Residential Streets Near Esmeralda In Line For Paving, Curbing By City
The city of Spokane is moving forward with a proposal to pave 1.2 miles of residential streets next to Esmeralda Golf Course.
The city hopes to pave the streets and install curbs and sidewalks for most of the area on Princeton and Longfellow from Freya to Florida. Rich Avenue would be paved from Freya to Havana Street.
Usually the city initiates localimprovement districts in smaller phases, but the area, with 115 parcels, is contiguous and so it makes sense to do as much of it as possible at the same time. “This is a pretty good sized project,” said Dave Mandyke, project manager for the city.
The neighborhood is one of the oldest in the city and only recently got sewers.
“We’ve never had paved streets, now that we have sewers we’re ready for the next portion of the project,” said Joyce Jones, chair of the Hillyard Neighborhood Steering Committee, which supports the project as a way to improve the neighborhood.
The area has been one of the more troubling for the city in its efforts to comply with mandates of the federal Clean Air Act. The unpaved roads, backed up against the foothills, result in dust and air pollution, especially as traffic and population increases.
The city is spending a portion of air quality grant money on the project, and that would reduce each assessment.
Still, the project will cost more than $1 million. The air quality money reduces that to $831,437. The largest assessment would be paid by the city itself, $119,532, for the cost of roads adjacent to Esmeralda Golf Course.
Charges to other property owners vary depending on the amount of road frontage. Most will pay about $4,000.
Mandyke said the area has many low-income families who could apply for assistance for the paving costs. The amount of grant money depends on the income and size of the family. Typically, however, a family of three would qualify to get half the costs paid if it earns less than $25,200.
Support for the project is split in the neighborhood. When the city asked property owners to vote, those living along Rich had the highest number of “yes” votes at 72 percent. Those along Longfellow the lowest, at 41 percent.
One owner of rental property along Princeton, James Meyer, wrote to the city in opposition.
He fears the costs would restrict the supply of low-income housing. He also wonders why curbs are needed and why the project isn’t including north-south streets.
“We’d like to have it paved,” Meyer said in an interview, “but we can’t afford it. I have affordable housing, I have senior citizens living there. I can’t raise the rent anymore.”
Joyce said many of those concerns can be answered by the city and she encourages everyone inside the district to attend tonight’s meeting. The city has already changed the project to leave out areas that were strongly opposed, she added.
xxxx MEETING SET A neighborhood meeting on the street paving project is set for today. A public hearing will be held March 30. Both are 7 p.m. at the Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook.