ML Planning Commission approves plan resolution

The Medical Lake Planning Commission on Thursday, June 27, approved a resolution that will eventually be presented to the City Council that formalizes its recent work to update the city’s comprehensive plan.

Among other things, the resolution states that during the commission’s deliberations it “has been made aware of planning issues beyond compliance with the (Growth Management) Act requiring additional study and consideration.”

Translation: there are outstanding issues regarding Medical Lake’s future that will need to be addressed after the comp plan is approved.

“What we found out is there is a lot of thoughts about where we need to go that this rather rapid compliance-based process wasn’t really geared to address,” Bill Grimes, principal consultant for SCJ Alliance who is assisting the city with the comp plan update, said.

He noted that while language from the previous comp plan had been carried over, and the data was new, “many of the policies have changed.

The public — all four people in attendance — were offered the opportunity to comment.

Water and its availability was the big question, particularly the number and validity of constraints that have in the past limited the number of additional water hookups within the city.

Gerri Johnson, owner of Farm Salvation, asked if the comp plan included approval of additional residential water hookups.

While the short answer was no, water system planning was ongoing, Grimes said.

At a recent City Council meeting City Administrator Doug Ross said a new booster pump installation was planned that would add an additional 200 water hookups.

The city currently has approximately five additional water hookups available.

Toby Broemmeling, director of the West Plains Chamber of Commerce, asked if it was typical to assess the amount of residential water usage at 1,000 gallons per unit.

The answer was no.

“They vary from between 350 to 500 on average,” Grimes explained, but noted that institutional users — mainly state facilities that reside within the City of Medical Lake boundary — may skew the per-unit average.

Commissioner Wayne Ueda noted the 1,000 per unit average was a “benchmark” provided by Ross, saying it was “an arbitrary number, basically.”

Some in the audience questioned that benchmark.

Broemmeling asked if more hookups would be available if the per-unit number were lower, saying he was interested in knowing if additional residential units could be developed.

Resident Terri Cooper was blunter.

“It looks like a strategy to limit growth,” she said from the audience.

Grimes noted that any discussion about water level of service, standards of measurement and changes in managing city services were a separate issue and outside the scope of the current comp plan effort.

“The standard of measurement (of water usage) we’re using is really the gateway to a much larger policy conversation,” he said.

Cooper also asked if park growth and management was included in the comp plan, and what that plan was as it related to developing or expanding existing city parks and recreational vehicle parks. Her concern, she said, was that grant money was available for park improvements, but a formal “park improvement plan” was required to receive the grants.

“I’m bringing this to your attention because if your comprehensive plan isn’t worded properly, and it’s not broad enough you, can be disqualified from even applying,” Cooper explained, noting that she felt the city had in the past not “been engaged,” and had missed some grant opportunities.

Grimes noted that the comp plan had been formatted to comply with park grant funding guidance to maintain eligibility.

The compliance-based draft plan is currently under review by the Spokane Regional Transportation Commission and the Washington State Department of Commerce, as required by law, according to Grimes.

Either entity can offer comments and suggested changes to the plan, he said.

Among other things, an updated comprehensive plan is required for the city to be eligible for various state grant funds.

While the Planning Commission’s work on the comp plan is complete, letters or emails with comments can submitted until the City Council approves the plan.

Comments can be sent via letter care of Ross, or be sent via email to [email protected]

The earliest the City Council can adopt the comp plan is August 7, according to Grimes.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].