Kent mayor asks state to probe Albertsons restrictive covenant; council approves ordinance blocking future grocery-use covenants

Mayor Dana Ralph announced Wednesday that she filed a consumer complaint with the Washington state Attorney General challenging a restrictive covenant recorded by an Albertsons subsidiary that limits grocery uses on a cluster of parcels at the former Albertsons site on Kent's East Hill.

The complaint, Ralph said during the Oct. 21 council meeting, argues the restriction "amounts to an unlawful restraint of trade or commerce in violation of RCW 19.86," and that it has contributed to a long-term lack of grocery access in parts of Kent's East Hill. The council approved a consent calendar that included an ordinance designed to prevent similar grocery-use restrictive covenants going forward; the consent calendar passed 7-0.

Ralph told the council and the public that the recorded restriction dates to 2015 and covers roughly 480,000 square feet of commercially zoned land, "nearly a dozen acres" that are served by arterial roads and would be appropriate for supermarket or…