County Postpones Hearing On Growth Management Mccaslin Calls For Additional Meetings For Comments On Proposed Boundaries

A landmark hearing about growth management in Spokane County has been postponed a day, and might be taken on the road.

Or the public hearing on proposed “interim urban growth areas” could be postponed indefinitely, if commissioners side with nine developers trying to slow the process.

County commissioners on Tuesday decided to wait until Jan. 22 for the hearing, which already is three months overdue.

The hearing had been scheduled for Jan. 21. But the Spokane City Council chamber wasn’t available that day, and commissioners expect a crowd that’s too large for their own hearing room.

In addition to the hearing, Commissioner Kate McCaslin is urging her colleagues to add three meetings - one in each commission district - for county residents to comment about the proposed boundaries.

Commissioner John Roskelley argued the city and county have already held numerous hearings while studying the growth boundaries during the past three years. Few people other than developers and attorneys attended those meetings.

“I’m not being critical of the process. You have beat this dog to death,” said McCaslin, who joined the commission Jan. 1. “But guess what? A great majority of people are just catching on” that growth management will bring big changes.

“People are scared.”

The boundaries will determine where urban development is encouraged and where it is prohibited.

McCaslin suggested limiting testimony at the neighborhood meetings to people who have not testified in the past.

The Jan. 22 meeting starts at 8 a.m., when commissioners will hear from nine developers who have appealed the environmental impact statement used to make recommendations for the urban growth boundaries.

If commissioners agree that more work should go into the environmental document, the public hearing will be canceled. If not, commissioners plan to start hearing testimony at 2 p.m.

The meeting will be continued the next day, if necessary, and commissioners will decide then whether to continue it in the Valley and on the north and south sides.

Commissioner Phil Harris agreed with McCaslin that more meetings are needed.

Under state law, Spokane County was supposed to set the growth boundaries by Oct. 1. However, most counties miss their deadlines, and the state rarely takes action against them.

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