Star Northwest Inc. v. City of Kenmore

Plaintiff-Appellant Star Northwest (“Kenmore Lanes”) operates a bowling alley, restaurant, and card room in Kenmore, King County, Washington. In No. 06-35801, Kenmore Lanes appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Appellees, the City of Kenmore (the “City”) and the Kenmore City Council (the “Council”), in Kenmore Lanes’ civil rights action challenging, on federal and state law grounds, the constitutionality of a City ordinance that banned the operation of card rooms within city limits. In No. 06-36029, *656 Kenmore Lanes appeals from the district court’s grant of attorneys’ fees in the amount of $180,552 to the City.

In challenging the district court’s summary judgment ruling, 1 Kenmore Lanes argues that: 1) its card room, the 11th Frame, is a nonconforming use entitled to operate indefinitely under Kenmore Municipal Code sections 18.20.1860 and 18.75.080; 2) Kenmore Lanes has a federal constitutional right to an amortization period upon termination of its nonconforming use; 3) Kenmore Ordinance 05-0237 (the “Ordinance”) violates Kenmore Lanes’ substantive due process rights under Washington Constitution, Article I, section 3; and 4) Kenmore Lanes’ federal Fifth…