Berg Proposal Going To City Council Moran Prairie Group Appeals Development Plan

The Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association has filed an appeal to the Spokane City Council seeking to stop the development of a shopping center at 44th and Regal.

The association has argued that the eight-acre development could aggravate urban flooding in the area and compromise local government’s ability to build an areawide storm sewer system.

No date has been set for the appeal.

Last month, city Hearing Examiner Greg Smith approved a site plan and partial rezone for the development of a 70,000-square-foot grocery store and two smaller retail buildings.

The site, owned by Dr. Ralph Berg and his wife, Mary, sits in a draw that drains excess stormwater from much of the Moran Prairie and Browne Mountain.

In his decision, Smith said the developers and their private engineering firm had adequately considered the question of stormwater disposal as well as other issues.

The neighborhood association sought reconsideration of Smith’s decision because, the association said, he simply was wrong.

The developers, in a memo from their attorney, said they have complied with the existing land-use laws, including concerns about stormwater, wetlands, traffic and parking.

Smith last week reiterated his previous ruling and denied the association’s request for reconsideration.

“This decision affects the entire Moran Prairie,” said Susan Brudnicki, president of the neighborhood association.

Now, she said, the City Council will get a chance to hear the issues that are of growing concern among residents in southeast Spokane.

Last winter, repeated storms sent runoff flooding into basements, parking lots and across public streets.

Further development will only aggravate the problem until local government deals with the stormwater, neighborhood leaders said.

The city and county have hired a Boise consultant to help them find solutions. The consultant recommended preserving the Berg site as part of an eventual stormwater retention corridor.

The consultant also said storms someday could send a significant amount of water moving through that site.

In his ruling denying reconsideration of the issue, Smith acknowledged the runoff problem but explained why he is allowing the development.

“While it is true that there are stormwater problems in this part of the city and studies are now being undertaken to attempt to solve those problems, this does not necessarily mean that no development can occur nor does it mean that any specific development will make those problems worse,” Smith wrote.

The association is challenging Smith and the city staff for ignoring the environmental consequences of the development on a former wetland.

The association also is arguing about the legality of allowing a large supermarket on a single arterial, rather than at the intersection of two major arterials.

The group said the development would lead to strip zoning along Regal and increase hazards to motorists and pedestrians.

, DataTimes