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

Neighbors to plan projects

Spokane neighborhood representatives filled Council Chambers at City Hall Tuesday night to hear the latest details of how to spend $550,000 in money for neighborhood projects or new land-use designs.

Interest in the work came from nearly the entire city with 25 of 27 neighborhoods showing up on a snowy night.

Mayor Mary Verner asked the group to look for ways to solve problems rather than to engage in long-range planning. “We are trying to focus more on solutions than planning documents,” she said.

She promised that the city would work to come up with money to pay for their projects.

City officials have promised to divide the money evenly across neighborhoods, but acknowledge that the amount earmarked for planning is just a start. A deadline of March 31 was set for signing up for the planning work.

Park improvements, pedestrian amenities, trails, green belts, street trees, facilities and traffic changes are among the projects that might be initiated with the money.

Professor Bob Scarfo of the Washington State University Interdisciplinary Design Institute in Spokane urged the neighbors to consider projects that will improve health and the environment and make neighborhoods greener places. “Strategize. There are possibilities,” he said in encouraging the audience to think big and consider the future.

The city planning department is offering three options for spending money to draw plans: using temporary city staff; hiring a private consulting firm; or bringing in the design institute and its complement of students and academic staff.

Better neighborhood planning is a goal that dates back nearly a decade to a citywide rewrite of Spokane’s comprehensive land-use plan, which sets out goals and policies and provides the framework for various land uses. The broad plan was adopted in 2001, and at the time, city officials promised to undertake detailed neighborhood planning to provide a block-by-block blueprint.

Only four commercial areas won funding for initial neighborhood planning, despite widespread support from neighborhood councils for additional money on the grassroots planning.

The latest initiative was approved last year by the City Council, which tapped into a one-time revenue surplus from a surging economy. The Community Assembly of Neighborhood Councils pushed to get the work going.