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Minutes - 03/20/2008 Spokane Valley Planning Commission Approved Minutes Council Chambers — City Hall, 11707 E. Sprague Ave. March 20, 2008 I.CALL TO ORDER Chair called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. II.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioners, staff and audience stood for the pledge of allegiance III.ROLL CALL Commissioners Robertson, Beaulac, Carroll, Kogle, Sands and Sharpe were present. Commissioner Eggleston was absent. Staff attending the meeting: Scott Kuhta, Senior Planner, Lori Barlow, Associate Planner, Carolbelle Branch, Public Information Officer, Heather Morris, Office Assistant, Deanna Griffith, Administrative Assistant. IV.APPROVAL OF AGENDA It was moved by Commissioner Sands seconded by Commissioner Kogle, and unanimously agreed to accept the March 20, 2008 agenda as presented. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES It was moved by Commissioner Beaulac to postpone the approval of the minutes from the March 13, 2008 meeting to the ne� Planning Commission meeting. Motion was seconded and approved by unanimous vote. VI. PUBLIC COMMENT The was no public comment VII. COMMISSION REPORTS The Commissioners had nothing to report. VIII. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS There was no administrative report. IX.COMMISSION BUSINESS Old Business — Continued Public Hearing Sprague and Appleway Corridors Subarea Plan. Senior Planner Scott Kuhta made a presentation to the Commissioners and audience explaining a brief history of the Plan, Community meetings, and the anticipated time line for the adoption of the Plan. Commissioner Robertson opened the continued public hearing Laura Gusdorf, N 107 Bowdish - I live close to this and am concerned how it will affect my life. One of my main concerns is who is going to pay for this. I was told we were going to ask for grant money and we are going to get money from the Federal government and we will get money from the State. I am concerned that in an economy that is not really in the best shape. I am a little bit concerned about how we spend our money at this very crucial time. I do work in town and do utilize the couplet, and i feel it is an advantage, for me to get into town to go work, utilizing the 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 1 of 14 couplet. I happen to run a little business at University North. Obviously what happens in that neighborhood will affect my business also, so I really kind of have mixed emotions. I am also trying to think about what happens in the future when our population is even greater. That street access is so important, it leads to our quality of life, it leads to being able to get to your home, and to your work, in a timely manner. I think that a lot of people will appreciate that fact. I guess what I am saying is that I i am concerned about how it till effect that also. I am not against the economic development, but that we might even come up with some better plans, than this particular one. I am for the couplet and for e�ending it even further east. Charles Gillingham, 3719 E Ridge View Drive There about a 100 times great cars now than there were 65 years ago. What will the traffic be like 20 years from now? With the explosive growth happening in Spokane Valley, Liberry Lake and Post Falls, I will bet that the traffic will be twice what it is today. This is not the time to be reducing the number of lanes on Sprague and Appleway. We need every lane and then some. Plus we will need the one-way couplet continued east to Tschirley. The state just started building Appleway from Tschirley to the Liberty Lake line. This part of the road was the worst roughest road in the County. Soon it will be the best. This will encourage more people to exit I-90 at the Sprague Appleway exit. If the one-way couplet is completed from University to Tschirley, even more people will exit the freeway to use the couplet instead of staying on I-90. More cars on the couplet, more buyers for the business people. If businesses people on Sprague want even more traffic passing in front of their businesses, they should be pushing for a new road going from Appleway starting just east of I-90 overpass southwest up the hill to (can't hear) this would open up the Valley to South Hill traffic and customers. This road was recently shot down by a few home owners who did not want the added traffic in their neighborhood. Ron Roberts, 1116 N. Willow - I am in opposition to change back to two-way roads. I believe the one-way streets have been a great enhancement to the Valley. But I think that right now we are kind-of on a fast track to no where. We don't own the University City properry, if we are going to build a City Center. We don't own the right of way, but we are working with the County. I think this is too aggressive; we don't have any place to go. Let's get the street first, let's get the property. We need to make sure that the planners keep an open mind, just like your people are and I appreciate everyone's time. I think that when the County put this in, they had a better vision of what our area was going to look like than some group from Florida did. They know what the growth was here, we live in a Valley, we have foothills, foothills, a river, Trent, a freeway, we have all this thing. Like the gentleman that retired from the county said, where are we going to put this in 50 years? We better make sure we have a place to put it. We can't go backwards; we can't go that way again. We don't need planners writing checks that the citizens of this community can't cash. We are not in the best of economic times, housing is a good example. I don't want to see us go backward with these two-way streets. Rustin Hall, 10520 E Holman Rd. — I have been a resident here for 15 years, I want to make a couple of points one of them is that I know some of the commissioners here from another capacities that I am in right now, but right now I am speaking as a citizen. What we are talking about here is a brand new city. We have never had these conversations before. it really does takes a fresh set of eyes and it takes some vision about not what we are going to have today or tomorrow but what we are gong to have in 30, 50, 100 years. It has to start somewhere and it has to start with some vision. I admire the process it has gone through. There has been years of opportunity for everyone to participate and there has been participation in this. I have been involved in a lot of the process. I want to congratulate you for a job very well done. You also 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 of 14 did a really great job going through a process of selecting the right types of consultants to come in. They have spent their lives perfecting their craft - which is to come in and assess an area with a blank slate, and give a recommendation. That is a huge investment we have already made, and I think we are quite foolish if we throw them out and lose that investment because we don't know them or because we think they don't know us. I think that is very short sighted. We may not like what the result is but I congratulate the City leadership for at least making the bold step to say lets start somewhere with something. When the consultant said let's start with a City Center, what do you do to enable a City Center? You do these kinds of studies, you start looking at traffic, and it's not just cars, what makes a City Center? What makes people want to come to a downtown? Having two race tracks through a downtown area doesn't do it. It's been very clear and they can demonstrate that over and over again. It is not that we have done anything wrong in the City; this is a brand new City. We are not trying to fix past mistakes. We are trying to take a current situation, and make it better. Make it livable, make it thrive. You need that business environment, and that tax base to fund the City, to increase the services, to increase our quality of life. That's what we are here for. We may not all agree on exactly what is being done, but again, congratulations on at least starting with something and starting the with the City Center is a very bold move. Other City leaderships may not have had the guts to do that, ours did and I am very proud of our leadership and I am proud of our new City. Dennis Rundulfson, Fashion Carpets — I am here to share some thoughts as a business owner on the one-way portion of East Sprague. My wife and I have owned Fashion Carpets for 35 years. We have been in our current location which is a block west of Argonne Rd. for 31 years. Over this period we have seen many changes. Most have been for the better, some have not. The change with the most impact has been the conversion of Sprague to a one-way street. This caught us by surprise. I think that very few of us knew it was coming. This was immediately followed by a sewer project and then the Sprague beautification project, where trees were planted along the sidewalk. Our store, as were most others, designed without consideration for one- way traffic. We have great visibility for east bound traffic but now anybody going east is going the wrong way. West bound traffic has a pretry good chance of seeing us in the winter. During the spring, summer and fall, the leaves on the trees, meant for beautification, pretry much turn our signage into peek-a-boo signage. There is nothing worse than having a customer tell me they couldn't find us. We are on a major retail street for crying out loud, why should anybody have trouble finding us? The signs on Appleway are too small and too hard to read. The cross streets are too few and too confusing. I don't think that there is anything that can fix that problem. When the City stated the study to revitalize Sprague we were very impressed. Experts were brought in who had first hand e�cperience with similar roads in other cities. When their findings showed that we should turn Sprague back into two-ways would benefit businesses and the formation of a City Center and without compromising traffic flow, I was both pleased and surprised. Changing Sprague back to a two-way looked like a no-brainer. Sprague Ave. business owners are obviously a minority. Most people do not realize the impact that a one-way Sprague Ave. has had on us. But when they learn that changing it to a two-way can revitalize business, and yet will have minimal effect on their transit time, I have found most people to be in favor of it. So now we are faced with two choices — leave Sprague as a through fare that shoots all the traffic towards downtown Spokane or change it back into a healthy shopping street and plan for a viable City Center. We will still have Appleway that will help Sprague from being congested. Why should we ignore the advice of the experts we hired? To me the choices are obvious. For the future of our City, I urge you to make the right choice, follow the advice of the experts. Turn Sprague and Appleway into two way streets. 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 3 of 14 Angie Durshell, 18321 E 3rd. — I am a student at Eastern Washington University, a home owner and a mother. I tried to think about the last time I was walking on Sprague. I grew up here, so it must have been about 20 years ago. The fact s is that the City of Spokane Valley is a city that makes cars happy and not people. We encourage our children to be active, to interact with their environment but we must shuttle them every where. We have no ability as pedestrians in this City to enjoy what this City has to offer and that is friendly people, wonderful small business owners and a sense of community long before this City was called a city. I then think about where all the tax money is going. When I think about pedestrian shopping, I think about downtown Spokane. I don't think about the City of Spokane Valley. As much as their success is a kudo for Spokane, it is not one for the Valley. And where are all those people gong when they want to walk and enjoy the beautiful City that is becoming downtown of Spokane. We think about those things, we don't think about Sprague Ave. as far as I can see, it is important for us to recognize needs of right now is, but what are the needs 50 years from now.? What will be the needs when my children are adults? What are the needs if they want to stay here? What kind of environment will it be if they want to jump in their car and make it happy everyday. Those are good questions and those are important questions to ask now not 50 years for now. My mantra is less space, more place. Margaret Harris, 3909 S Robie — I am in favor of keeping Sprague/Appleway couplet as one-way streets. I would like to see it e�ended to Liberty Lake. Traffic moves well. I think it is safer to drive on the one way streets. It is very convenient for those of us who have to drive it everyday. Question from Commissioner Carroll, how do you favor the downtown development? You talked about the roads do you favor downtown or not? From the audience Ms Harris answered that she felt that downtown should be out by Sullivan or by the Valley Mall. Stan Eldridge, 2311 S Bolivar — I understand there is a plan to change the zoning from the couplet to Fourth Ave. Is that correct? Sr. Planner Kuhta explained that plan does not e,xtend all the way to Fourth in all places in the Plan. Mr. Eldridge began again saying that if you are going to e�end the couplet out and possibly add light rail nobody is going to want a residential property butting right up against that couplet. So I don't understand the need to change the zoning on that property for one thing and as some of the other speakers have mentioned tonight, we haven't see anything in terms of what gas is going to do to us on price. Until the powers at be want to relinquish the technology they have been keeping from us for so many years to power automobiles, why we are going to be able to walk right down the couplet and Sprague with out any traffic, if it keeps going the way it is. I applaud putting the store fronts right up on the sidewalk but I have been watching TV lately and I don't know how many cases I have seen where vehicles have run right into stores. I think you are putting pedestrians at risk by putting the actual buildings so close to the traffic and making people go around back to park. Dan Carpenter, 1516 S Limrick Dr. - As a traveler of the couplet the only thing wrong with it is that it isn't e�ended. I prefer several lanes one way. I am able to turn left or turn right at will. Not having to worry about on coming traffic or other people making left hand turns in front of ine. In my mind, I am able to go to my destination much easier on the one-ways, and it is able to move more traffic, which I am sure we will be seeing in the future. When I travel Sprague Ave., I have a destination in mind. Ii shop many valley businesses and as a patron of these business, it has not dropped off in me, I shop as heavily now as I had before. I would like to point out that Sprague Ave. was a highway, and still viewed as. I think it is a poor place to place a City center in what has always been a through fare through the Valley. It is to me a poor selection. Other selections would be better, where you would want 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 4 of 14 to slow traffic down and have the beautification. The only problem I see with it now is that it isn't finished. It should be finished out to Liberry Lake so that people can travel as an option to traveling the freeway where no business takes advantage of it. I would travel the couplet even more often if it were because I life out past Sullivan Rd. I do not like to have to funnel back into tw�ways at University Rd. James Pantaleo, 10414 E Holman Rd. — I believe the consultants designing the City Center were given the project with one hand tied behind their back. Ye shall build it around U-City, not the best location. Now we are trying to shoehorn the City Center into the middle of U-City, when actually the best bet would have been to have a Greenfield installation of the City center. Twenty-eight years ago, I traveled from the Ponderosa to Trentwood - there were 2 stop lights, now 15 stop lights. Let's look at the proposal to turn Sprague back to a two-way street in the ne� 25 years. There are going to be lights at almost every cross street. Also at those lights will require turn lanes in each direction. That cuts down on the through traffic lanes in each direction. Although I have heard in the newspaper and a couple other place it will only take a few minutes more to travel from I-90 to Sullivan, I don't think that quite squares with what it will be in 20 years. in the future , when Sprague and Appleway are populated with stop lights, as we travel we must stop at the stop lights. while sitting and waiting at each stop light to turn green how many of you will say, I think I will go by a car, I think I will go get a tattoo, I think I will get a wood stove. Most of us are smart enough to have a destination when we need to buy something. The citizens aren't dumb we know how to get there when we want to buy something. We don't need balloons and gorillas and big ugly signs like Hong Kong to show us the way. What it takes is good customer service, when I leave and I am happy, I tell other people. If you want to see Sprague dry up then run it two-ways. Philip Rudy, 720 N. Argonne. — I gave (the clerk) a copy of the Gonzaga Economic Study of Businesses and Properry Owners. That study was done in June, 2004; I would like to give a brief summary of that. This is an in-depth study of data acquired from business owners and property owners along Sprague Ave. in order to ascertain an economic impact on those parties as a result of Sprague Ave converting from a two- way street to a one-way heading westbound with a one-way couplet, Appleway, heading east-bound. The Spokane Valley Business Association hired Gonzaga student Evan Marques to conduct study, under the supervision of Dr. Scott Bosman, Professor of Marketing at Gonzaga University. Evan Marques, a senior political science major and business administration minor, conducted the study under little supervision by the Spokane Valley Business Association. The only help he received from the SVBA was access to a list of businesses and property owners along Sprague. This information is deemed accurate and the conclusions of the report are the personal observations of Evan Marques. The study itself is a census of Sprague businesses and the population is the entirety 130 business along Sprague Ave. between Fancher to University. Every business was contacted either through a walk-in introduction or a telephone call. Thus the response rate was high. Response to the study was high at 80% responded 13%, 16 businesses completely refused to comment or did not return multiple phone inquiries and the other seven percent , 9 businesses, either had no comment because they had begun business along Sprague after it had become one-way or felt their business was not retail and therefore not impacted by traffic flows. The other 105 business owners were e�remely helpful with this study, and as you will see by the data, overwhelmingly supportive of a change back to a two-way Sprague. The study contains a lot of detail. I hope you will find it informative and helpful as you make your decisions. For the rest of the audience and for yourselves if you would like to see the study, it is contained on the website at www.svba.us In an earlier comment you asked about, you suggested an e�ended time for the study for the testimony to be 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 5 of 14 given, I would ask that you probably e,xtend that time because I have heard some very wonderful thoughts, some very heartfelt thoughts that are being expressed by the citizens of the Spokane Valley. We have a terrific group of people out here in this City. Ron Christenson, 16920 E. 44 Ave. — I don't think you really want to start a city with gridlock. If you have driven Sprague, at three o'clock in the afternoon, even out where it is seven lanes, three lanes on each side with a turn lane in the middle, you have a hard time getting across the road. The traffic is heavy already; we are building more and more apartments. We used to own a business at U-City. The reason that U- City failed was access. When we bought out there we had promises that they were going to complete University into the freeway. Which never happened. If you want a walking friendly community then why don't you have a walking friendly center in the town? Not have the traffic set up the way it has been proposed. I am absolutely for Sprague staying the way it is, and for the couplet being e�ended. If you have ever been to Ellensburg, it is beautiful. They have very little traffic downtown, all the stores are very accessible, but the sidewalks are narrow, they have beautiful landscaping. The picture over there is beautiful, but does it apply to where we live? * Commissioner Carro/% how about /ocating downtown at U-City, how do you fee/ about that.� There is woman speaking from the audience that you can not hear. Commissioner Robertson in vited her up to the microphone. Joan Christensen, 16920 E. 44 Ave. — I had a business at U-City for 10 years. The reason U-City is not U-City any longer is because Mr. Magnusson would not do a thing. He was milking us dry the whole time. He would not do any improvements. Kind of the same thing, library issue, I personally, I voted no on the library, the reason was because I was under the impression that that had to pass for our new U-City city center. Ok, I love the library, I am in there an average three times a week, I am not against the library, I am against this building where the old U-City used to be. On land that we are just going to lease. Now if we were going to think about buying land to put in a new City Center that is a different thing. But for me to lease more land from Magnusson, no, I am sorry. * Senior P/anner Kuhta spoke up and stated that he thought a correction shou/d be made, stating that the Library did enter into a purchase and sa/e agreement for the /and. Magnussons were going to se// the /and to the Library. So the /and was not going to be a/ease to the Library. Ruben Marcado, s 4211 Driftwood Dr. - People who have lived here a long time remember big line of automobiles to get to and from the freeway going west all the way. There is a reason why they put that corridor there. There was a promise that they would extend it as far as they could get hopefully to Liberty Lake. We have to remember one thing at that time, this is 31 years ago and the traffic was heavy and now we have five times more than that. There is more people now and more people in the area every day that we don't see. All that Ponderosa area all the way down to Liberty Lake in about another 30 years it will be a whole city connected all the way down to Liberty Lake. We have to think forward, the things that happened before, that's over, we have that corridor over there, let's get it down all the way to where it belongs. I am trying to do the best that I can keeping it the way that it is-going forward and not backwards. I love my City. Gene Hinkle. 11916 E Sprague - The gentleman that owns Fashion Carpets, I know he doesn't have a problem with location; I didn't have a bit of trouble finding his office. Marginal business may not make it in any situation. I don't care what you do you — you are not going to make it anywhere along there and there are other businesses in that realm. My college Dr. Rudy has the best of both worlds because he is on a one-way couplet each way and he has got a two way with Broadway in front of it. What it's coming down to, are we going to be held hostage by auto row. Now it's been testified 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 6 of 14 a few times ago when you showed us this plan up here that there is this big chunk of land where auto row — ok if auto row wants to put north-south streets in there I don't have any problem with that but don't make all of us serpentine all the way up and down this side of it so we can see their wares. If there is a business there we will find it. This gridlock is really real and if we don't pay attention to it, like they said it's really going to bite us. We need a different place for our city center because all the things I've heard and seen in the time I've been here. Remember all the rocks and barriers that were on Sprague that was a screw up. And when they re-did Sprague they didn't do that last time. If you would listen to the people because last time it was easily 30 to one, maybe 40 to one to keep the couplet. If you are thinking about using public monies then put it on the vote, and we'll settle it once and for all. Auto Row isn't going to pay for doing all of this or other businesses on Sprague. We want a better city, I like the theme things, but locking us all down and thinking that we are going to be skipping down Sprague, it's just not going to happen. Robert Westner, 12110 Seven Mile Rd. — One-way streets move traffic they move it from down town Spokane to Post Falls. The way it is right now Spokane Valley doesn't have a destination address, it just moves back and forth. As far as putting the buildings right on the road, it might be difficult to make the streets wider in the future with the building right there and it may make it look like downtown New York with the buildings up in the air, narrow. I also support light rail or monorail. I hope that comes to pass. Vic Pestrin- 2828 S. Park - This thing is a matter of vision, and the vision that I heard last week and this week. Let me back up - if your vision is a high speed thoroughfare, then that's what you should keep. Auto Row doesn't care — we are kind of a destination resort, people are going to come there no matter what. But it's the spa businesses, the restaurants, the stores, that are the things that make a city center a vibrant place to go. Those people won't come here, so I kind of agree with all the people who are talking about moving forward and backwards. I listened last week, there was such forward thinking that some people were actually anti tree and I kept thinking that this is one of the nice things that Spokane County did on Sprague was put a little grass and trees on the thing because it is just a concrete jungle out there. So if that is what you want — the people of the City of Spokane Valley then I agree with them. Matter of fact they should cut off all the cross roads, take out all the lights so people can get thru it faster - if the vision is for city center, with businesses, restaurants, midsize chain. People, they won't come if you have two highways going thru the middle of that City. Then your vision for this city is what you see right now. It will never improve. It's up to you folks, but I've heard a lot of backward thinking. If you really want a city, you should consider what is going on here. I am not saying this is the way it should look but we need to come to the realization that this is forward thinking. What has been said in the past is backward thinking. Dick Behm 9405 E Sprague - I would just like to review what happen when turned to one-way. First of all, sales dropped about 30%, which is documented in the Gonzaga report for most retail establishments. When your net profit is 5 most businesses went out of business. So what happens at that point is that the property owner's value of property dropped and the value that he could get per lease has dropped. The assessor's office dropped my property amount 30% because it was on a one-way street. So the city has lost its sales tax, and the value of the property tax. Just in the area between Argonne and university on the one-way of Sprague they have all these sales building closed. McDonalds building closed and they moved across the street but that building has remained empty except for short term tenants. An IHOP closed and moved down where there is two-way traffic, national chains don't allow their facilities to be located on one-way streets. So, they relocated and that building 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 7 of 14 has never been re-rented again and that building is now being used as a used car lot. The Sizzler building on the corner of Farr and Sprague ran out and several other restaurants, they most recent Chinese a restaurant. Chinese restaurants never fail. The Mustard Seed closed last week. We lost a very viable dinner restaurant. One of the best ones on Sprague Ave. they are gone. Burger King across from me closed up about 10 years ago and we have and about three different tenants in there and they've all gone down. So that's just in the area between Argonne and University, and it goes all the way down the street. Property values have dropped, leases have dropped, retail sales have dropped, and that's the effect of one-way streets. No matter what anyone says, it is a direct on the city or the county or whoever collects the taxes. You need the drive by traffic in both directions. I am very fortunate; I have a very sharp, young lady who owns a restaurant that only serves breakfast and lunch because there is no dinner traffic. She has managed on the work around with the promise that it would be turned back around to a two-way again. In addition to restaurants, HomeBase closed, Goodyear Tire closed. HomeBase has been sold on the contingent that the two-way is going back. They would wipe out the Mustard Seed restaurant. I would like to make one more point, I was talking to Carolbelle and a lot of these people don't understand that this is a 20 — 30 year plan. Phase 1 is the area between University to Argonne for the city center, Second phase is to e�end Appleway out to Evergreen and then going over and redoing Sprague. Phase 4 would be doing Sprague Appleway and west of Argonne and Dishman Mica. So by the time we get to that point of the phase of changing that one-way it will be quite a ways into the future. And we'll see how the rest of this will work before we even attempt that so I expect that one-way west of Argonne and Dishman Mica to be there for many, many years in the future and that's a whole different argument at that time and I would like to see how that works and will there be a lot of arguments at that time. So a lot of these arguments are sitting there thinking that we are going to change everything at one time and we are not. It is a long range plan and I wish every one of those people who have testified would have attended the public workshops so they could understand it better. Bill Barry, 13017 E Apache Pass Lane — A couple of neighbors asked if I missed all the fun last week about the zoning. When the neighbors called and explained what they had been through and what they understood about the book at 10:30 this morning, I went down and bought the book. I have three commercial properties that now according to this, form to four different zones than what they were. According to what I read in the book today, none of my improvements conform to the new zone. So, am I a little bit alerted? Yes. Apparently, reading the regulations not going to be allowed to have a front door, much less if something happens to the building that there is a very small percentage of that that can be rebuilt as is or must be crowed forward to the street. On one of my properties east on Sullivan and Sprague on the back 100 feet of that I tried to use a scale on this small drawing so that I could figure out what it meant, my property is 565 deep and according to the new book which is color coded yellow for residential, on the back of my commercial property they want about 100/120 (feet) for residential. And if I understand what the rest of the drawing represents that's going to be a main thoroughfare, so looking at a 100 feet deep by 165 foot wide maybe two homes could be put in there and classified as residential but they are backed up against commercial properry. I have 300 feet of my property that would be affected by that according to your regulations because I have to start configuring to change over to residential. I don't understand why would anyone want to build a house on a main thoroughfare, right facing it. There has to be a set back requirement for that house to be built. How are they going to get a drive way in and out of there? I assume on at least 4 lanes, so it makes no sense to me. So now 3 of my properties are going to be placed on 4 different zones and not one conform to new zone. So, what happens? Let's assume grandfathered, and assume that one burns, am I going 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 8 of 14 to have to conform to the new regulations and now I can't build what I had or fix it back up because of the percentage allowance so now it has to go back under the new the regs. So where is the money from all this coming from? I think that I read maybe 2 weeks ago from the new mayor and he used the term "revenue enhance," I believe that means tax increase. All of things are that you are proposing are going to bring my properties into nonconforming. Kimberly Geiger, 118 S Pines - I operate my business as Polka Dot Pottery and I have another business in the Spokane area on NW Blvd. Six days ago I found out that my property was going to be down zoned to residential under the plan. So what I did is I became obsessive compulsive. I got the tape, I printed the book for $90 and I have read it 3 times and this is what I would like to testify. Under your comprehensive plan that states neighborhood centers should be located at the corners of major intersections that are fed from the freeway. You have discriminated against my property at the corner of Pines and Appleway. Clearly both Evergreen and Sullivan have gained the distinction at the northwest corners being completely red oh your map. The second thing under your plan to turn my property into residential. You describe page 10 of your plan the new grand blvd. with continuous planting strips along the sidewalk would provide the perfect opportunity for previously undevelopable deep parcels to build new, grand scale houses. But on page 11 under 3b, you state "finally, given the vast reduction in real demand for rent generating retail residential uses would increase the likelihood of rent generation of those locations." Are you saying that these, grand scale homes would be rentals? And on page 11 you state "accommodate strong demand for attached single family housing types such as duplexes and townhomes that can not be easily accommodated along Sprague but make complete sense in the residential conte� of the Appleway right of way." I don't notice your documentation substantiating strong demand for mansions ne,xt to duplexes. On the transportation aspect, on page 6, under the City Center Neighborhood title, building off the existing plaza and future transit lines along Appleway Blvd, the residents of the city center will be served by the city's most e�ensive concentration of transit facilities. Once again, realistically, how many people want to front a rail line or a bus system when we live in a city that is not forced into having high density? What would they gain? We don't have a river to look they just have a mansion ne� to rental duplex with some smelly buses driving by and a light rail blowing its horns at the intersections, Maybe I am seeing this all wrong. Please help me understand how you see high demand for this residential property? Number 4, under your new residential distinction, my current building becomes non-conforming. I read your rules as saying if the damage to my building is greater than 15% of the assessed value that I can not fix it? Am I reading that correctly? My land stays vacant, I lose my business, my building, my employees are let go, and I have a loan to pay that I have no income from the business. Because why? Oh yes, I will be able to build a million dollar mansion on one of the busiest highways in the valley. I simply don't get it. On the positive side, I love the ideas of sprucing up the Valley. I truly think that the streetscapes are beautiful and if you get the city center established and set precedence, don't you think that more businesses would follow suit? If we formed an improvement district, as land owners-this could be a win-win. More importantly, we could build community. Community comes from within. The business community should determine market conditions. You cannot legislate customers shopping at one area vs. another. Success comes from those who grow change and adapt to this changing city. I hope that you will reconsider this plan. The comprehensive plan passed in October of 2007 establishes your guidelines. There is no way to mess the people zoning and spend more time creating community. I also recommend that you mail notices to those business addresses that you are making changes to their zones. I want to participate, in the planning but didn't know this was going on. I am hopeful 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 9 of 14 that you will hear what I have to say and understand that my intention is to help you achieve a greater Spokane Valley. Ann Ohler, 11219 E 10th - I want to apologize for the bombardment that you got last week but I have to say that I couldn't believe it, so I am of the same opinion, but it doesn't have to be so loud, and I do respect the work that the Committee has done but I want you to know that people will get up and say they want a new city, we want this and that but we have had this wonderful Valley for well over a hundred years. We love living here. Anything that upgrades and beautifies or helps our community is what we want. As individuals, it may hurt us. I don't want one that is gong to fail. I want to be glad to spend what few dollars I have. Right here-not across town, not over in NorthTown or not out at the Valley mall. I live here and here is where I want to spend the few scheckels I have. This is where my tax money has gone. When we built the schools, built the highways and roads, and put in the sewer, we have been building this valley, seen lots of changes come and go and most of the time, most of the planners are wrong. The loss of University City was a bad thing. We lost our school for one thing. It down graded our property. Our taxes stayed or went up but the value in the neighborhood went down. It became more of a degraded property south of University when it died and wasn't kept up. University High School moved way off away from here, the grade schools moved away from here. To revive it now will be difficult. I am for it if we can do it. I don't think we can do it by turning the clock back or throwing away dollars that were spent for a purpose. They were spent for the Appleway road and I think it should stay the way that it is. Dean Grafos, 16120 E Sprague - I am a business owner, developer and a real estate broker in the Spokane Valley. I hope that in the timeframe of almost 40 years of developing properry in the Spokane area, I have not contributed to what is referred to in section 1 of the Sprague/Appleway corridor plan which says, I quote "as a preponderance of under maintained structures and low rent paying ventures on disadvantaged located properties of a shabby, visual character. The current zoning on the properties which we all maintain and pay commercial rate property taxes on our now community-commercial zone. Under the corridor plan envisioned by your staff, this 8+ acre site would be effectively down zoned to a Mixed Use Avenue along the front 500 feet of Conklin Rd with Residential Blvd. zoning and In the rear of the site, in the 700+ feet of frontage along the railroad right away. Under the current Community Commercial zone, permitted uses and setbacks and building coverage requirements, etc. are compatible with uses envisioned in your Gateway Commercial Avenue zoning as proposed in your Sprague/Appleway Corridor plan. These uses are completely eliminated or drastically curtailed under the proposed change in the Mixed Use Avenue zone, combined with a Residential Blvd. zoning designation. The implementations of further zone changes by the City of Spokane Valley as envisioned in your new Sprague/Appleway Corridor plan will seriously impact the present and future utility and value of these properties and would in effect enact a taking of properties by the City. Obviously the purchase of Residential Blvd. property and Mixed Use properry along the right-of-way is much less expensive to the City and any future eminent domain action than the present zoned uses of the parcels impacted by your proposal. I cannot speak for my neighbors but I will envision a number of immediate legal challenges to your proposal. It is my hope that in attempting to create an attractive and viable City we do not destroy the small business ownership base of our community. Dwight Hume, 9101 N. Mt. View Lane —I am here on behalf of a property owner who lost their zoning that was fresh and imposed upon them in October of this last year and now it is getting something more restrictive. They are grateful to Jim and Susan Scott for their Paul Revere ride in knocking on all the doors of the businesses here in town to explain to those that the zoning was coming and as a result, I was 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 10 of 14 contacted to see what we could find out what we can do to spare us from the down zoning syndrome. I suggested that part of the plan be upgraded and that the City Center move over to Farr road and I am not here to say anything different. I still agree with that issue. I have had more time to read your plan and as a planner in looking at it in terms of if you make to it what other modifications can you still implement and fulfill some of it. And my primary concern and target is to say that you go ahead and scale back considerably. This plan goes all the way to the east and west and it doesn't need to go this far this quickly because you are not going to get there that quickly. I know that consultants say you need a frame work to create this plan but it is going to be piece mealed and spread out with the kind of encumbrances that you have put in the form of conveyances on the properties to move the buildings around and more importantly and reduce the amount of options that they can do. It seems to me that the mellow yellow strip along Appleway is really there to create a streetscape, to create a pleasant experience to drive through. It certainly doesn't need to be hampered with residential or very restricted residential or commercial options and they are indeed just a pairing back of what the city center is allowed to have. And yet all you are trying to accomplish is a different look with trees and so on. That can be done through the street ordinance and other forms as LID to participate in. The real issue I am going to recommend and put in my letter is that you for now prove to the citizens that it will work. Your consultant has told you it will, but you want to hear from everybody- let's just see if that works, let's take the plan and cut it off at Bowdish. Leave everything to the East alone for now, leave the zoning alone and the Subarea plan boundary and move it up to south edge of Appleway and leave everything from City Center at Bowdish west in the plan. There are obviously needs for the district and Auto Row and the need for a City Center. The outcry is from the people who you are down zoning. Why is Pines not considered at that location for a neighborhood center? Put it at McDonald you, you took it a lot deeper. You don't do that at all on a State Highway. Revisit that issue and not through your legal department but through banks and lenders what this non-conformity does and I think it will convince you that, that is a serious and significant concern. If the planners had used this excuse to say we have non-conforming rules and you have a right to be there, banks don't care, underwriters don't care and you get an appraisal and that appraiser finds out what the zoning is, and he writes in his report that it is not zoned properly for the use, they won't look any longer at the loan. That's what stains them, that's what hurts. They recoil at the idea that it is anything that has merit. It only has merit as a plausible option. To be able to downzone properties and reform a City into a different plan. Let's see if it city center goes and grows, then if it does, everybody gets excited about it, I think you can sell an expansion on it late on very easily. Dan Geiger, 118 S Pines Rd - About 5 days ago someone put a flyer on my door that said your property may be down zoned and that got my attention, so I have not had the chance to look at it in detail. I can appreciate what everyone is trying to accomplish here. This is the first time I have gotten involved in the valley. My concern is, if I understand it correctly, the property I own would become residential property. Am I understanding this correctly? So, if I understand that correctly, I would simply like to say that I would like to keep it as a commercial properry. I would like you to consider everything that folks are saying and that I don't think your intent would be to purposely turn that into residential. I appreciate you take to close look at it. Scott exp/ain. I was going to mention that the residentia/ b/vd, does a//ow o�ce uses and some /imited use retai/. IYs not what most peop/e wou/d /ike it to be if you have commercia//y zoned properly but there is an a//owance in the code for the residentia/ b/vd, for o�ce and some /imited retai/ /ike in a mixed use bui/ding. If anybody has a question about the zoning and wou/d /ike to come down and ta/k to me about it, p/ease give me a ca// and we can sit down and go through the p/an. I did buy it as a 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 11 of 14 commercial properry and in a country such as ours, I think we need to take a close look at that. Laura Gustdorf, N 107 Bowdish, I still have questions about the plan, I really have mixed emotions because I can see benefits but I can also see where it's going to complicates things. What is really important to me? Quality of life is a big issue. So I thought, what is quality of life? I think quality of life is based on these things: job availability, housing affordability, well funded, good schools, community safety, ability to exercise your rights as long as your rights are not impinging on other citizens, good access to health care and community services, ability to get to and from your place of employment and with the most ease and safety and with the least amount of time. Access to outdoor area and places that are fulfilling as far as our leisure time goes. We want our parks; we want the river walk that we have. We all appreciate those things. The last thing on my list is another shopping center. We all appreciate those things but we also need to really think about what is on the top of our list as a community. I also read where businesses build their business. Where do companies go? They look for those things that I just said, they look for those things like affordable housing, good public schools. But this is what we need to be concentrating on. What kind of industry can we, as a community draw in to our world? Not a shopping center, viable businesses, not just a strip to help support us and our children in the future. This has to be not just what benefits a strip and believe me, I highly appreciate all of the land owners that are concerned about these changes. When it hits your pocket book, it becomes very meaningful. Trouble ain't trouble until it hits home. We also have to understand that this particular project is going to be reflective possibly financially by a whole lot of people that may have to take on the financial responsibility and I would just really encourage you to put it to a vote of the people of the Valley and give us all a little bit more time for more people to have more understanding about what this plan is. Maybe they will all come on board eventually. Give us all a little more time and evidence that this is going to be a good move for all of us. Ann Ohler, 11219 E 10th Ave. - I own property at 107 N Bowdish across the street from me is a large body shop with a sign that runs all night long, ne� to them on the north is a triple sized, what looks like a house but is a business or two or three businesses and ne� to me on the south side between me and Sprague is a barber shop and some kind of a cottage industry and then there is the corner. I have been belly aching about high taxes for years. I went down to the courthouse and always thought it was a privilege and a pleasure to pay my taxes in person. The couple of time I complained that my taxes are awful high. Well, they said to me - you are zoned commercial, but my daughter questioned that the other day and this Planning Commission said, oh know, we cut that off at an angle and you are not zoned commercial. Across the street from me a good size business - cars coming in and out all day long. Ne� to them, another business, cars coming and going. Ne� to me on the other side, a barbershop that cars come and go all the time and use my driveway all the time to drive. Are you going to keep me in this pocket am I going to be out of the new City to be? Do I have any recourse? Do any of us have a recourse here? Are our situations going to be looked at in the zone or is it going to be out a flat out you are going to do it because the Commission said so. That is one of the reasons we voted to leave the county. We felt that the Commissioners did not quite understand our needs anymore. We were being overlooked and many judgments were being made without the Commissioner sizing up the situation. Fred Hiatt, 3610 S Woodruff Rd - My feelings are a little in flux. A lot of this is going to boil down to is that everyone up here has the ability to influence the Commissioners as I will attempt to do at this point. But the economy has to be looked at. There has to be some type of stop gap measure in this if we hit the redline; you 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 12 of 14 have to pull the plug on all of this. This facility that you are in seems pretly darn useable for several years while we ride this out. Mr. Grafos pointed out that if people lose value by designating to residential then the City decides to use eminent domain which the Supreme Court says they have the right to do at any time for any reason. I think we are looking at fraud. If you bought into a plan that Consultants have sold you —first of all you have to believe that it is viable to have residential on Sprague Ave. I assume that everybody that is supporting this plan or that hasn't lobbied against it, believes that that is correct. I have to believe that you have read the plan that says our property taxes are half than what they should be. That is in the paperwork that I had the EOH (I believe that is their initials) suggested to you. I am assuming that is the only place that you can go to come up with the kind of money that you are talking about here. If the things that are behind the scenes that bring pressure to you but I really think you have the opportunity to lobby and be forward thinking and delay this. Time is so critical that you don't jump in and start spending money that China may or may not loan us. Dick Behm, 9405 E Sprague — I didn't see any place where there was a designation for variance for particular circumstances. I think that should be in there. If a certain piece of property can't comply, say putting a building on Sprague Ave. We have been planning a building for about 15 years across the back of our properry. All my utilities are there, six inch sewer line, inch and a half water line, power, and the plans are there. Why haven't we built it? We are waiting for the street to go back to two-way — there are too many vacancies. It wouldn't be viable for me to put on the street. There should be some in there, no matter who it is, there are going to be some circumstances along the way. Some piece of property, some developer - for a variable, staff to look and give a variance. What a wonderful thing tonight is and last week. Before the incorporation, the citizens didn't have a voice in the Valley, no one listened. We only had 1 Commissioner for the Valley and he was one against two. Having a City and having the citizens have a voice is the most wonderful thing we could ask for. Thank you for volunteering for you positions on this board no matter how much we beat up on you. Seeing no one else who wished to testify, Commissioner Beaulac made a motion to e�end written testimony to end of business on April 4th, 2008 Second by Commissioner Sands, vote all in favor. Commissioner Robertson closed the public hearing at 8:07 pm. Ne� meeting the Commission will begin with deliberations and discussion of the Plan. The Commission will start with the Intent section of the Plan. Staff will work on a memo regarding non-conforming uses, financing and property values. There will be discussion of the possibility of a variance procedure. X. GOOD OF THE ORDER There was nothing for the good of the order. XI. AD70URNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:21 pm. SUBMITTED: APPROVED: 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 13 of 14 Deanna Griffith, Administrative Assistant Ian Robertson, Chairperson 3/20/2008 Planning Commission Minutes Page 14 of 14