By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
Members of the Medical Lake planning commission continued a discussion of the city's future and took a few more steps through an extensive comprehensive plan review in their June 24 meeting.
City planner Glen Scholten said a window for submitting plan amendment recommendations is coming up in August and therefore it's important for the commission to wade through as much of the review as possible before then. As well as updating statistics, maps and county requirements, Scholten said all goals stated in the plan should be reviewed for practicality.
“A comprehensive plan is basically a plan full of what a community wants to achieve, and I think they should be meaningful,” he said.
A similar review and update of the city's zoning code by the planning commission is largely complete with a few remaining chapters that appear to be in “good condition,” Scholten said, although they are still on the table for review at a later time.
On Thursday, commissioners wrapped up the community issues and visioning chapter of the comprehensive plan and moved through the land use portion.
Commissioners found that nine “framework goals,” based on a 1994-95 series of public surveys and “vision team” studies, are still valid, although achieving them is another matter. The list includes goals such as protecting the natural environment, supporting diverse housing opportunities and revitalizing the city's downtown area.
Commissioners held an extensive discussion on how a viable downtown core could be formed and all seemed to agree that without a combined effort of the city, civic organizations, businesses and residents, there will be no change.
“I don't see Medical Lake booming. What you have here is probably what you'll see in the next decade unless somebody comes in with a new plan and builds some new buildings,” Scholten said, adding that outside financing might be located to help with revitalization but a lot more city interest and citizen participation is needed. “There's got to be an organizational effort, I keep going back to that but it really does have to be a community effort,” he said.
Commissioners also discussed the growth of Cheney and Airway Heights, determining that unlike those two cities Medical Lake is further off the beaten path and has no economic driver such as a university or a highway. Similar to Medical Lake, however, those cities have had difficulty sustaining viable business centers, Scholten said.
“I don't have an answer for the economic situation of small towns, they seem to run in spurts. Even Cheney, although not a small town, has struggled to maintain its downtown,” he said.
The commission then moved on to the next chapter and the primary land use goal, the first sentence of which states, “To maintain a rural residential community with a focused central business district with the ability to support incremental urbanized growth.” It was decided the term “rural” should be changed to “small town” and that the rest of the goal's language was redundant and should be eliminated. Five other goals in the chapter were deemed to need no change after some examination.
Other changes to the land use chapter included amending several maps and aerial shots of the city as well as updating statistical land use changes. Many city land zones have seen increases between 1997 and 2009, with residential acreage up by 23 percent and commercial acreage up 22 percent.
Vacant land decreased from 568 to 155 acres due mostly to new housing construction, Scholten said, and industrial land shrunk from 90 to 30 acres because of a property rezone. The largest land use in the city remains institutional at just over 44 percent.
The next planning commission meeting will take place 5 p.m. July 22 at the Medical Lake city hall.
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].
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