Spokane City Council passes infill regulations

The Spokane City Council unanimously approved a series of infill regulations, allowing less parking, taller homes and smaller lots in some parts of the city.

During the Monday hearing on the regulations, representatives from the Peaceful Valley, Cliff Cannon and Browne’s Edition neighborhood councils urged the city council to delay implementing the regulations, spare their neighborhoods or send the regulations back to the planning commission for revision.

Supporters of the regulations, such as Arthur Whitten of the Spokane Homebuilders Association, argued that they would provide more options for home ownership by allowing lower cost housing to be built close to service and business centers.

City Council President Ben Stuckart said if the city doesn’t find ways to allow more housing to be built toward the center of Spokane, new homes will be built in places like Liberty Lake instead of the city of Spokane itself.

He said the city of Spokane has an extremely low apartment vacancy rate as well as a lack of affordable housing and the city should focus on allowing more dwellings to be built in the city near public transportation.

“We’re in a massive housing crisis and we have people coming down here every week to talk to us about homelessness because there are not homes available,” he said.