Liberty Lake delays expansion

They were told their tiny city would more than triple in size within 20 years, that they’d better lay claim to 1,200 acres of additional land just to avoid the crush.

But Wednesday night, by a vote of 4-to-2 Liberty Lake’s planning commission concluded the city of 6,500 didn’t need anymore elbow room, at least not for the time being.

“We’ve got plenty of room within the city to accommodate this growth,” said Bill Jeckle, planning commission member.

At issue was what Liberty Lake would do to accommodate a population boom of nearly 16,000 new residents by 2026. That doesn’t mean there’s an orange and white fog of U-Hauls looming on the city’s horizon. The forecast comes from Spokane County, which by state law must every few years guesstimate the entire county’s population 20 years out. Cities within the county are then required to come up with a way to manage the growth should it materialize. The predicted boom in people doesn’t stop at Liberty Lake. Spokane County commissioners predicted last May, as a compromise, that the whole region would pick up 197,000 new residents within 20 years, which was down from an original estimate of 217,000.

Wednesday night, there were two schools of thought on how to respond to the county’s forecast. Planning Commissioner Neal Olander, who chaired the meeting repeatedly deferred to the advice of Commissioner Mark Richard, who recently met with Planning Commission members to explain an expect-the-most approach to growth as a way to avoid getting caught off guard.

“I feel uncomfortable that we’re assuming a lower population figure,” said Olander.

But planning commissioners are split on pursuing plans to draw potentially 1,200 new acres into its boundary for urban growth. In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s meeting at Liberty Lake City Hall, more than 400 area residents had stepped forward in opposition to expanding the urban growth boundary, including one plan placing Liberty Lake’s future city limits as far west as Saltese Flats.

The majority concluded that planning for growth within the city limits was the best choice, though they also acknowledged there wasn’t enough room in the city’s existing footprint for 22,000 people. They recommended the issue be taken up again in five years and if more land was needed at that time, the city expand its growth area north across the Spokane River and to the west of Harvard Road.

“What we’re preparing now is a flawed plan that’s going to be fixed in five years,” said Steve McElvain, who nonetheless approved the measure.

Planning commissioners don’t have the last word on the matter. Their recommendation will be forwarded to the Liberty Lake City Council, which will take up the plan in March at the earliest. Ultimately, the city’s decision will be presented to the Spokane County Commission, which will have a chance to change the proposed boundary it if they believe what the city has come up with is inadequate.