in and out of the shop will be a pain, waiting for the bus to get out of the way. i'm also worried about security, with hundreds of bus riders peering into the shop all day, checking out the cars and thousands of dollars worth of equipment and tools. it won't be good. the other two businesses on either side of me, a large antique shop, and a CD and tape copy store both have a lot of vehicle traffic and will suffer as well. the transit plan is to eliminate a pair of existing stops one block north and one block south of me. both of these existing stops have been there for eons, and do not adversly affect any of the businesses they are in front of. the small diner, accounting office, and two apartment buildings have no significant need for vehicle access. the existing stop to the south of me would be the least likely to affect anyone, and should be retained. the remaining eight years of my lease will not be easy with this setup, and could possibly force me to break the lease and move elsewhere, which, at my age, may be my home shop, which would result in a drastic reduction of customer service and income.

if any of you feel like writing an e/mail letter to king county transit on my behalf, i would be forever in your debt.
the letter should be e/mailed to me, at jwworkshop@aol.com. please use this e/mail address, because the pelican private message box will only accept a limited number of messages before becoming full. i will print them out and present the pile to king county transit before october 15th, which is the end of the discussion period. i will continue to forward the letters i receive after the 15th also.

please address the letter to:

Mary Bemowski, acting transit planner,
c/o king county metro transit, and voice your concerns. mary seems to be on my side, and is a very nice lady, so please be nice.

thanks in advance, and if i have to buy a couple of printer ink cartridges, and a big stack of paper, so be it.

[juanbenae]

i am applying for a job with the city of seattle so i dont want to piss anyone off. i will work on getting it removed if i get hired by the engineering dept.

[pwd72s]

The sheer stupidity of bureaucracy never ceases to amaze me...
John, I wish you luck.

[ruf-porsche]

You should see if you can get the riders that are using the buses to write on their behalf. Seems like the bus company is trying to combine two corner stops into a mid block stop that will serve both of these stops.

If the other stops are a transfer point from one bus line to another the riders should be informed that they will now have to walk a half a block to make the connections. Bus company don't listen to people that don't use their service, they only listen to people that use their service. Also the riders using those stops should be made aware that they will now have to walk to and from the mid block stop, instead of being let off at the corner.

[stealthn]

John,

Have you stated to the city/county exactly what you have above, it sounds like you have a great bunch of arguments against the move.
You could try petitioning the riders at the two other stops to see who opposes the change.


Good luck, they say you can't fight city hall....

[john walker's workshop]

it's king county, not seattle.

[RickM]

John,

I would put the above text you created into a cover letter along with possible alternative locations/solutions. Plop that on top of the pile of letters and you'll be well armed.

Do you know any prosecutors, councilmen, board members, municipal workers...anyone with a possible connection? Surely one of these people have used your services...or a customer may have friend or neighbor who can help out.

[jpnovak]

Can you approach the neighborhood home owners with your discussions. You may get them involved about the parking situation. What about the other business owners? Can you think of another section to have a bus stop that is a block in either direction instead of your shop?

Just thinking out loud since I have never been to WA. I would like to visit your shop someday.

[MotoSook]

Originally posted by pwd72s
The sheer stupidity of bureaucracy never ceases to amaze me...
John, I wish you luck.

Ditto and ditto!


How about getting the local paper to write about it. It seems to me that this is a waste of tax payers' money. Why build a third bus stop when there are 2 within a couple of blocks of each other? A bus stop is a small structure, but I wonder what the city will pay for that dinky shelter. The tax payers will surely voice displeasure.

Any if you want to get technical..what is the cost of an additional stop between the two existing stops from a fuel and maintenance cost? Everytime a bus stops and then gets moving again, there is extra cost. And to do so when the length of the bus nearly spans the gap between stops? Pure insanity...and grossly inefficient.

Did the bus riders ask for a third bus stop? Or is this someone trying to use up their 2004 budget to ensure the same level of funding for next year?

Why not spend the funds to expand or improve the existing stops?

Good luck John. I'll send an e-mail.

[porschenut]

Step 1: Plead your case to the city just like you described it above. If they don't alter their plan, then proceed to step 2.

Step 2: Hire a lawyer and sue the city. People do it all the time when things like this come up.

It will cost a little money, but a judge is much more likely to rule in your favor than city officials. Good luck.

[MotoSook]

That's right Dave. The case is in your favor, John. The city will create hardship for you and the two other businesses which could potentially drive you out of business. A loss can be calculated in your favor.

[John Brandt]

JW,

I think in addition to all the suggestions below, you need to get a lawyer involved immediately.

[RSBob]

done. John, good luck!

[john walker's workshop]

i have a customer who is a lawyer, who is doing what he can. if i make enough noise, they may chose to leave me alone, and keep one of the existing bus stops. thanks to those who wrote already, and keep them coming.

[john70t]

Suggest that you collect a large group of speakers(other auto shops, neighboring buisnesses, neighbors) to present the petitions at the next city council. Mabye get the neighboring PCA clubs to all have a rally and park in the city hall lot that night to show that space is needed for turnaround and might make the city liable for lost business.

The other idea might be an ad for support in the paper, but that might backfire(no pun intended).

[Superman]

I'll write a good letter and provide it to John. But, having said that, anyone who just makes a blanket conclusion that public agencies are stupid is, well, not aware of what public agencies do, what they have to do, what they have to deal with to accomplish those goals, etc. Sure, it's fun to just call bureaucrats stupid, but it's ignorant, too. Should we just give up on trying to achieve transportation solutions? Are you thinking that there is always some easy solution that people always overlook (people who work for public agencies, that is. Obviously, people who work for private companies are BRILLIANT and do not have difficult decisions to make)?

Again, all of you who want to appear informed, please do your image a favor and avoid responding to all reports of public policy decision difficulties with a remark like "Stupid bureaucrats." It won't make you appear informed or analytical. Unless of course, you understand the issue and are prepared to outline the solution that everyone has missed.

[Randy Webb]

Sman is right. Also, the city/co. has a lot of leeway when they want to do something.

1. Call & find out who made the decision & why -- they aren't going to change things and cost themselves time & $$ unless they think there is a benefit. Find out what that benefit is.

2. the small diner, accounting office, and two apartment buildings have a significant need for bus transit access. See, I changed a few words in your sentence. This will be key. Get them to complain NOT to change it. Chat up the mgr. or owner of the apt. bldg. and the tenats ESP> if any are old or disabled - they won't want to go extra distance to get their bus.

Too bad you don't own the bldg. Coffeshops, certain types of restaurants & "browse" & buy businesses can make a fortune if they are at a transit stop.

Oh yeh - 3. Fumes from your shop - WHILE IN COMPLIANCE WITH ALL LAWS -- may inconvenience bust riders.

4. It is unsafe to mix high ped./bus rider traffic with signif. car traffic as customers enter & exit your shop.

And be sure to point out how much you support transit, while saying that this particular mix is not good for ANYBODY.

Contemplate your wheel Gr. Dead quote while sipping a malt beverage. It's just the wheel, so move out of the way if you have to.

[mmm]

What about circulating a petition in addition to the letter writing campaign?

[Jamie79SC]

John,

Sad to say, Metro doesn't really care if riders urinate on your shop or ask for change - they'll do those things wherever the stop is. The arguments about how the stop uniquely effects your business are the salient ones. Best of luck in making your case.

A few years back, Metro cut back much of our service in Kirkland. Somehow the planners managed to cancel the runs with full busses and kept the lightly used ones...

[john walker's workshop]

i think i should change the GD quote to "when life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door".