Spokane City Council creates Cannon Hill Streetcar Historic District

The Cannon Hill streetcar suburb, located directly south of Downtown Spokane, was first platted in 1883, just two years after the city was incorporated.

Now, 140 years later, it has received new protections to ensure that the character built up in waves over more than a century will be preserved. On Monday, the Spokane City Council voted unanimously to create the Cannon Streetcar Suburb Historic District.

The district is roughly located within Walnut Street and Cedar Street to the west, 6th Avenue to the north, Lincoln Street and Cliff Avenue to the east, and cuts halfway through the block between West 13th and West 14th avenues to the south.

While residential development began in earnest in the area in the early 1900s, the establishment of the Cannon Hill Streetcar Line helped to turn the area into a substantial residential neighborhood. Over 60% of the district’s buildings were built between 1899 and 1930, coinciding with the development of the streetcar line and creating an “electric streetcar suburb.”

The historic district designation promotes rehabilitation with property tax incentives and facade improvement grants. To preserve the historic nature of the neighborhood, homeowners would be required to have exterior changes or new construction pass a design review.

The process to create new historic preservation protections began in 2016, when a group of neighbors met with the Spokane Historic Preservation Office about protection provisions in the existing Cliff-Cannon Ninth Avenue National Register District, a largely symbolic designation.

The Cliff-Cannon Neighborhood Council pursued a spot on the Spokane Register of Historic Places, a process that required changes to city law passed in 2018. Meetings continued into 2020 about launching a vote of area property owners, as the designation required majority support, but the COVID-19 pandemic put those efforts on hold.

In order to move forward with the designation, a majority of property owners within the proposed district needed to sign on. In late 2022, ballots went out, with 56% of property owners agreeing to the creation of the district, and only around 12% rejected the proposal. The remaining property owners did not respond.

Quickly after the successful vote, the Spokane Landmark Commission took public comment before unanimously recommending approval of the historic designation in late 2022.

The Planning Commission evaluated the historic district proposal and took public comment before voting 9-1 to recommend approval. The City Council’s Monday vote was the final action required to establish the district.

Homes designated as “contributing” to the area’s history, largely those built between 1880 and 1955, would have changes to the façade evaluated to ensure they maintain the home’s historic characteristics.

Things like a new roof, windows or siding would need to pass quick review, with around 90% of all reviews typically taking no longer than two days, according to Spokane Historic Preservation Officer Megan Duvall.

New construction that follows existing zoning is allowed, and reviews will only consider the way it looks, Duvall stressed. Paint colors will not be considered in the Cannon district, nor will accessory dwelling units.

Interior renovations are exempt from the review process, but money spent on interior renovations would count toward the tax incentive program. If homeowners spend 25% of the building’s assessed value on improvements within 24 months, they are eligible for a property tax discount for 10 years.

Historic properties in the district are eligible for up to $5,000 in grant funds for improvements to the facade.

The historic designation also could help to halt demolition of old homes in the district that have been split into multiple units, which tend to be some of the most affordable in the city, Duvall said.

With Monday’s vote, the land in Spokane locally designated as historically significant jumped from 0.4 square miles to 0.6 square miles, less than 1% of all land in the city. Roughly 42% of residences in the city could be considered historic, Duvall noted.

“We do this very judiciously and only when we’re approached by a neighborhood to do this,” Duvall said.