Spokane City Council asks for delay to transfer of Thorpe Road property to developer

The Spokane City Council has asked for a delay to the transfer of a 160-acre woodland south of Thorpe Road amid traffic concerns that a developer’s plans to build 1,000 homes would further burden roadways.

The council resolution, approved 5-2 Monday, cannot force a pause to the sale, though sponsoring council members Paul Dillon, Kitty Klitzke and Lili Navarette hoped it would weigh on the Department of Natural Resources, which owns the property and is currently primed to transfer it to Redmond-based Blue Fern Development.

Supporters argued that more time is needed to protect the cultural and natural value of the property, as well as to prevent major development on Thorpe Road and the connecting routes in and out of Spokane.

Councilman Jonathan Bingle, who along with Councilman Michael Cathcart voted against the resolution, argued that new development is needed to address the city’s housing crisis and to generate enough money to build out the roads and other infrastructure needed in the Latah Valley

The property is a small part of the Department of Natural Resources’ Common Schools Trust fund, 3 million acres of land managed by the agency to produce revenue that pays for, among other things, building schools. This revenue is typically generated through leases, including leasing woodlands to logging companies.

However, the property hasn’t been generating revenue for the department, leading agency leadership to consider swapping it for more productive land. Blue Fern has offered a 4-acre commercial property in Whatcom County with a Haggen grocery store in exchange for the land, where it has proposed building the “Latah Park” development with 500 to 1,000 new homes.

Under Blue Fern’s initial plans, a considerable amount of the proposed Latah Park housing development would be set aside for existing trails, a new park and some kind of civic use, such as a school, community center or firehouse.

The Department of Natural Resources will hold a meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night at the Downtown Spokane Library to discuss the possible land transfer. Representatives of Blue Fern will be at the event to make their case to the public that the development would bring more to the community than it takes away.

The Board of Natural Resources is expected to make a final decision on the land transfer proposal in January.