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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Council puts restrictions on possible Grandview sale

The Spokane City Council on Monday set the stage for the possible sale of 26 acres of city-owned land south of 17th Avenue and west of D Street in the Grandview neighborhood.

Residents of the neighborhood won concessions from the council in a 6-1 vote. The council placed restrictions on the sale to guarantee improved traffic circulation. Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers voted no because she did not believe any restrictions should be placed on the sale.

The other six council members voted in favor of requiring that a purchaser replat the property and provide new street access to the west if the land is developed with homes. The current plat does not create a new access point for the neighborhood, officials said.

Residents argued that the growing residential area on the hillside south of Interstate 90 needs a second access route since the current street system forces all traffic through a hilly, narrow intersection where 16th and 17th avenues join near the top of a hill. Traffic can be shut down during icy conditions, said former Councilwoman Phyllis Holmes.

City administration officials had asked the council to remove all restrictions on the property sale to maximize the value of the land, estimated at $375,000. Dave Mandyke, assistant public works director, said the city’s development regulations would likely ensure that traffic problems were addressed by any new development.

Council members instead put the new conditions on the property to ensure that the traffic problems and layout of any new development would meet the current needs of the area, they said.

The city previously had required a second access route and realignment of the main streets entering the neighborhood near the intersection of 16th and 17th avenues. Monday’s action was a modification of the previous restrictions.

“We are just going to make sure there is a westerly access,” said Councilman Bob Apple.

Council President Dennis Hession said, “There are, admittedly, a number of interesting access issues up there.” He said the council’s motion on Monday “seems to me to be a very good solution.”

In addition, the council said that about $40,000 from the sale of the property would be sent to the city Parks Pepartment for additional development of Grandview Park at 17th Avenue and D Street.

The city has owned the property since a foreclosure on a debt from a local improvement district in the 1970s. About five acres of the property was used to create Grandview Park several years ago.