I am creating this petition on behalf of co-owner of Andys Fish House and Andy Gibbs. Co-owner shared this information “Andy is the creative one at the restaurant. My wife and I play the role of making sure bills are paid.
On September 15, 2023 the City of Snohomish gave official notice to us that our patio covering needed to be removed by October 13, 2023 or face fines up to $1000 per day or imprisonment of not more than 90 days or both.
Our landlord was kind to work with the city and signed a Voluntary Letter of Compliance which gave us an extension to keep our structure over our patio until July 5th, 2024.
I received an email from the city staff letting me know “the staff are working to find ways to help you and they may have already shared with you some of the possible solutions.”
What the city’s solution is and what Andys Fish House solution is has diverged. The city wants the tent down citing a false narrative that the “tent is not safe.” We care about our patrons. The tent is safe. Our tent was designed specifically for our corner in Snohomish by Professional Engineers at Rainier Industries in Tukwila, taking into account the wind speed and the snow load. When the Winter 2022 windstorm caused trees in the Historic District to fall, our tent stood firm and strong. We have provided the city staff and council members a 33 page schematic manual with a PE stamp. To date, only two council members have come to see inside our structure. No one from the city has inspected the tent to tell us why our patio covering is not safe. No one from the city has responded that they have studied the manual.
The crime that Andy and I are guilty of is that our tent was not permitted because it was erected at the time it was legal to do so during Covid. Our tent is allowed under the International Building Codes which all cities are to follow with the exception that we do not have a permit.
We have been told that the tent is not consistent with design standards set forth for the Historic District. Maybe? I submit to you that our tent improves our building and does not detract from it. The building we lease is assessed at $22,000. We paid $25,000 for the tent!
We are not the only businesses that the city is pursuing. This is to inform anyone who has non-permitted structures.
To properly get a permit, the city is requiring that our structure be removed and start over from the beginning with the application process. We are asking the city to inspect the tent as it stands and we will correct anything that needs to be corrected. We have let the city know we will pay for any permit that needs to be paid. The city has taken no action per our requests.
Andy and I have kept this matter quiet although there has been some attention given to this issue via a Facebook Ad that we are not a part of. The final hope we have is for some public pressure. The best thing you can do for us is to sign a petition at Andys Fish House to “Save our Tent.” Please share this and make comments. And yes…I want you to tell us if we are “whiners.” Tell us if the tent is objectionable to you. Tell us you agree with the city and take it down.
The city would not be doing anything illegal if they let the tent remain. They can issue a non-conforming type of permit. They can give us a variance. They have tools in their tool box to issue a permit to us. Covid was a very dark time. It seems that an exception can be made considering the unusual times we have gone through.
Finally, if public pressure does not work, we have a tent for sale. Reach out if you are interested.
We are not trying to burn any bridges with the city. We just  feel that the city has not considered what we have proposed. We will pay for permits and welcome inspections.  We are not doing this to bring negativity but to bring awareness and hopefully get the end result that we need the tent.”