By JAMES EIK
Staff Reporter
The Airway Heights Planning Commission passed a recommendation to the City Council to approve an annexation to the western part of the city, for land owned by the Spokane Tribe of Indians.
The property is located on 145 acres of mostly vacant land west of Craig Road, on the northern side of Highway 2. The tribe owns the property, which includes Spoko Fuel, Arby's and one residence. Part of the property would be the location of the tribe's proposed Spokane Tribe Economic Project.
Zoned as Tribal Land, under the city's zoning code, it would operate just like the Kalispel Tribe's property to the north of the city, which contains Northern Quest Casino and Resort. There are no specified regulations on the property, but the city will provide water, electricity and sewer utilities.
The process took place through an annexation by agreement, which city planner Derrick Braaten said is the least-difficult way to go about annexing new property. Both sides have a mutual interest in a positive outcome, thus helping expedite the process.
Pursuing the annexation began in April of 2010, and in May of 2011, the city received word from the Bureau of Indian Affairs that the proposal had been approved. Braaten was ready to submit the proposal to Spokane County's Boundary Review Board, but the organization dissolved at the start of the year, before he could submit it.
Under the new process, the proposal was submitted to the state's Department of Commerce for review. No comments were received.
Braaten had planned to discuss the county's Joint Land Use Study, but it was tabled, citing changes and updates to the document. He will present it to the planning commission at the April meeting, if not sooner.
The Planning Commission then turned its focus once again to the development of the city's mixed-use overlay. Mixed-use development projects are currently under an emergency moratorium until May 1.
Braaten said the old document was out of date, and would cause problems for the city in the long run if left as it was.
“Our existing code is too broad. It's too big. The code doesn't define any development standards,” he said.
The current document doesn't address specific needs for sound attenuation in buildings near the 65-decibel area of the city. It also didn't align with requirements placed in the JLUS document, and didn't prohibit new residential developments in Fairchild Air Force Base's Accident Potential Zones, on the southwest area of the city.
As he did at the City Council meeting earlier this month, Braaten highlighted the extreme shortage of available multi-family and mixed-use opportunities in the city.
Typically, those buildings operate around an 89 percent occupancy rate. The buffer allows for rooms to be cleaned and for prospective customers to move in, if needing a residence in a shorter time span. Airway Heights, however, is operating between 97 and 99 percent occupancy for multi-family and mixed-use housing. As soon as one spot opens up, it closes instantly.
Under the new overlay, multi-family or mixed-use developments wouldn't be allowed beyond the 70-decibel sound level, or in the direct flight path to Fairchild.
Braaten said there are currently four parcels that could develop. Once the document is completed by the expiration of the moratorium in May, he hopes it will help diversify the housing needs in Airway Heights.
Mixed-use developments are typically placed along busy areas, where a building's operation is commercially viable. The Highway 2 corridor, Braaten said, is best suited for those types of buildings. Meanwhile, multi-family residential sites typically act as a buffer between commercial operations and single-family residential zones.
Toward the conclusion of the meeting, Braaten said the city's safe routes project was moving forward, and had been put out to bid. A fence is being installed along Lawson Street, where Sunset Elementary is located, in an effort to prevent children from running across the street, creating a potentially dangerous situation.
James Eik can be reached at [email protected].
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