By JAMES EIK
Staff Reporter
Following a series of open houses last month, the Medical Lake City Council discussed the potential impact of implementing Spokane County's Joint Land Use Study document.
The City Council will take action at its April 3 meeting on the JLUS document, which seeks to set standards for the region to protect Fairchild Air Force Base from non-compatible land uses that may endanger its current or future mission. A final push is being stressed in an effort to finalize the document before the decision for locations receiving the new KC-46A is made.
Before the April City Council meeting, however, JLUS will come before the city's planning commission March 29 for public hearing and comment.
City Administrator Doug Ross said many errors exist in the current document.
“It's difficult to read through the County's draft,” he said, although updates may come to the document before being sent out to regional jurisdictions.
He said the city has been a good neighbor for Fairchild since day one, and that the JLUS document could cause some difficulty in the future. If implemented, the JLUS document would place restrictions on new development in the city's Urban Growth Area.
“One concern is if Medical Lake gets the business of its dreams, it will be awful restrictive in our UGA,” he said.
Councilman Howard Jorgenson expressed concern because it was easier to build in the county areas surrounding the city than in the city itself.
Ross said it might be a possibility to look into an agreement between Fairchild and the city itself. That way, the city could address specific issues and concerns that the base may have with future development.
Last month, Spokane County hosted the three open houses to present a semi final draft of the JLUS document, finalizing it once comments were received. Around 17 or 18 written comments were sent in, according to city planner Glenn Scholten.
There were concessions made throughout the formation of the document, although he said everyone lost a little bit. Specifically for Medical Lake, he said the line for Military Influence Area Three, which follows the 65-decibel sound contour line, cut through the city's northern border. Throughout the negotiation process, that line moved north, to align flush with Medical Lake's boundary.
Some of the written comments called for MIA Three to be split back into two sections, Three and Four, respectively. The two areas were combined during the discussions as many on the JLUS Steering Committee thought they were similar.
Other comments say the document is too restrictive, while some said it didn't have enough restrictions. Scholten said the group Forward Fairchild was among those who initially wanted the document to be more restrictive than its current form.
The county submitted the document to the state for a 60-day comment period, which ends in April. Around April 17, the county is looking to have a tangible idea of each jurisdiction's participation.
The City Council also heard from Kevin Twohig, CEO of the Spokane Public Facilities District, who presented information on the group's April ballot measure, which seeks to improve various areas in Spokane.
That ballot measure seeks to continue funding for another 10 years through the extension of a one-tenth of 1 percent sales and use tax, and 2 percent motel tax. Funds would help improve the Veterans Memorial Arena, the new convention center and surrounding areas of the Centennial Trail.
Comments from NCAA officials, Twohig said, have pointed to requests for additional seating in order to continue hosting events. If approved, funding would finish seating along the upper bowl area of the Arena, adding another 750 seats.
An addition to the new convention center would expand areas on the first floor, adjacent to the parking garage. Extra meeting rooms, seminar areas and a lobby would be constructed through the ballot measure's passage.
The extra spaces would help to make the area a more competitive destination for conventions and events to help the tourism industry.
Those visitors, Twohig said, go straight to the banks of the Spokane River when they're in town. Areas of the river across from the convention center have deteriorated and need revitalization, he said.
The City Council approved the surplus of a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure generator, used by the fire department. The department is purchasing a new one, but surplusing the older item for an approximate cost of $300.
Also, three firefighters were accepted into the department at the meeting.
Fire Chief Jeff Estes said a group participating in the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle raised around $4,500, more than three times the amount received last year.
James Eik can be reached at [email protected].
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