Council enacts land-use plan
Spokane Valley enacted its first comprehensive land-use and parks plans Tuesday night. The unanimous votes by the City Council end a lengthy and complex process but also mark the beginning of more detailed planning for park and city regulations that will more closely define what Spokane Valley will look like in years to come.
“The next major step will be passing development regulations that implement this ordinance,” said Councilman Steve Taylor.
That means not only looking at what is allowed in each zone but also changing existing zoning on many properties to match the new plan.
In the next year, Sprague Avenue will be the subject of an extensive redevelopment study. Areas along the Argonne-Mullan couplet also will see zone changes, as will parts of Evergreen. And in the Mirabeau Point area, industrial zoning will be replaced with mixed-use zones, which reflect much of the office development taking place there now.
“Mixed-use zoning will really enhance that and solidify that,” said planning manager Greg McCormick.
Comprehensive plans provide broad outlines of areas’ designations, such as residential or commercial. The regulations that implement the plan will be much more specific and probably more contentious as they specify what types of buildings are allowed on individual pieces of land.
“When you start actually developing the regulations and the people start getting a sense of what’s happening, people get a little more information to respond to,” McCormick said.
The city started the 20-year planning required under the state’s Growth Management Act about two years ago with a public workshop. City planners then drafted a plan and submitted it to the Planning Commission, which held five public hearings and went over it line by line through most of last summer. The council received the commission’s draft in October and revised its language up until this week, holding eight public hearings along the way.
The Planning Commission this week will begin looking at parts of the city’s uniform development code adopted from Spokane County, with the intent of re-evaluating its provisions and eventually replacing the entire thing with a new document that planners hope will be easier to interpret and will reflect the values of the city.
Changes are on the horizon for Spokane Valley parks as well.
After it adopted a 20-year parks plan Tuesday for improving city parks and recreational opportunities, the council moved to apply for a grant that would go toward buying close to 8 acres in the Greenacres neighborhood for a new park.
One of the most ambitious goals that the parks plan calls for is a park or open space within walking distance of most Spokane Valley neighborhoods. It outlines several areas where the city could add parks in years to come, and a Greenacres park would be the first project toward that end.
Central Valley School District is planning a new grade school near Mission Avenue and Long Road. The two lots the city is interested in buying abut the proposed school site near the intersection of Long and Boone Avenue.
“It would be a great park/school combination,” and they could share things such as parking and playground equipment, said Parks Director Mike Jackson.
If the city is awarded the grant, that project could go forward as early as next year.
A decision on what to do with money set aside to improve Valley pools also should come before the council soon, Jackson said. The City Council has looked at three options that include adding more deck space and water toys to Valley Mission Pool, upgrading all three existing pools, or building an indoor aquatics facility.