City’s Vacation Of Stone St. Hinges On Traffic Solution
The Spokane City Council isn’t going to eliminate Stone Street south of 29th Avenue until an alternative route is found to handle neighborhood traffic.
Dr. John Sonneland is asking the council to vacate Stone where it passes through property he owns at Quail Run office park.
Sonneland wants to eliminate Stone Street so he has more room to develop a site along 29th Avenue for a restaurant. He could incorporate the restaurant and parking into the Quail Run office park, which has been under development for the past six years.
However, the city put a large water main beneath Stone when Sonneland won approval for his office park design in the early 1990s.
Now, Sonneland is asking the city to let him change his plans.
Sonneland said the holdup on vacating the street caused him to lose a deal with Boston Market restaurant, which recently opened an outlet farther east on 29th.
Councilwoman Roberta Greene said she sympathizes with Sonneland, but the city needs to ensure that traffic can move through the neighborhood without problems.
She said local traffic using his development and the nearby neighborhood should have an alternative route before Stone Street is vacated.
“I appreciate he is in limbo,” Greene said.
A solution could be to extend 30th Avenue from Southeast Boulevard along the south side of Quail Run, city officials said.
The city has been trying to deal with a property owner, a woman living in Texas who has been traveling in Europe this spring and unavailable, said Dennis Beringer, manager of real estate for the city.
Discussions with the property owner would involve a purchase of land for extending Southeast Boulevard from 29th to Regal. That project is slated for construction next year, Beringer said.
The woman has been sent a letter asking her for comment on plans to develop the property and the new streets, Beringer said.
He said the city would prefer to cooperate with the land owner and avoid condemnation that could become a legal fight.
, DataTimes