County Approves Measures To Combat Storm Runoff Changes Seen As Crucial To Ease Flooding In Fast-Growing Areas

Spokane County commissioners unanimously approved emergency provisions Tuesday to slow the rise of storm runoff in two fast-growing areas.

Builders will no longer be able to use grassy depressions or drywells to soak up storm water, and basements will be prohibited unless they are built to keep out water.

The areas affected include Moran Prairie, Glenrose Prairie and Central Park in the southeast county and Eaglewood north of Mead.

All new developments must have lined evaporation ponds to handle rain and snow melt instead of the more common systems that let runoff soak into the ground.

“We think this is the right thing to do,” said Commissioner Kate McCaslin, who is working with Moran Prairie residents on runoff problems there.

Commissioners had considered an outright moratorium on new building proposals in those areas, but opted for the interim storm-water controls because they are less restrictive, McCaslin said.

The new controls will not apply to projects already accepted for the planning process at the county or subdivisions that have already been platted.

That includes a controversial proposal for a new shopping center and multi-family complex at 57th and Regal, as well as the proposed expansion of a veterinarian clinic farther west on 57th.

Moran Prairie residents said they are pleased with the commissioners’ decision, even though they had pushed for the full moratorium.

“We are obviously disappointed they cannot issue a moratorium,” said Susan Brudnicki, president of the Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association. “We are hopeful this is the next best thing.”

For the past two years, southeast Spokane has been plagued repeatedly by floods during heavy storms. The frequency appears to have increased with construction of additional homes and businesses, said residents and county officials.

One family had 4 feet of water pour into its basement last New Year’s.

Neighborhood activists said as many as 100 homes in the Moran Prairie area had problems with flooding or water leaking into basements.

“You can just go up and drive around there and see the problem,” McCaslin said.

Part of it stems from the fact that the soils are shallow and the ground has become so saturated that ponds are bubbling up where they didn’t exist before.

At the ShopKo parking lot on South Regal Street, storm water is still standing in an unlined runoff pond. Residents complain it harbors mosquitoes.

The county is studying long-range solutions, including a possible storm-water sewer system.

In the Eaglewood area, a layer of impermeable clay is trapping storm water below the surface and causing the water table to rise.

Laurie Grimes, assistant county planning director, said county records show that the interim controls could potentially affect about 1,700 unplatted home sites in the southeast Spokane area. The same area has some 1,000 platted home sites exempt from the interim controls.

In Eaglewood, only about 15 possible home sites could be affected. Another 32 have already been platted.

Developers said they aren’t thrilled with the interim controls, but they won’t cause much trouble now because they won’t apply to existing plats or proposed projects.

“I don’t like to see any more restrictions than we have to,” said Rich Naccarato of Cedar Builders Inc., developer of the proposed shopping center at 57th & Regal.

Under state law, the commissioners must hold a public hearing on the interim controls within 60 days. The controls could last up to a year.

, DataTimes