EVERETT, Wash — The lunch rush at Kel's Cafe is not much of a rush at all.
"It's been heartbreaking, frustrating," said Sam Dahl, the owner of the Everett cafe.
Dahl has been waiting since February for the Snohomish County Health Department to give the cafe an initial inspection. Six months later they still can't fully open.
"People come in and we have to turn three out of five people away because they're looking for lunch," Dahl said.
Without the proper permits, Dahl can't cook food to go with the coffee. All he can offer customers are prepackaged snacks.
"The fear of not reaching our goal of opening is just getting stronger and stronger as time goes by," Dahl said.
When KING 5 first exposed the issue in June we were told by health department officials the problems were being addressed and things would be back on track by August. The permitting process was supposed to take four to six weeks, but that has not happened.
A health department spokesperson said the turnaround time has been decreased from about five months to less than three. The delays had been happening because the department was short-staffed. However, the department said Aug. 22 that applications impacted by a staffing issue have been cleared, and the current queue is reflective of new applications submitted.
The backlog is down to 24 businesses. It was 80 in June.
"We have no indication as to when we're going to be inspected or when that process is going to start," Dahl said. "It's just a big question mark."
The health department said Kel's Cafe was issued a letter of disapproval June 7, which outlined nine items that needed to be corrected before a permit could be issued. The department said it is the cafe's responsibility to fix the issues and contact the health department to move the process forward. The department said it has not received a response from Kel's Cafe after the letter was issued.
Dahl is grateful his landlord has been kind during the delay, but he estimates the business is still losing $30,000 to $40,000 every month.
"The bills are piling up," Dahl said. "It's our power, our gas. Keeping the lights on is not cheap. All we're doing is putting out and we're not getting anything in return. We've seen hundreds of events pass us by, graduations, weddings, concerts, hockey."
So, they wait, hoping that the rush will come, eventually.
"We're survivors," Dahl said. "We're gonna stick it out. I know we're going to get through this tough time."
Snohomish County Councilmember Nate Nehring said he is proposing to reimburse applicants for fees if the health department can’t issue permits promptly.
"When government agencies miss a review deadline, there are rarely any consequences for government," Nehring said in the letter. "But those missed deadlines have significant, costly consequences for applicants, who are our constituents."