190_-_2021-8-31_Tom_ClarkFrom:Brenda Clark
To:Lori Barlow
Cc:John Hohman
Subject:Painted Hills Proposed PRD DEIS Comment
Date:Tuesday, August 31, 2021 9:55:21 AM[EXTERNAL] This email originated outside the City of Spokane Valley. Always use caution when openingattachments or clicking links.
Ms Barlow,My name is Tom Clark and I have lived in the Painted Hills neighborhood for over 30 years.
I have previously responded to the city with my concerns regarding the proposed developmentof the property known as the Painted Hill Golf Course property ( the site ) and continue to be
adamantly against its approval. Having now reviewed the the current DEIS for the PRD I havethe following additional comments:
In reading the DEIS it is evident that the developer ( Black ) continues to force his
development onto a site which for many reasons is not suited for it. Beginning with the plan toremove the site from the 100 year floodplain by raising the elevation of the site in itself shows
how desperate he is to push this through. While I'm not qualified to speak to the validity of theproposed elaborate stormwater mitigation plan , it is obvious that the DEIS does not
accurately reflect the effects on our neighborhood of one of the basic components of the plan,that of the trucking plan.
In appendix E under transportation it states that they would be hauling fill for FOUR YEARSworking 280 days a year. There are only 260 weekdays in a year so they are basing this
impact on working weekends and/or holidays to accomplish this in 4 years. Further in thissame portion of the DEIS they state that the haul route is only on Dishman-Mica road yet in
appendix G they clearly show the haul route running North on Madison and directly in front ofHorizon Middle School. This an example of how the DEIS is being written to meet
requirements and look favorable yet not really reflecting what the impact will be.This structuring of the DEIS is also evident in the impact assessment to the schools shown in
Appendix D. The author of the DEIS uses the U.S. Census Bureau ACS to set the totalanticipated students residing within the development at 206. So using that number and total
number of residences at 580 ( per alt. 2b ) that is only .35 children per household. Commonsense and experience with other similar developments shows that this number is extremely
low considering the target market for homeowners in a development such as this. Again thecalculation used is not to reflect the actual anticipated impact but rather it is used to force the
development to "fit".
My second concern is having an elaborate storm water mitigation system being managed andfinanced by the HOA. There is no detailed plan as to what kind of organizational structure
would be in place to undertake this responsibility nor a plan should the HOA disband. Ibelieve there is case law which transfers the maintenance and performance of such a system
to the City should the HOA not be able to do so. Is this a liability the city is willing to exposethemselves to ?? I would hope the council is involved in such a long reaching decision. The
impact to adjacent properties of a failure of the system is enormous and cannot be viewedlightly.
Overall the City of Spokane Valley as well as the County has permitted numerous
developments in our neighborhood since the traffic study was completed. The traffic study isnow not accurate as the traffic loads on our neighborhood roads have greatly increased.
The DEIS does not adequately address the impact to the deer and other wildlife which use the
existing undeveloped site. Again the DEIS tries to skip over this serious issue with a simple statement that a corridor will be provided for the deer to use to cross the site. They do not
address the fact that with all the development that has been permitted in our area the wildlifehave nowhere to migrate to, even if they somehow were forced into a corridor to cross the site.
The developer and his team have no regard for our neighborhood asset of wildlife and what itbrings to our environment.
Regarding the 300,000 plus cubic yards of fill required to raise the site there are many issues
not adequately addressed in the DEIS. Other than the hauling calculations and truck routequestions raised above, no plan or mention of quality control for the fill or standards for the
same are seen in the DEIS. There is no source given for the fill. No plan to make sure it isclean fill and not contaminated, no mention of how the fill will be suited for the site , and most
notably how the fill will be stabilized during the 4 plus years of importing and later while it isawaiting the development to catch up . ( the development is a 10 year plan, the fill is 4 ).
One only needs to look at the dust, traffic disruption, road degradation , and noise pollutionthat the existing development under construction at Thorpe and Madison streets has caused to
see what kind of impact such an endeavor will have on our neighborhood. This is a BIG issuethat is purposely not detailed enough within the DEIS due to the magnitude of its impact and
the inability to mitigate it.
Having witnessed the developers lack of maintenance of the site since his purchase, I believethat the maintenance of the site during the 10 year buildout needs to be addressed in the DEIS.
Noxious weeds have invaded the site and have subsequently invaded adjacent propertythroughout our neighborhood. He has let the trees die , he has also let the fences go into
disrepair , etc.. These are clear signs of his disregard for the neighborhood and his simpledesire to exploit the site for his personal gain without regard to the neighborhood. It is also an
indication that the city has no control over how he maintains his property now or in the future.
In closing I again believe that the developer and his consultants are desperately trying toforce a "square peg into a round hole " with this development. Rather than working with the
site and planning a development which works with the very nature of the site they are planninga development with total disregard to the site and our neighborhood's environment. Economic
gain looks to be the only driving force. I look forward to the city's rejection of the DEIS assubmitted.
Respectfully,
Tom Clark
5214 South Cree DriveSpokane WA 99206
509-991-3088