Ballard

The Benaroya Company has filed suit in King County Superior Court to challenge the Landmark Preservation Board’s vote to designate the Ballard Denny’s building as a historic landmark. The lawsuit aims to reverse the board’s decision. “The boarded up former Denny’s is not an important historic or architectural building, nor the work of a significant architect,” said Marc Nemirow, spokesman for Benaroya, in a press release emailed to My Ballard. “The landmark board agreed with these conclusions, but incredulously decided to designate the building a landmark anyway. This action isn’t legal.” Crosscut’s Knute Berger writes that the lawsuit “alleges, among other things, that the Landmarks Board action is ‘illegal and erroneous,’ that it violated procedure, and that it violated the owner’s constitutional rights.”

Meanwhile, Nemirow says Benaroya will move forward with the administrative process and “assist the board in a proper evaluation of the economic impacts of its decision.” We’ll post reaction from the building’s supporters as soon as we get it. The press release announcing the lawsuit follows below…