Longshore union claims Seattle arena backers misleading the court

Critics of the proposed SoDo sports arena in Seattle are pushing ahead with a legal challenge, accusing politicians of misleading the court.

Seattle’s longshore union, ILWU Local 19, is asking a state appeals court to reverse a King County Superior Court Judge, who tossed out their suit in February.

The union claims the arena developer, along with city and county leaders, are violating state environmental law by making a final decision on citing the arena before an environmental review is complete. In new court briefs, the union’s attorney claims arena backers can’t tell the NBA they have an arena deal while at the same time telling a judge they haven’t settled on a final location.

“Mayor (Mike) McGinn, Executive (Dow) Constantine and Chris Hansen are either not leveling with the NBA or misleading the Court,” said union attorney Peter Goldman in a news release. He hopes an appeal could be heard this summer but concedes it might not happen until December.

Hansen, a California-based hedge fund manager, has a binding agreement to purchase the Sacramento Kings and hopes to move the team to Seattle as soon as this fall. He wants to build a new arena in the SoDo neighborhood, south of Safeco Field.

When Judge Douglass North ruled in favor of arena supporters, and tossed out the union’s challenge, King County Executive Dow Constantine wrote that “we remain committed to carrying out our regulatory responsibilities and the required review of the project under the State Environmental Policy Act.”

KING 5 reports that the Seattle Department of Planning and Development is saying a Master Use Permit, MUP, for the proposed arena will be filed next Tuesday. That’s considered a milestone for the project.

The NBA committee considering the sale and relocation of the Kings holds a conference call Monday. The NBA expects to make its final decision on the fate of the Kings on or about May 13, according to NBA Commissioner David Stern.