By JAMES EIK
Staff Reporter
At its May 14 meeting, the Airway Heights Planning Commission held a joint session with the parks board to discuss a final master plan draft of the city's 70-acre park proposal.
Toward the end of the meeting, however, city planner Derrick Braaten gave some information as to where the commission would be headed in the coming months.
Braaten said there was still some follow-up paperwork that remained to be completed, but the land was now formally part of the city. The City Council approved the annexation at its April 16 meeting.
No action was taken at the meeting by the commission, however Braaten said the next two months would be busy.
The city is currently in the process of updating its mixed-use overlay and general commercial zones. Initially, the commission was set to approve the document at its April meeting, but postponed a decision until comments from the city of Spokane and Spokane International Airport were brought to the table. The City Council voted to extend its emergency moratorium on mixed-use applications until November.
Braaten and other representatives who submitted comments met Tuesday, May 1 in an effort to come to an understanding from each level. Another meeting is scheduled for Friday, May 25.
“We got some good feedback about the process,” he said. “We're currently in the process of implementing some of the recommendations.”
Additionally, a market analysis will be composed to formally show the need for multi-family housing in the city. Braaten has previously stated the city currently has 97 to 99 percent occupancy in its higher density residence areas.
A workshop will likely come in June, followed by a vote at its next meeting in July.
Braaten said another workshop would come regarding the city's Joint Land Use Study proposal. At its March 19 meeting, the City Council voted to send a letter to Spokane County detailing its decision not to approve the full JLUS draft.
The city has, however, been drafting ways to implement some of the draft's recommendations to the 1995 Air Installation Compatibility Use Zone. A formal decision has yet to take place.
“We already have AICUZ, so we don't have that rush that other jurisdictions may have,” he said.
James Eik can be reached at [email protected].
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