A Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) member recently built a condo project in Anacortes. The buildings were completed and had passed final inspection, and there had been no challenge to any of the building permits. But then the City of Anacortes denied the condo project a certificate of occupancy because the Samish Indian Nation alleged the property may contain “cultural deposits.”

The city and the Samish Indian Nation wanted to keep the property vacant in order to perform an archeological survey and preserve the site through landscaping and engineering.

City officials told the builder he would have to pay for these costs, which an archeologist estimated would cost tens of thousands of dollars and take several months to complete.

Knowing an old fashioned shakedown similar to how the New Jersey Mafia operates when he saw one, the member called the BIAW Legal Team for assistance. BIAW wrote a short letter to the city’s Director of Planning on September 11 that began: “This letter is to inform you that a lawsuit is being prepared against the City of Anacortes…”

It took only that one letter, which reminded the Director that a recent state Supreme Court decision held both a municipality and individual city council members personally liable for due process violations.

The City of Anacortes immediately issued a certificate of occupancy for the project.