Zoning change made, temporarily

I (heart) Spokane Valley.

Some of the new city’s residents seemed ready to print that on T-shirts Tuesday night.

The City Council unanimously passed a zoning change that will allow residents of the Ponderosa and Rotchford Acres neighborhoods to maintain their rural lifestyles – for now. The change prohibits developers from building more than one house per acre in those areas, and it allows homeowners to have horses and other large animals.

“If we were still in the county, I would not be standing here before you,” Ponderosa resident Chuck Hafner told the council. “We would not have the opportunity to ask you to go back to UR-1 (zoning). We appreciate that very much.”

But the zoning change is temporary. It expires in one year.

The neighbors hope the council will make the move permanent when it writes its comprehensive land-use plan. That plan, a 20-year blueprint for growth that the state Growth Management Act requires of communities, is due in 2006.

In general, the Growth Management Act calls for houses to be built closer together to reduce urban sprawl. Allowing just one house per acre goes against the spirit of reining in development, but it follows the act’s suggestion that communities maintain the character of their existing neighborhoods.

The city adopted Spokane County’s comprehensive plan when it incorporated last year because, by law, it had to have something on the books. Some residents, including Spokane Valley Planning Commission Chairman Bill Gothmann, threw punches at the county plan Tuesday. Gothmann encouraged citizens to get involved in writing the city’s new plan to “solve the problems the county caused.”

Meanwhile, the zoning change doesn’t address an issue that Ponderosa residents call a looming problem: a proposed development that would bring 181 new homes to their area. That development would sit just outside the new UR-1 zone, so six houses could be built on each acre.

Ponderosa residents worry that bringing so many more people to the area would crowd the streets, strain the environment and change the lifestyle they bought into. The area “is not designed for that kind of population,” resident Jeanette Ritner said.

Hafner is especially concerned about emergencies. During the 1991 fires, it was difficult for residents to evacuate because there’s only one way in and out of the neighborhood. Adding more residents to the 1,200-home Ponderosa neighborhood would compound the problem, he said.

It was difficult to determine whether Hafner was kidding during a break in the meeting when he outlined his next move. He said he’s considering organizing a mock evacuation of the neighborhood on Oct. 26, the same day 13 years ago that Firestorm ‘91 hit Ponderosa.

“Can you imagine what would happen?” Hafner asked.

Ponderosa and Rotchford Acres residents seemed determined to continue working with the city on a permanent change. Hafner said Ponderosa will use the state law to fight the nearby development.

“Even the Growth Management Act specifies that any new development is to be congruent with other neighborhoods around it,” he said. “This (proposed development) doesn’t even come close.”

Meg Arpin, a land-development attorney, attended Tuesday’s council meeting but declined to comment on the neighborhood’s plans to fight the housing development.

Despite the work ahead for Ponderosa and Rotchford Acres neighbors, the mood Tuesday among them was jubilant. “I’m going to go home and sleep really well tonight,” Ponderosa resident Harlem Sandberg said.