Amazon delivery drivers have continued to use Washington State Ferries’ Lot C in Friday Harbor for storage and distribution despite telling WSF and the Town of Friday Harbor in February that they would discontinue this practice.

According to WSF’s John Vezina, Amazon hopes to finalize a lease with the Port of Friday Harbor and should be out of Lot C by May 2. Prior to the Journal’s follow-up, Vezina, who made the original Lot C agreement with Amazon, was unaware that the public lot was still being used for commercial purposes.

Vezina gave permission to Amazon six months ago to use Lot C for their new direct delivery to Friday Harbor in an attempt to avoid Amazon truck congestion on the ferry. The arrangement was criticized for giving the e-commerce giant an unfair advantage, outsourcing island jobs while not paying for storage and distribution facilities like local delivery services are required to. Vezina heard the negative feedback and resolved the issue within days.

“I was told they’d stop using it immediately,” he said.

Two months later, Vezina was surprised to find out it was still happening and had to step in again.

Steve Kelly, Amazon spokesperson who wrote a guest column for the Journal rebutting the Feb. 26 article, said this week, “We’re committed to providing local customers in Friday Harbor and the surrounding area with fast delivery and great services. The arrangement we have to use Lot C, which is in support of this, is coming to an end shortly and we expect to finalize new accommodations soon.”

“There is no agreement,” Ryan Ericson, of the Town of Friday Harbor, said regarding Lot C. Ericson told the Journal in February that Amazon’s use of the lot for storage and distribution was illegal.

When asked for comment about why the public lot had continued to be used after agreements with WSF were terminated and the Town was clear about its position against its use, there was no further response from Amazon.

During the March 28 Port of Friday Harbor Commission meeting, Executive Director Todd Nicholson presented the proposal of a month-to-month lease agreement with Amazon to the commission for their input. The lease was described as a pilot program that would allow Amazon to park seven to eight delivery vans and allow for one Amazon box truck to distribute packages once a day.

“If successful,” the meeting minutes say, “Amazon may consider a long-term lease or increase the parcel’s infrastructure. The Port is pursuing this proposal with Amazon.”

Nicholson spoke to the Journal about what a long-term lease may entail, acknowledging that it may not be ideal for island businesses.

“There’s no scenario we can see where Amazon returns to its prior delivery practices here,” he said.

The Port Commission hopes this lease will help with ferry congestion and the hiring of local drivers.

“We wish it was different, but given what we’ve got to work with, this is the best outcome we can see,” he said.

The soon-to-be-leased parcel is located at 777 Spring St. and is zoned industrial. If the month-to-month lease goes well, longer-term plans are in play.

“The hope is that they will take this parcel and build actual infrastructure and hire more people here,” Nicholson said. “Maybe we get a distribution hub or something here longer term.”

He clarified that before something like that were to occur, there would be a many-step process including Amazon presenting a concept plan, the commission publishing it publicly and holding public meetings for feedback.

Roy Mannix, owner of the Amazon delivery service partner Seattle Final Mile, told the Journal in February that he hoped to be entirely locally staffed by mid-Q2, and now says he’s on his way.

“We are probably 90% local,” he said in a follow-up interview this week, adding that he’s also still hoping to be in contact with the community as much as possible.

Jake Knapp, who was laid off from Aeronautical Services after Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner, or DSP, took over the local delivery company’s Amazon deliveries, said that while Seattle Final Mile may be hiring locally, he’s not interested.

“The way the whole situation was handled — with no clear communication or explanation from Amazon — left a bad taste in my mouth,” he told the Journal. “That didn’t make me eager to go work for them. It’s also frustrating to see Lot C being used this way without any clear oversight or accountability.”

Knapp wondered how the Lot C situation would have been handled differently if it had been a smaller company or a local business. He did end up finding work on the island, with a locally owned house painting business run by longtime islander Terry Ogle.

Aeronautical’s Marc Franklin, after laying off many employees, is still waiting to see what will happen next for his delivery company.

“We have not needed any further layoffs so far, Amazon hasn’t expanded into Eastsound or Lopez yet,” he explained. “We, for the moment, haven’t been able to work out any partnerships with FedEx or Amazon and so have been focused on becoming more efficient as a whole and strengthening the relationships with our lovely local customers.”