The Spokane City Council has put a one-year halt on new housing projects in the Latah Valley. The council voted five-two last night after about an hour of public testimony from people such as Sheila Rawls, who lives in the Grandview-Thorpe neighborhood.
“I want to make sure that everybody understands that this moratorium is not because we are against development or that we are against a thriving and growing Spokane," she said.
"What we are against is development without some infrastructure and the planning that needs to go in to providing a wonderful great city that we love to live in.”
Residents and council supporters framed it as a safety issue.
Councilwoman Kitty Klitzke said the area is vulnerable to wildfires and needs to offer better transportation options in case residents must evacuate.
“Right now we’re facing road closures, four evacuations in two years, insurance is getting canceled. This is about public safety. That’s why it’s an emergency now. These road closures, especially, are alarming," she said.
Klitzke and others worry that if a wildfire breaks out in the valley that they don’t have enough exit routes. The ordinance says the city must now begin planning to improve transportation in and out of Latah Valley. The sponsor, Councilman Paul Dillon, says it will not stop 17 proposals that are already under development in the neighborhood.
Opponents, such as Councilman Michael Cathcart, acknowledge the issues in Latah Valley are legitimate. But they say city leaders agree Spokane badly needs more housing and this takes a large amount of buildable land out of commission, perhaps permanently.
Cathcart argued the city should adopt a more targeted approach.
“To take an entire neighborhood offline does not make sense. That is not thoughtful. That is not good policy," he said. "Further, I question what the impacts on the multi-family side will be. That’s just strange to me that we’re talking about a moratorium but those are still going to be allowed.”
Council President Betsy Wilkerson says, during the moratorium, the city should immediately begin work on a tax increment financing proposal for the Latah Valley. That would raise the money needed to at least partially pay for new infrastructure as new housing goes in.
