SEATTLE — A Seattle property owner has filed a $30 million lawsuit against the city, claiming municipal leaders allowed crime and homelessness to devastate the Little Saigon neighborhood, causing him to lose tenants and a major property deal.
Dennis Chinn’s lawsuit, filed in August, alleges that city policies trampled on the rights of residents and property owners for years, transforming the area near 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street into what the suit describes as “a wasteland of drug sales and use.” According to the lawsuit, the neighborhood’s decline resulted in the collapse of a $21 million property deal and forced Chinn’s tenants to leave.
City officials at Seattle City Hall declined to comment on the active litigation. The city has since filed a motion to dismiss the case…