Big traffic problems on East Sunset drive neighbors to fight new funeral home

Published 2:26 pm Tuesday, June 21, 2011

For the nine years Gail Givan has lived in the Sunset neighborhood near downtown Issaquah, traffic has always been a mess.

To bypass congestion, cars speed through her neighborhood, and street parking was sucked up by small businesses along East Sunset Way.

Like much of the neighborhood, she’s had enough.

So when America’s largest funeral home chain, Service Corporation International, proposed turning a small church into a funeral home with little parking to speak of, the neighbors overwhelmed city administrators with complaints.

In a few days, Givan and a few others petitioned door to door, gathering about 150 signatures, she said. “Everyone we spoke to was vehemently against this project.”

The proposed building is the current meeting place for Abide Baptist Church on 425 East Sunset Way. The building owners have made plans to sell the space, given the city approved a change of use permit.

That permit is what’s being disputed.

The building only comes with about a dozen unpaved parking stalls. To compensate, SCI proposed stacked-aisle parking, which works much like a ferry boat.

If a visitor doesn’t want to risk getting stuck after the service, they’ll be tempted by street parking.

To compound the traffic problem, Flintoft’s Funeral Home is just a block away from the proposed site.

If two services let out at the same time, traffic would be a mess, Givan said.

Less than a week before the public comment period closed, about 35 loosely organized neighbors squeazed into a home to discuss what to do, said David Kappler, a former council member and now citizen activist.

The group contributed to the about 30 letters the city received on the proposal, said Christopher Wright, a senior planned with the city. “We haven’t seen this much comment and opposition in a long time.”

While community input helps to better understand a problem, the city would have had similar questions and concerns, he added.

Big competition

Allen Flintoft’s grandparents first opened Flintoft’s Funeral Home and Crematory in their white high-eaved home on Sunset Way in 1938.

The family takes its work personally, identifying with the people of Issaquah, said Flintoft. “It’s more than just a business.”

About a year and a half ago, SCI approached Flintoft with a warning that they were going to put a funeral home in Issaquah and advice to sell.

“That was a surprise,” Flintoft said. “We thanked him, but we said we weren’t interested.”

The greater Seattle area is a major market for the Texas-based SCI, said Spokesperson Lisa Marshall.

Several cities that surround Issaquah have SCI funeral homes, including Sunset Hills in Bellevue and Greenwood Hills in Renton. Issaquah is a service gap.

The corporation is sending a clear message with its proposed location that it wants to put Flintoft’s out of business, Flintoft said. “It’s kind of the American way, isn’t it?”

That wasn’t necessarily the intention, Marshall said. “This church seemed to be a good option.”

While Flintoft’s history in Issaquah makes the issue an emotional one, it’s not what’s going to drive the city’s decision.

“We don’t control the market,” said Marion O’Brien, the city planner.

Even Flintoft admitted that a second funeral home would be good for Issaquah residents, because it would drive both homes to be better.

Still, he said, if two funerals go on at the same time, as they likely would, traffic and parking would inevitably hurt the other businesses in the area.

It’s such a problem, neighbors were surprised SCI chose that location.

It’s a bad idea, Kappler said, adding, “I don’t think the problem can be solved.”

Limited parking at the proposed location for a new funeral Home on East Sunset Way was among the concerns neighbors had about the plans to bring the new business to town. The funeral home business proposed turning this back lot into aisle-styled parking, stacking cars much like in a ferry.