On Tuesday night, during their monthly workshop meeting, the Richland City Council will consider which method to use for selling about 6 acres of surplus property at 24 Lawless Drive. At least one of the council’s favorite developers, Tim Bush, may be in the line to buy.
The saga of 24 Lawless, property next to Hwy 240 and behind Fred Meyer on Wellsian Way, began about six years ago. The history is important to understanding what’s going on now with the property, and the packet of information for the council provides little of the history.
In 2018, in a no-bid deal, the city sold Tim Bush two pieces of Lawless Park, one on each end of the park. One two-acre piece was on 1383 Lawless Drive (address according to Benton County property records). The other piece, about 1.5 acres, was on Duportail Street. The pieces were declared “unusable remnant portions” of the park and declared surplus and approved for sale to Bush at the same meeting on December 18, 2018, for $333,669.60 for both.
Bush had the property on Duportail rezoned from parkland to multi-family housing and proposed to build 18 townhouses on the site, two more than the city’s fire code allowed for a cul-de-sac. Records obtained by the Observer under the Washington Public Record Act, show that Bush appealed the restriction and the city allowed 18 units.
Bush propped up the property with a pile of rocks that was impressive even by Tri-Cities standards. After adding some infrastructure, he flipped the property to a builder last year for $1.8 million, according to Benton County property records.
Meanwhile Bush had his parcel on 1383 Lawless Drive rezoned from parkland to commercial (C-2).
At the time of the 2018 sale, the following information was included in the council’s packet information:
“The buyer also intends to work with the Washington State Department of Transportation and the City to acquire unneeded state and city right-of-way adjacent and south of the 3.83 acres of property subject to this purchase and sale agreement.”
Bingo, we’re back to 24 Lawless Drive. The city discovered that it really belonged to Richland not WDOT.
Last year 24 Lawless was zoned for commercial development (C-2) which matches the zoning of Bush’s next-door property that he bought from the city in 2018.
At the April 25, 2023, meeting to discuss the zoning change for 24 Lawless councilmembers were all in for the staff recommendation for the new zoning.
At the time Councilmember Jhoanna Jones said, “There’s no way you want to live right there. There’s a highway there and loud. There is no way you can allow residential. It will be a miserable place to sleep. So I think commercial C-2 is perfect for that area.”
Director of Community and Development Kerwin Jensen said during this meeting, that C-2 zoning allows assisted living facilities, so under the C-2 zoning people could be living there.
Councilmember Shayne VanDyke said, “I totally support this,” referring to the C-2 zoning. VanDyke rarely, if ever, questions staff recommendations.
The council has decided how to zone the property, Tuesday night they will decide how to sell it. Later they will decide who they will sell it to. Stay tuned.
The council meets at 6 pm on Tuesday night at city hall. The meeting can be seen live on Cable Channel 192 and streamed on Richland City View.
Keep up the good work, Randy! Nice to have what is REALLY going on with our local government. And Richland seems a bit sneakier than most.
Hi Gary, I appreciate your comments. It’s encouraging words like yours that keep me going. Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy