When a group of maritime and industrial trade associations and businesses filed a lawsuit June 15 in King County Superior Court to halt the completion of the Missing Link of the Burke-Gilman Trail, the Ballard Chamber of Commerce joined them.

The inclusion of the chamber in the suit, which challenges that the city did not properly complete a State Environmental Protection Act review on the stretch of road from 11th Avenue Northwest to the Ballard Locks, has created a tough spot for some bicycle-minded neighborhood businesses and residents.

Second Ascent is an outdoor and cycling shop on Ballard Avenue and a member of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce. Owner Greg Shaw said the chamber's involvement in the lawsuit could have a negative impact on his business.

"It's a touchy situation," he said.

Michael Snyder, a Ballard resident and bicycle commuter, said the suit will probably affect where he takes his business. But, he said he will first have conversations with the businesses because they were not given a vote in the chamber's involvement in the lawsuit.

"If they stay in the chamber, and the chamber actively pushes against the trail, then I might have to stop doing business with some of them," Snyder said.

Beth Miller, executive director of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber's involvement in the lawsuit should not be a problem for any businesses that understand what the chamber is trying to do.

"If some of our members don't understand what we are trying to do, then they don't understand the whole story," Miller said.

She said the chamber does not believe the Seattle Department of Transportation held the trail to the same standards in its SEPA review as it would hold a private company.

The chamber, and the rest of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, want to see the city complete a thorough SEPA review of the trail location, Miller said.

She said the review will show the actual conditions on the ground and whether there will be effects on the industries along the proposed trail route.

Miller said she is worried the trail could make it impossible for long-time Ballard industrial businesses, like Ballard Oil and Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel, to survive.

"These are people who have been here through thick and thin," she said

She said she wants to stand up to the city and show them that they can't endanger Ballard business' livelihoods. Now it's industry, but in the future it could be retail if, for example, someone decided Ballard Avenue should be shut down to cars to create a bicycle and pedestrian trail, she said.

The Cascade Bicycle Club is circulating a petition asking for the plaintiffs to drop their lawsuit.

Snyder helped the club gather signatures at the Ballard Seafoodfest. He said they got more than 200 that weekend.

A large percentage of the cyclists he approached were aggressively eager to sign, though some didn't know about the suit, he said.

Snyder said the only negative responses he got were from those cyclists who also work in the industrial sector.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel, the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, Ballard Oil, the Ballard Interbay Northend Manufacturing and Industrial Center, the North Seattle Industrial Coalition and the Seattle Marine Business Coalition.

The same group of plaintiffs filed an appeal in December 2008 against the city's determination of non-significance regarding the planned trail's environmental effects, including those on nearby industries.

That appeal was rejected by the City of Seattle Hearing Examiner June 9, leading to the current lawsuit.

The Missing Link is the final portion of the Burke-Gilman Trail waiting to be completed. In its current design, it would run along Shilshole Avenue, Ballard Avenue and possibly Market Street between 11th Avenue and the Ballard Locks.