Residents urge Renton to act on blighted Park Avenue buildings, cite fires and contamination concerns

Several residents used the Sept. 16 audience comment period to press the City of Renton to take immediate action on blighted and potentially contaminated properties on North 6th and Park Avenue. P. Michael Labazo and Carol Fries described repeated safety incidents and voiced frustration at the pace of municipal response.

"Those buildings are literally time bombs," P. Michael Labazo said, recounting repeated fires and arguing the properties have grown less safe over the past eight months since he first raised the issue to the council. Labazo asked the council for an "actionable and accountable plan to immediately secure the buildings and ultimately remediate the unsafe condition."

Carol Fries (identified in the record as a Renton resident) told the council she observed teenagers entering a Park Avenue building and throwing items from the roof; she said police questioned a teen who denied responsibility and that nothing further was done. Fries and Labazo also cited testing results and correspondence they said showed contamination on the property, including earlier EPA communications warning that excavation or removal of a cap could release contaminants. Fries referenced testing that identified petroleum, vinyl chloride, arsenic, carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls in past sampling, and she cited a provision she described as the "Washington State right of way liabilities act" when discussing potential owner liability for contamination on easements.

No formal council action was recorded during the meeting on these complaints; the remarks were made during public comment. Council members did not present a response or commit to a specific follow-up during the meeting record.