Spokane pumps the brakes on new drive-thrus on congested stretch of 29th Avenue

New drive-thru restaurants that haven’t submitted building permits will no longer be able to be built on a frequently congested stretch of East 29th Avenue after the Spokane City Council voted Monday to change the zoning in that area.

The pedestrian street designation, which applies to a section of the street near the South Hill Trader Joe’s roughly between South Martin Street and South Fiske Street, was spearheaded by freshman Councilman Paul Dillon and approved Monday 5-2, with councilmen Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart voting in opposition. Council President Betsy Wilkerson co-sponsored the legislation.

Dillon had listed the zoning change as a top legislative priority for the year, arguing that congestion in the area exacerbated by a buildup of drive-thrus has caused safety concerns for pedestrians walking down the sidewalk or crossing the street.

“The language in the ordinance really reflects what the Lincoln Heights neighborhood has been asking for years, which is better pedestrian access and traffic calming,” he said.

In 2016, the neighborhood council developed the Lincoln Heights District Center Plan, which included recommendations for making the neighborhood’s business core friendlier to pedestrians and less dependent on vehicle traffic, specifically calling out 29th Avenue. The neighborhood council began calling for exactly the kind of pedestrian designation approved Monday for this stretch of that busy road in September, and the Spokane City Council agreed to review the proposal in October.

Members of the public spoke nearly unanimously in favor of the changes, including Carol Tomsic, president of the Lincoln Heights Neighborhood Council.

“I greatly appreciate the Wilkerson-Dillon proposed amendment,” Tomsic said. “It will keep our neighborhood safe, walkable and pedestrian-friendly for our present and future residents.”

Bingle and Cathcart said Monday that they understood the intent behind the proposal, but felt like it would do little to improve safety in the area, noting that the zoning change would not decrease current traffic or come with funding for pedestrian improvements.

“A couple of folks said this is part one of a bigger plan,” Cathcart said. “I think we need the bigger plan, and it needs to be holistically considered.”

Cathcart added that the zoning changes mean existing drive-thrus will no longer conform to regulations for the area, which could encourage blight by making it harder for a property owner to change their use.

At least one party opposes the designation outright.

Chris Bell is an asset manager for Black Enterprises and the exclusive agent of the Estate of Harlan D. Douglass, which owns the property at 2820 East 29th Avenue where Chick-Fil-A has submitted a permit to build a restaurant. He argued in a letter to the City Council that the proposed zoning changes would not improve safety and were being inexplicably rushed.

“What is the basis of the emergency?” Bell asked in a Monday interview. “We spent years on all of the other pedestrian street overlays. Monroe had all kinds of public inquiries, and the timing of this makes me pause and wonder, again, what is the nature of the emergency?”

Dillon addressed this question directly during Monday’s meeting.

“We’ve seen a 40% increase in the last year in people getting hit by cars,” Dillon said. Given that data and for how long the neighborhood council has been wanting this, to me that does constitute an emergency.”

For Bell, a likelier motivation is clear: stopping Chick-Fil-A.

“My hope is we can take our new council member at his word, but you can’t argue facts,” Bell said. “This change was proposed after Chick-Fil-A met with the city and submitted a revised site plan trying to conform with the current entitlement regulations on what they’d have to do to submit for a permit.”

For at least four members of the public who wrote to the city to support a ban on new drive-thru restaurants on this stretch of 29th Avenue, stopping a Chick-Fil-A was a primary motivator for approving the zoning changes.

“As I understand it, the underlying issue prompting the designation is opposition to the Chick-Fil-A outlet proposed for the intersection with Regal Street,” wrote Jim VanderMeer, a Spokane resident who lived near the affected stretch of 29th Avenue. “That new development would undoubtedly increase traffic on 29th, which is already congested, and more traffic would make it more difficult to enjoy our neighborhood on foot.”

Dillon has said he has concerns with the fast food chain’s politics and on the campaign trail last year opposed Chick-Fil-A coming to this site, pointing at the time to news reports of heavy traffic created by the restaurant chain.

When the only area Chick-fil-A opened in December 2020 at 9304 N. Newport Highway, Spokane Police sent six patrol officers and a supervisor to help manage lines of traffic as some customers waited hours to order sandwiches.

But he denies that the pedestrian designation was intended to stop any particular business from setting up shop on 29th.

“This ordinance is not about any specific drive-thru, it is about the long term planning for the neighborhood,” he said in a brief Thursday interview. “The language in the ordinance really reflects what the Lincoln Heights neighborhood has been asking for for years, which is better pedestrian access and traffic calming.”

At least for the proposed Chick-Fil-A, the point is moot, Bell noted.

Developers last week submitted a building permit for the restaurant, pre-empting the Monday zoning change. While further review will take place before the permit is approved, the timing of its submission means that the new pedestrian designation, at least, can’t stop it from being built.