City-woman pact will allow traffic circle plans to proceed

The Spokane City Council on Monday approved a purchase and sale agreement for a home and lot needed for construction of a traffic circle at Wellesley Avenue and A Street.

The agreement includes a lease in which homeowner Elsie Sciascia would remain in her residence at 2839 W. Wellesley Ave. as long as Sciascia wishes to live there.

City documents indicate that she sold the property to the city for a reduced price of $90,000, and received what’s called a “life lease estate,” meaning she will pay no rent. The deal came under threat of condemnation, records said.

Now, the city can take possession of the property as part of its plan to build a traffic circle at the intersection. Officials have said the project will be the first full-scale traffic circle, or roundabout, to be built in the city, and is intended to reduce collisions and injuries. Work is expected to begin later this year, officials said.

The traffic circle would take up 772 square feet of the north and west portions of the lot, leaving a reduced lot of 8,048 square feet after construction.