City To Hold Meeting On Yard Expansion

Like any other property owner, the city of Spokane has to hold a neighborhood meeting concerning its plans to expand the city maintenance yard in the Logan neighborhood.

The June 25 meeting at Logan Elementary, which begins at 7 p.m., will allow neighborhood residents a chance to raise concerns so the city can offer solutions before a formal public hearing.

One meeting was already held to present details of the plan to residents, and the city got an earful from some 60 residents, said Clyde Timboe, a member of the Logan Steering Committee.

The expansion would bring two additional city departments to the 30-acre complex between North Foothills Drive and Marietta east of Perry. That would mean more employees, more cars, more traffic, more noise.

Timboe said there are still a lot of questions about the proposal.

Residents want the city solid-waste department to consider parking refuse trucks at the West Plains incinerator instead of the maintenance yard. If not, they would like to see the garbage trucks washed before they are brought into the neighborhood.

Timboe said residents feel particularly pinched as Hamilton Street has seen more traffic growth than other major arterials and the Division-Ruby couplet now makes pedestrian travel risky.

Add that to the impacts of Gonzaga University. “It’s a lot of impact for not a very large neighborhood,” said Timboe.

Dick Raymond, city construction manager, said all options raised by residents will be considered.

The city has to undertake the meetings and do an environmental assessment before their plan can be considered by the hearing examiner.

, DataTimes