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Home My WebLink About2026, 04-15 Special Meeting Comp PlanMINUTES City of Spokane Valley City Council Special Meeting Thursday, April 14, 2026 Mayor Padden called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. The meeting was held in person by Council and staff at the Spokane Valley City Hall and via Zoom. Attendance: Councilmembers Laura Padden, Mayor Ben Wick, Councilmember Michael Kelly, Councilmember Pam Haley, Councilmember Jessica Yaeger, Councilmember Al Merkel, Councilmember Absent: Tim Hattenburg, Deputy Mayor Staff John Hohman, City Manager Erik Lamb, Deputy City Manager Tony Beattie, Senior Deputy City Attorney Robert Blegen, Public Works Director Kelly Konkright, City Attorney Mike Basinger, Community & Econ. Dev. Director Gloria Mantz, City Services Administrator John Whitehead, HR Director Steve Roberge, Planning Manager Dave Ellis, Police Chief Justan Kinsel, IT Specialist Marci Patterson, City Clerk PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Council, staff and the audience stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL City Clerk Patterson called roll; all Councilmembers were present except Deputy Mayor Hattenburg. It was moved by Councihnember Merkel, seconded and unanimously approved to excuse Deputy Mayor Hattenburg. APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved by Councilmember Wick, seconded and unanimously agreed to approve the agenda. Prior to moving into the non -action items, Mayor Padden gave a brief explanation about the rules of the presiding officer at the council meetings. NON -ACTION ITEMS: 1. Admin Report: Comprehensive Plan Update — Steve Roberge, Mike Basinger & Guest Mr. Basinger and Mr. Roberge provided a history of the previous comprehensive plan discussion. Mr. Weiss, Mr. Grimes with Community Attributes Inc. and Nicole Gutierrez with Cascadia Consulting presented a PowerPoint Presentation regarding a comprehensive plan overview, housing element and racially disparate analysis, public and private utilities element, climate and resiliency element. They further detailed the state requirements, a draft of the timeline for the plan adoption, the key theme for the Housing & Racially Disparate Impacts Analysis that included Support increased housing development to meet population growth projections that included ensuring housing policy aligns with recent state mandates, including middle housing and accessory dwelling unit requirements, locating multifamily and mixed use housing near employment centers and transportation corridors, providing for a variety of housing types, supporting the preservation of existing housing stock and maintain a balanced housing inventory. Mr. Weiss covered the updates and changes in 2026 that included: recent Dept. of Commerce legislation contains requirements for housing affordability, capacity, and diverse housing types. He also reviewed House Bill 1220: jurisdictions must plan for and accommodate housing available to all economic segments, Land Capacity Analysis: document land required to accommodate housing needs and diverse housing types, House Bill 1110 and 1337: allow for "middle" housing, such as townhomes, cottages, and acces'sory dwelling units, development barriers and adequate provisions: document Council Meeting Minutes, 04-14-2026, Special Meeting Page 1 of 2 Approved by Council: 05-26-2026 obstacles to housing production and employ "adequate provisions" to overcome documented barriers, and Racially Disparate Impacts: examine the racially disparate impacts of housing policy and revise policies to remove harmful impacts. He further reviewed the key findings in the Racially Disparate Impacts that included: Spokane Valley's racial and ethnic composition is similar to Spokane County with predominately white, but diversifying over time, 15% of residents identify as BIPOC, the concentration of BIPOC residents varies by Neighborhood, racial differences in income and wealth contribute to greater disparities for BIPOC residents in housing outcomes, such as higher monthly housing cost burden and lower rates of homeownership, the risk of gentrification and displacement are greater in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of BIPOC residents and adequate provisions that detailed the city is required to identify "adequate provisions" to support housing units affordable to all economic segments of the community. These are City interventions, such as policy changes or funding mechanisms aligned with housing at different affordability levels. Preliminary recommendations for consideration include Multifamily Tax Exemption (MFTE), Incentive Zoning, Opportunity Zone tax incentives, Affordable Housing Tax Credit 1406 (already implemented), Land dedication (SVMC 3.49.020(B)(3), permit and process streamlining (ongoing), and partnership with local housing providers (ongoing). Mr. Grimes continued with the Public and Private Utilities portion of the presentation. He reviewed the utility planning requirements and noted that under Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA), the Utilities Element is a mandatory component of a local comprehensive plan (RCW 36.70A.070) that addresses the general location, proposed location, and capacity of all existing and proposed utilities. He went on to explain why utilities planning is needed and noted utilities are foundational to quality of life, community resiliency, and economic vitality, that coordinated planning is essential due to multiple providers and regulations and planning ensures sufficient capacity to accommodate projected growth. The Element translates current challenges and opportunities into long range goals and policies to satisfy service levels and the community vision. He reviewed the updates and changes in 2026 that included electrical services and said that updated inventory descriptions reflect current conditions. The interlocal Regional Utility Corridor Plan was replaced by a Steering Committee and the adoption of countywide planning utility policies. These changes better align with GMA requirements. He noted that Avista is upgrading its grid and expanding efficiency and demand -response programs to ensure reliable service and meet Washington's 2030 Clean Energy Transformation Act. The telecommunications updates included updated provider list with new and emerging categories of telecommunications facilities, mapped facility locations, and described Broadlinc countywide broadband partnership. Ms. Gutierrez spoke about the climate and resiliency portion of the plan. She provided details on the background that included an emissions reduction sub element is required for 11 of the state's largest and fastest growing counties and their cities and includes a resilience sub -element is required for all jurisdictions planning fully under the Growth Management Act. That includes Emissions Reduction, Measures to reduce GHG, emissions and per -capita, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), Adaptation Measures to improve resilience to climate impacts like flooding, heat, smoke, & wildfires. She continued the conversation and reviewed the hazards in Spokane Valley that included extreme heat and rising temps, snowpack and drought, wildfire and wildfire smoke, and precipitation and flooding. She also provided details on resilience sub -element key themes such as Resilience Guidance: Include at least one climate resilience goal and supportive policy for each priority hazard Optional to address Commerce identified sectors via the resilience sub -element goals and policies and GHG Emissions Reduction Targets: requirement - WAC 365-196-443 Set an emissions baseline of 2022 and develop incremental emission -reduction targets toward reaching net -zero emissions by 2050, commensurate with Washington's statewide target, as per RCW 70A.45.020 (1)(c). Council continued the discussion around the housing requirements, climate elements, and state requirements. Councilmember Merkel spoke about density and noted that this is a big document and that there is a lot in it. Mr. Basinger spoke about the map as presented and suggested keeping it as is. Council provided consensus to continue to move forward with scenario A. It was moved by Councilmember Yaeger, seconded and unanimously agreed to adjourn at 7: 36p.m. ATTEST: � ��aea� Laura Padden, Mayor A 1 Marci 66irson, 6ty Clerk Council Meeting Minutes, 04-14-2026, Special Meeting Page 2 of 2 Approved by Council: 05-26-2026