City puts off decision on high-rise appeal

Spokane City Council members on Monday postponed a decision on an appeal of a proposed retail tower near the county Courthouse.

West Central LLC has been seeking city approval for a 100-foot office and retail tower west of the Courthouse, but the project was rejected by the city hearing examiner last December.

On Monday, council members heard testimony in favor of the appeal and the project as well as testimony against allowing a tall building in an area with a 35-foot height restriction currently.

Council members agreed to take three weeks to consider the appeal, and are expected to vote on the matter on April 28, said City Clerk Terri Pfister.

Developers Luann Padgham and her husband, Dr. Marcus DeWood, of West Central LLC, are seeking a zone change from office-retail with a 35-foot building height limit to office-retail with a 150-foot height limit. Their proposed L-shaped building would be in the block bounded by Broadway and Mallon avenues and Adams and Cedar streets.

A historic apartment building at Broadway and Adams sits on the same block.

Opponents of the zone change told council members Monday the proposed height is too large for the neighborhood, but another member of the West Central Neighborhood council appeared in favor of the development, Pfister said.

At a hearing last fall, DeWood said that he wanted to include a 20,000-square-foot grocery, day-care center and other retail uses in the proposed building.

Smith in his ruling said that the city’s land-use plan requires that more intense office uses be located in designated commercial centers, and the tower proposed by Padgham and DeWood was not within a designated center.