PC429_Royce_Grassl_11-18-2018From:Royce Grassl
To:Lori Barlow
Subject:Painted Hills Golf
Date:Sunday, November 18, 2018 1:32:11 PM
One of my fondest memories as child was being able to come to Spokane and visit my aunt
and uncle on Dishman Mica. My dad would pick us kids up from our mom's house durning thesummer months and drop us off at our aunt's place. She would have us help her in the garden,
clean up the floor beds, do laundry, and mow lawns. For some people they call these tasks"Chores" but for my sister and me it was spending time with our aunt. My aunt always had
away of making "Chores" seem fun. My sister always compared her to Tom Sawyer becauseshe could trick people into actually painting a fence. I always looked at her as Mary Poppin's.
When my dad would drop us off at my aunt's it was to distract us kids from my parentsdivorce.
My aunt's place was a get away for my sister and me, a safe haven. It was so much fun for us
because there was room to go outside and play. We could wake up and see deer in their field,hawks and eagles in their trees, and in the Autumn season every now and then we would see
moose walk across their front lawn.
Even in our high school years my sister and I would still look at our aunt's place as good getaway. It was a quiet place for us to wine from all the small town drama. We could sit outside
on the patio and drink our coffee or visit with my aunt and her friends as they had theircocktail hour. When we would have to go back home my sister and I would feel as if a weight
was lifted off our shoulders.
Being a year out of college I have actually moved in with my aunt and uncle as I get started inthis crazy world. It absolutely breaks my heart that the Paint Hills Golf Course may possibly
be building more than 500 homes. I am afraid that this construction will disturb all the reasonsI love this area.
If they actually do bring on this construction, not only are they going to bring more people. It
is going to run away the wildlife that come into this area. There is going to be more traffic andmy safe haven is going to be no longer. The best part about living on Dishman Mica and in
the Valley itself is that it is the perfect combination of small town and a city. If you want to goto the city it is only a 20 minute drive to downtown, but then when you get home you are back
in your community. All of my cousins went to U High and they still hangout with their highschool friends even 15 years after graduating. With this new construction that would bring in
more students and over populate the schools in this area.
I know I have only physically lived here for only a year now but having spent every summerfor the past 16 years. I feel like I truly understand this area and it's a place I feel most at home.
I think this new construction will not only destroy the wetland and wildlife. It will also destroythe value of what makes living in this area so desirable.