Business Community

Current owners of Island View Market suing their predecessors

When sunny skies arrive, a waterfront business like Island View Market needs to focus on keeping the beer coolers full, boat gas flowing and sun screen stocked.

This June, though, the iconic south Rosedale country store and filling station has a stressful distraction: A lawsuit between the current owners and the previous owners who sold the store to them.

Gerald and Julie Montiel, the owners now (through their company, Olympic Mountains Pls LLC), are suing previous owners James and Christine Ohlinger. The Montiels allege the Ohlingers misled them in their 2020 acquisition of Island View about what regulators would allow in the Public House portion of the business. The Public House consists of the market’s downstairs bar and outdoor deck.

Seating on Island View deck

Until last fall, Island View customers could pull up chairs outside to enjoy cold beer on tap, the sound (at least at high tide) of waves lapping against the bulkhead, and a view of Raft Island across Lay Inlet.

Near the pub and outdoor deck is Island View’s dock. While at lower tides the dock sits on mud and is inaccessible by boat, the combination seemed to hold the potential of evolving into a rare thing: a bustling, boat-in waterfront eating and drinking establishment on the Gig Harbor peninsula (think a mini-micro Tides Tavern in Rosedale).

The current owners of Island View Market are suing their predecessors in a dispute over disclosure of information about the business’s pub space.

The pub closed last fall. The Montiels state in their lawsuit that shortly after they bought Island View, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) made them stop seating customers. TPCHD relented and allowed them to provide up to 10 seats, according to the lawsuit, but that wasn’t enough to sustain the Public House.

The lawsuit, filed in early May, accuses the Ohlingers of “negligent and fraudulent misrepresentation,” as well as breach of contract, through assurances allegedly made to the Montiels that the business had the necessary permissions to seat customers in the Public House offering beer, wine and food.

In the suit, the Montiels ask for damages “in an amount to be proven at trial,” plus attorney fees and costs, and interest. Pierce County property records show Olympic Mountains Pls LLC paid $740,000 to the Ohlingers for the Island View Market real property in November 2020. It is unclear whether anything more was paid for the business (separate from the real estate).

The Montiels would not discuss the lawsuit or anything related to Island View Market. Their attorney, Thomas Dashiell of Davies Pearson, P.C., also declined to comment. So did the Ohlingers and their lawyer, Martin Burns of Burns Law.

‘Turn-key opportunity’

In their complaint filed in the lawsuit, the Montiels say the listing the Ohlingers used to promote the sale of their business described Island View Public House & Market as “a turn key opportunity. Gas station & grocery store that is a daily stop for many. Down below, doors open to indoor/outdoor seating for wine/beer, growler refilling or take in the afternoon and relax watching the water do its thing.”

The Ohlingers’ terse court filing answering the Complaint states “Deny” in response to the claim that this language was used, but gives no further explanation.

The complaint says the Ohlingers’ for-sale listing showed pictures with “vast seating throughout the interior and the adjoined deck.”

The Montiels were “drawn to Island View Market and Public House and the descriptions set forth in the listing.” So they proceeded to visit, “enjoying beverages at one of the Public House’s many seats,” according to the complaint. While there, the Montiels “observed over 25 seats for patrons at the public house,” it states.

The complaint further charges that as part of the business purchase and sale agreement, the Ohlingers represented that they had “not received any written notices that the real property or the Business violate any applicable laws, regulations, codes and ordinances” and that the Ohlingers have “all certificates of occupancy, permits, and other governmental consents necessary to own and operate the Business for its current use.”

10-seat limit

The transaction closed on Nov. 4, 2020. Later that month, the complaint states, TPCHD inspected Island View. It alerted the new owners “that seating in the Public House was prohibited, referencing a letter issued to (the Ohlingers) in 2013 during their operation of the Public House.”

The complaint says that in fact, “TPCHD had notified (the Ohlingers) multiple times that seating of any kind was not allowed in the Public House due to the inadequacy of the water system” serving it.

The Ohlingers’ answer to the complaint, filed with the court, responds that while TPCHD made them stop their seating in 2014, the health department “later approved seating and never raised the issue again during Defendants’ ownership.”

The complaint states that the Montiels were later able to “get authorization from TPCHD to have 10 seats in the Public House” and that they “operated the Public House through early October 2022, at times with 10 seats, and at other times with additional seating due to a need to pay bills and keep the doors open.”

However, the complaint says, Island View in October 2022 met with TPCHD and at that time the health department enforced the 10-seat limit. When operating with this limitation, “within about a month (Olympic Mountains Pls LLC’s) staff quit” and the business “was forced to shut down the Public House for good.”

Island View now for sale

On Instagram, beneath an image of a mud-rimmed, shimmering Lay Inlet reflecting clouds and blue sky, Island View on November 9, 2022 said, “Due to staffing & licensing/permitting issues we will be closing Island View Public House today…until further notice.”

“Thank you for your understanding & support. This community is something incredibly special.”

The dock at Island View Market at low tide. When the tide is up, the dock would allow boaters to tie up and enjoy refreshments on the market’s deck.

The trial between the Ohlingers and the Montiels/Olympic Mountains Pls LLC is scheduled for May 2, 2024.

Island View Market also appears to be for sale. BizBuySell.com, a website for business and commercial opportunities, lists it for $1.1 million. That includes the waterfront property, gas station, store and a built-in 3-bedroom apartment.

The listing states, “this market is very friendly and loyal and is the only convenience store for several miles. Residents and travelers both support this large well-located convenience store.”