Agreement could help Medical Lake
MEDICAL LAKE – The City Council delved into the prospect of partnering with the Spokane Historic Preservation Office to identify and safeguard historical assets in the city during a Feb. 6 meeting.
Logan Camporeale, a specialist with the Spokane Historic Preservation Office, outlined the potential advantages of such a collaboration.
Camporeale underscored the importance of preserving Medical Lake’s historical resources, emphasizing how it fosters a sense of belonging and community pride, maximizes existing assets, showcases the area’s unique heritage, boosts tourism, and makes sound economic sense.
The proposed program entails the implementation of a historic preservation ordinance, the establishment of a commission and dedicated staffing.
“Whether it’s somebody who’s a full-time historic preservation officer like my bosses, or if it’s a planner, or somebody in public works, but you need to have some sort of staff to manage the commission,” Camporeale said. “Our office could step in and fill some of that role.”
Founded in 1981, the Historic Preservation Office boasts two seasoned staff members and an established Landmarks Commission comprising 11 members, including two from beyond Spokane city limits.
“We could bring these services to the table,” Camporeale noted. “Medical Lake could set up its own Landmarks Commission and staff it, but we’re also equipped to assist in this process.”
He then outlined the procedure for designating a property as a historic building, stressing the need for owner consent and meeting certain criteria, such as being over 50 years old. Properties listed on the register qualify for incentives.
“If the property owner took the initiative to come to our office to get the property nominated and have it approved, then it would be bound by the rules of historic preservation and also eligible for incentives,” Camporeale said.
Under the proposed interlocal agreement, Medical Lake would enact a Historic Preservation Ordinance and subsequently enter into an agreement with Spokane County and the Historic Preservation Office. Thereafter, the Spokane Historic Preservation Office and Spokane Historic Landmarks Commission would offer preservation services, including reviewing nominations and administering a “special tax valuation incentive” for listed properties.
This agreement would be cost-free for Medical Lake if county funding remains consistent. Property owners would bear administrative fees for nomination, design review and special valuation.
The special tax valuation could be applied to significant rehabilitation projects (25% or more of the structure’s value) for residential or commercial properties, completed within a 25-month period before application. The rehabilitation costs would then be deducted from the property’s value for a decade. This tax adjustment would not result in lost revenue for the county.
As an illustration, a $150,000 building undergoing $100,000 worth of rehabilitation would be reassessed at $175,000, with $100,000 deducted from the valuation over the subsequent 10 years, translating to savings of around $1,100 annually.
“This incentive can offset project costs by about 10-13%,” Camporeale said.
Clare is an Eastern Washington University graduate and a reporter at Free Press Publishing.
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