Gravel Pit Added To City Boundaries Hundreds Of Homes, Apartments Planned There

Spokane grew a little Monday when the City Council annexed 135 acres west of the city.

Council members voted 6-0 to annex the exhausted gravel pit at Government Way and Fort George Wright Drive.

Central Pre-Mix wants to develop the gravel pit with single-family homes and apartments. Early plans call for up to 1,290 homes and apartments and 25 acres of office and retail space.

Daniel Morgan, who lives near the annexed land, criticized the plan for its ultimate effect on traffic.

“While this might develop in discreet segments, by the time it’s done the problem will be quite profound,” Morgan said. “Out there where we live, we don’t want to see the traffic.”

Mayor Jack Geraghty said he favored annexing the land because the city would have control over how the project developed - not the county.

The property is adjacent to the city, so annexing it is a “good thing,” Geraghty said, adding that each building project would need to come before the city for approval.

Councilman Mike Brewer was absent. Councilman Chris Anderson left shortly after the meeting started and slipped back into his seat seconds before voting for the annexation.

Also Monday, the council heard about proposed 1997 spending plans for public libraries and the Parks and Recreation Department.

The library plans to spend about $6.7 million next year, up from $6.5 million this year. The added dollars mean library employees won’t have to take unpaid leave to avoid layoffs. This year, all 110 employees took 96 hours off without pay so no jobs would be lost.

Next year, the new Shadle library will open - three times bigger than the old branch at Shadle Center. Two more librarians will be hired.

The Parks and Recreation Department plans to spend about $11.5 million next year, down $191,000 from 1996.

Director Ange Taylor said he’s keeping jobs vacant to trim spending. He also has made cuts in other areas so that $700,000 can be spent on maintenance and new equipment.

Taylor, who took the director’s post in April, said the city has “deferred a lot of things that need to be maintained. Hopefully, in a couple years, we’ll do preventative maintenance.”

Monday night’s budget hearing drew only three people.

One man criticized a proposal to increase property taxes by 4 percent.

“You guys have never learned the meaning of the word ‘No,”’ said an angry Gary Dennis. “That’s all I got to say.”

, DataTimes