Case 2:19-cv-01105-JCC Document 25 Filed 11/14/19 Page 1 of 5

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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DISCOVERY PARK COMMUNITY
ALLIANCE, a community non-profit
corporation, and ELIZABETH CAMPBELL,

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ORDER

Petitioners,
v.

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CASE NO. C19-1105-JCC

CITY OF SEATTLE,

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Respondent.

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This matter comes before the Court on Respondent’s motion for joinder (Dkt. No. 16).

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Having considered the parties’ briefing and the relevant record, the Court GRANTS the motion

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for the reasons explained herein.

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I.

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BACKGROUND
Fort Lawton is a military base located in Seattle and owned by the United States

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Department of the Army. (Dkt. No. 1-2 at 3.) The Army is attempting to dispose of Fort Lawton,

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and the City of Seattle has a significant role to play in the fort’s disposal because the City is the

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Local Redevelopment Authority (“LRA”) for the fort. (See id. at 5–10); see also 24 C.F.R. Part

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586. In its role as LRA, the City entered into an agreement with the Seattle Public Schools

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(“SPS”). (See Dkt. No. 17-1.) The agreement provides that the City will allow SPS to acquire up

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to six acres of land from the Army. (Id. at 4.) To effectuate the agreement, the Seattle City
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Council passed CB 119535. (See Dkt. No. 1-2 at 3, 14–15, 37–41.)

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On June 19, 2018, Petitioners filed a land use petition challenging three City Council

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decisions relating to Fort Lawton’s disposal. (Id. at 3.) One of those decisions is CB 119535.

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(Id.) Yet, although CB 119535 approved an agreement between the City and SPS involving

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property owned by the Army, Petitioners did not include the Army or SPS as parties. (Id. at 2.)

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Instead, Petitioners named only the City as a respondent. (Id.) The City now moves for the Court

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to order Petitioners to join the Army and SPS as parties. (Dkt. No. 16.)

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II.

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DISCUSSION
The City argues that the Army is a required party under Washington’s Land Use Petition

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Act, Wash. Rev. Code Chapter 36.70C (“LUPA”), and under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

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19(a). (Dkt. No. 16 at 3–5.) The City further argues that while SPS is not a required party under

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LUPA, it is a required party under Rule 19(a) because SPS has an interest in the action and the

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Court could not afford complete relief if SPS is not included. (Id. at 4–5.)

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Petitioners stipulate to the joinder of the Army. (Dkt. No. 20 at 1.) However, Petitioners

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object to the joinder of SPS, arguing that SPS is not a required party because Petitioners “[do]

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not wish to impact the Seattle Public Schools,” the City did not join SPS in the related

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administrative matter, and SPS has not tried to intervene. (See id. at 4–5.)

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A.

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Petitioners do not object to the joinder of the Army, (id. at 1), and LUPA requires that the

Joinder of the Army

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Army be joined because the Army owns Fort Lawton, see Wash. Rev. Code § 36.70C.040(2),

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.050. Furthermore, the Army is subject to service of process, and joinder of the Army would not

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deprive the Court of subject matter jurisdiction, which in this case is based on federal question

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and supplemental jurisdiction, (see Dkt. No. 1 at 2). Consequently, the Court ORDERS that

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Petitioners file and serve an amended petition naming the Army as a respondent to this action.

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B.

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Although Petitioners stipulate to the Army’s joinder, Petitioners argue that SPS is not a
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Joinder of SPS

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required party under Rule 19(a). (Dkt. No. 20 at 4–5.)
Under Rule 19(a), a party is required to be joined if they are subject to service of process,

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their joinder will not deprive the court of subject-matter jurisdiction, and one of the following

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factors are met:

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(A) in the person’s absence, the court cannot accord complete relief among existing

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parties; or

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(B) that person claims an interest relating to the subject of the action and is so

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situated that disposing of the action in the person’s absence may:

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(i) as a practical matter impair or impede the person’s ability to protect the

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interest; or

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(ii) leave an existing party subject to a substantial risk of incurring double,

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multiple, or otherwise inconsistent obligations because of the interest.

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“There is no precise formula for determining whether a particular nonparty should be

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joined under Rule 19(a). . . . The determination is heavily influenced by the facts and

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circumstances of each case.” N. Alaska Envtl. Ctr. v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 466, 468 (9th Cir.

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1986) (alterations in original) (quoting Bakia v. County of Los Angeles, 687 F.2d 299,

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301 (9th Cir. 1982)). But while the determination is case-specific, the Ninth Circuit has

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articulated certain principles to help guide that determination. One of those principles is

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that “in an action to set aside a lease or contract, all parties who may be affected by

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the . . . action are indispensable.” Lomayaktewa v. Hathaway, 520 F.2d 1324, 1325 (9th

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Cir. 1975).

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Although this case involves a challenge to a city ordinance instead of a contract,

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the principle from Lomayaktewa v. Hathaway, 520 F.2d 1324 (9th Cir. 1975), still

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applies. The ordinance in question authorized the Director of the Office of Housing and

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Superintendent of Parks and Recreation to execute a memorandum of agreement between

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the City and SPS. (Dkt. No. 1-2 at 21–22.) That agreement, in turn, “commit[s] the
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City/LRA to work with SPS in obtaining a public benefit conveyance of the FLARC

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property through the U.S. Department of Education.” (Id. at 14; see also Dkt. No. 17-2 at

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2–6.) This agreement bears many of the hallmarks of a contract, see Becker v. Wash.

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State Univ., 266 P.3d 893, 889–900 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011), and it is this agreement that

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Petitioners seek to challenge, (see Dkt. No. 1-2 at 13–14). As a beneficiary of the

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Agreement, SPS is a required party because “disposing of the action in [SPS’s] absence

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may[] as a practical matter impair or impede [SPS’s] ability to protect [its] interest.” Fed.

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R. Civ. P. 19(a); Kescoli v. Babbitt, 101 F.3d 1304, 1309–10 (9th Cir. 1996) (holding that

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the absent parties were required because the plaintiff’s action would directly affect an

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agreement between the parties and was “not limited to merely requiring the [agency] to

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comply with procedural obligations in the future”)

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Petitioners cite several cases purportedly showing that SPS need not be joined,

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but none of those cases apply here. In Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co., LLC v. AT&T

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Corp., 320 F.3d 1081, 1097–98 (10th Cir. 2003), for example, the district court could

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fashion relief to avoid interfering with the absent party’s interests under a stock option

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agreement. In this case, by contrast, the relief Petitioners seek—invalidation of CB

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119535—would necessarily undo the agreement between the City and SPS. Likewise,

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NAACP v. Donovan, 558 F. Supp. 218, 223–24 (D.D.C. 1982), did not involve a

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challenge to a specific agreement between two parties; it instead involved a challenge to

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how the Department of Labor had interpreted its own regulations relating to labor

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certifications.

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Petitioners also appear to argue that SPS is not a required party because “[t]he

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City took no action to join [SPS] in the administrative matter” and SPS “has taken no

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action to enter as a party into this matter.” (See Dkt. No. 20 at 4.) However, Petitioners

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cite no authority for the idea that one party’s failure to join an absent party during

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administrative proceedings somehow renders it unnecessary to join the absent party once
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the case reaches a district court. Such a rule would contradict the plain text of Rule 19(a),

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which focuses on the absent party’s interests in the proceedings, not on the behavior of

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persons already a party to the action. And while Petitioners cite Hall v. National Service

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Industries, Inc., 172 F.R.D. 157, 159 (E.D. Pa. 1997), when they argue that “SPS has

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taken no action to enter as a party,” Hall in no way suggests that an absent party loses the

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protections afforded to them by Rule 19(a) if the party fails to intervene.

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Given that Lomayaktewa squarely applies and that Petitioners have failed to cite

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any applicable authority to the contrary, the Court concludes that SPS has an interest in

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the action requiring that it be joined if feasible. See Kescoli, 101 F.3d at 1309–10;

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Lomayaktewa, 520 F.2d at 1325. In addition, SPS is subject to service of process, and

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joinder of SPS would not deprive the Court of subject-matter jurisdiction. The Court

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therefore ORDERS that Petitioners file and serve an amended petition naming SPS as a

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respondent to this action.

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III.

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CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Respondent’s motion for joinder (Dkt. No. 16) is GRANTED.

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The Court ORDERS that Petitioners file and serve an amended petition naming the Army and

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SPS as respondents in this action.

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DATED this 14th day of November 2019.

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John C. Coughenour
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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ORDER
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