Another issue brought up this morning was the proposed impact fees that were put on hold at the City Council meeting last night. It was noted by several people that the impact fees would be higher in Hillyard and northeast Spokane than in downtown and on the South Hill. Here's an excerpt from colleague Jonathan Brunt's story this morning:

"During Tuesday’s debate, the council voted 5-2 to remove some projects from the list of road upgrades. Councilman Richard Rush argued that some of the projects would cause sprawl.

The decision will lower the proposed rates. As proposed, the new impact fees would have ranged significantly based on project size and location. The builder of a single-family home in northwest Spokane would have had to pay $994, $1,216 in northeast Spokane, $850 on the South Hill and $314 downtown.

The builder of a 50,000-square-foot supermarket would have had to pay $216,000 in northwest Spokane, $264,500 in northeast Spokane, $185,000 on the South Hill and $68,500 downtown.

Last week, Mayor Mary Verner said she supported the change in the law to allow the tax to be collected."

Here's a link to the entire story.

Councilman Bob Apple, who was at this morning's meeting, pointed out that it's too late for public testimony on this issue.