Local jurisdictions can now modify, accept or shelve the document
By JAMES EIK
Staff Reporter
The effects on land owners from Spokane County's Joint Land Use Study proposal were placed on the table last week at a public hearing at a joint meeting of the Board of County Commissioners and the county's planning commission.
Better known as JLUS, the document seeks to address non-compatible land uses in areas surrounding Fairchild Air Force Base, which could cause concern for encroachment. The county created a draft document, which will be presented to four jurisdictions for their own modification and independent decision on whether or not to approve it: Airway Heights, Spokane County, Medical Lake and the city of Spokane.
The public hearing was held to address some written feedback from three open houses in late February. Around 17 or 18 comments were sent in, some of which were included in a staff report.
John Pederson, county planning director, said the study would implement a new airport overlay zone. The open houses, he said, were the first opportunity to view and comment on the documents.
Some land owners who spoke at the hearing said they were fully supportive of Fairchild, but thought their representatives had failed in making the drafting process transparent and were now placing regulations on their private property.
Patricia Apregan, a homeowner in unincorporated Spokane County northwest of Medical Lake, first heard about the JLUS document through a mailed invitation to the February open houses.
“I spent the last two weeks trying to understand how this government body that I fund with taxes could spend years with little or no public input, concoct and ramrod through a plan that tourniquets a large part of the West Plains from any development,” she said.
“There was someone to advocate for the Spalding Catchfly to exist on the West Plains area, but where was mine? I found none existed,” she said. “Only one person out of 17 members of the JLUS (Steering) committee lives on the West Plains.”
Apregan was referring to the native plant found on Fairchild and listed on the state and federal level as “threatened.” The plant is listed in the JLUS draft.
After reviewing the document, Tony Whitehead, a neighboring land owner, had his own concerns on the document. He and other land owners in the area met last week to catch up on the document before the public hearing. The county's actions toward Fairchild, he said, are concerning.
“They want us to be good neighbors, but they don't want any neighbors at all,” he said.
At the public hearing, County Commissioner Mark Richard said protecting a base with land acquisitions is costly and wouldn't be feasible by a government entity.
“From the federal government's standpoint, the challenge that they have is that, imagine trying to purchase that amount of land that would offer the ultimate protection. The price tag would probably be in the billions and that's just one base,” he said. “And so that presents a significant challenge and these regulations are in fact a means to protect the base while trying to maintain other uses by property owners in harmony without having to acquire that land.”
The JLUS document, if implemented by each jurisdiction, would provide specific regulations for land usage. Specifically applying to West Plains residents are Military Influence Areas Two and Three/Four.
MIA Two under JLUS requires that plans for future development be sent to Fairchild for its comment and approval, also requiring homeowners to sign an avigation easement, acknowledging that planes have permission to fly overhead. MIA Two extends 5,000 feet from the base's runway
Land in MIA Three/Four would be restricted to one housing unit per 10 acres, require sound mitigation in new developments and avoid large gatherings of 150 people or more. MIA Three/Four follows the 65 LdN (day-night levels), which takes into account sound levels throughout an entire day, averaging 65 decibels. It stretches west of the runway, as far north as the Spokane County Raceway, east to the Five Mile neighborhood in Spokane and south to Medical Lake's northern city border.
Pederson said there would be an effect on homeowners living in MIA Three/Four.
“If someone wanted to make an addition, it may require some sound mitigation,” he said.
Throughout the drafting process, the JLUS Steering Committee combined MIAs Three and Four, the latter of which would have implemented the land use restrictions. See the Airway Heights council story on page 10 for more information.
County Commissioner Todd Mielke said keeping track of the newest draft was difficult. Representatives from the county didn't have updated copies at the meeting, causing some confusion.
“We have a document that's already out of date,” he said.
Pederson called the county's current airport overlay zone “not effective” and “antiquated.”
In an effort to modernize those zones, the county adopted an interim zoning ordinance Nov. 22, 2011, ahead of the city of Spokane's annexation. That interim overlay would expire May 22, unless JLUS was adopted before then.
Areas of high concern, Richard said, include a manufactured home zone in the southern part of Airway Heights. The city is currently working with local organizations and government representatives to reduce the residential density in the area by offering housing at their current price level.
Comments from Pederson also touched on a desire to complete the JLUS document's implementation ahead of a decision for the location of a new fleet of KC-46A tankers in July. That fleet would replace the aging KC-135s currently stationed at Fairchild. A final decision on the document is expected by mid-April.
“Time is of the essence,” he said.
Ken Small, a member of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure committee, said the Air Force is set to retire another 300 planes in the next coming years, after retiring 500 in the last few. Vertical buildings and dense populations, he said, stand out in the selection process.
Mielke said some land owners don't need to be concerned about JLUS' regulations, as they're meant more for urban areas, and also pointed to the effect that Fairchild has on businesses along the Highway 2 corridor in Airway Heights.
“Anything that's an existing use continues to be a proper use, that's what the rules say. If you're currently rural, which most of the property in the county under JLUS is rural, you have limited uses anyway. This doesn't change that,” he said. “It's really the more urbanized uses that get adjusted.
“The issue is, under unintended consequences, for the small businesses that are in Airway Heights, for some of them, probably a lot of them, the volume of customers they get is because that base is open. If that base closes, I'm not sure that volume of customers will continue to support those businesses.”
James Eik can be reached at [email protected].
Reader Comments(0)