Big-box proposal hits snag

City deliberations over proposals for big-box retail stores on the South Side have hit a snag that may delay a vote by the Spokane City Council until late this year.

Under state law, cities and counties can consider land-use changes only once a year through amendments to the city comprehensive plan.

Three proposals for major retail development near Regal Street and Palouse Highway failed to reach the council in 2007, and now may be delayed for action until late in the year, Councilman Al French said.

“You can only update the comprehensive land-use plan once a year unless it’s an emergency,” he said.

The council could declare the proposed changes an emergency but would have to justify the action, he said.

Home Depot is seeking to build a new store at 3146 E. 44th Ave., to the east of ShopKo on Regal Street. In addition, Black Development of Spokane has two proposals for developments at 4901 and 5002 S. Regal St. The proposals involve redesignating the land from single- and multifamily residential to commercial.

The Black amendments date back to 2005 and have already been delayed to work out issues of stormwater treatment, traffic circulation and other development concerns.

Four additional land-use amendments are pending from 2007. On top of that, three new land-use amendments are up for consideration this year.

Plan Commissioner Candace Mumm said that declaring an emergency to consider last year’s amendments seems unlikely since it would be difficult to come up with a basis for overriding the state’s limit of allowing one set of land-use amendments annually.

French said he has asked the Plan Commission to make a recommendation to the City Council on whether to declare an emergency. Otherwise, the city could wait until later this year to complete the deliberations, he said.

Residents living near Regal and Palouse Highway already have shown a willingness to fight the developments, having appealed both the Home Depot and the Black developments to the city hearing examiner on environmental grounds.

Neighbors lost the environmental appeal on the Black developments, but in a separate appeal have challenged the Home Depot proposal. That appeal is pending over concerns about traffic, stormwater, pedestrian safety and other issues.