Hearing On New City Set For Tonight Request To Exclude Yardley Area Expected To Be Hot Topic At Tonight’s Public Meeting

The state Boundary Review Board will hold a public hearing tonight on a proposal to form a city in the Spokane Valley, the third such plan in five years.

The meeting begins at 7 in the cafeteria at North Pines Junior High School, N701 Pines.

Supporters claim that a city would be more responsive and provide services more efficiently than county government does now.

They hope to hold an election on the matter May 16.

A request by the Spokane City Council to have a tax-rich industrial area excluded from the proposed city is expected to be a hot topic at tonight’s meeting.

The council has asked the board to cut the Yardley area from the proposal.

Spokane has extended some water lines into the area and has plans to provide sewers there as well.

Incorporation supporters and representatives from the Valley Fire District and the Spokane County Library District are expected to testify against the move.

Incorporation supporters claim the request is a precursor to Spokane annexing the area, which would mean a loss of revenue to their proposed city, the fire and library districts.

Some residents from the Otis Orchards neighborhood also are expected to attend and ask that their mostly rural area on the eastern fringe of the Valley be excluded from the city.

The review board may adjust the borders of the proposal as long as the total area of the city is not altered by more than 10 percent.

As proposed, the city of Spokane Valley would cover nearly 33 square miles and be home to about 64,800 people.

That would make it the seventh most populous city in the state.

The boundaries are roughly the Spokane city limits on the west, 32nd Avenue on the south, Malvern and Simpson roads on the east and Trent Avenue and the Spokane River on the north.

The city is significantly smaller than one with 91,200 people put forth in 1990 and another of 76,700 that was proposed last year.

Both of those proposals were rejected by voters, although the 1994 made significant gains, achieving nearly 44 percent approval.

If the city incorporates, the county government stands to lose nearly $10 million in tax revenue.