The Battle for the Curb
A local grocer and a city official are clashing over the rights to a narrow strip of land outside the public market.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Who wins the three-foot strip of ground between the property line and the sidewalk at the public market? T. Narup, operating the grocery in the old rink building, claims it and has sublet it out for stalls for fruit vendors. Marketmaster Martoni holds that it is a part of the city's property and that the city is entitled to the rental for the stalls on this ground. Both disputants were in the city attorney's office this afternoon trying to get the matter settled and it may be taken into court.
“Who wins the three-foot strip of ground between the property line and the sidewalk at the public market?”
Public space, sidewalk access, and the right to vend on street-facing land remain hot-button issues in Tacoma's urban planning. This small dispute highlights the ongoing tension between private commercial interest and municipal oversight of public thoroughfares.
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