Renovation requirements revisited

The Spokane Valley City Council agreed Tuesday to pursue more restrictions on panhandlers and fewer on Sprague-Appleway business owners.

Council members took no formal action, but directed the city staff to prepare proposals for future consideration.

No timetable was set for the panhandling legislation, but a plan to ease some requirements of the proposed Sprague-Appleway Revitalization plan is to receive further discussion on Oct. 21.

Responding to complaints that the plan would create hardships for owners who want to renovate existing buildings, the council called for raising the threshold for compliance.

The relaxation would apply to all parts of the Sprague-Appleway corridor outside the proposed city center district.

Within the city center, the new zoning code would apply to existing buildings as originally intended.

If an exterior renovation in the city center costs 20 percent or more of a property’s appraised or assessed value, whichever the owner prefers, the new architectural standards for exterior appearance would have to be met.

If an expansion in the city core meets the 20 percent threshold, the project would have to comply not only with appearance standards but, as much as possible, with new regulations on where the building should be located.

Thus, if a new building needs to be close to the street, expansion of an existing building should be on the street side of the building if feasible.

Council members expressed concern about forcing a complete interior renovation if an owner simply wants to add some storage space at the back of a building. But city officials said the code would allow them to grant exceptions in situations like that.

Under a proposal advanced Tuesday by Mayor Rich Munson, the 20 percent threshold would still apply to renovations outside the city center. However, no renovation project would have to meet any new standard except for exterior appearance.

A change of use, though, would still require parking requirements and other use-based rules to be met.

New construction anywhere in the Sprague-Appleway corridor would have to comply fully with the new zoning code.

Council members Bill Gothmann and Diana Wilhite quickly endorsed Munson’s proposal, but Dick Denenny and Steve Taylor feared the relaxation would delay the corridor improvements city officials want.

“I’d like to see it in my lifetime,” Taylor said.

“If it’s going to be individuals fronting the cost, then they’ve got to be given some latitude on how to do it,” Munson said. “We’ve really got to be cognizant of who’s taking the risk here.”

If renovators of existing buildings see benefits from the new standards, they may comply voluntarily, Wilhite and Denenny agreed.

The whole council agreed by consensus to ask the city staff to prepare amendments reflecting the proposed changes.

The council also supported Munson’s call for a cost estimate on a computer-generated video to show constituents how a redeveloped Sprague-Appleway corridor might look.

Support was weaker when the council called for research on an ordinance making it illegal to give money to a panhandler from a vehicle on a city street.

“I just have a visceral reaction to telling people they can’t give, that they can’t help someone else,” Councilwoman Rose Dempsey aid. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s un-American and I’m opposed to it.”

She found it “a stretch” when Taylor argued that giving in traffic creates a hazard.

Dempsey and Gothmann represented the council on an ad hoc committee that studied panhandling issues and recommended a variety of measures – including a ban on handouts in traffic.

Gothmann, the committee chairman, detailed a litany of problems and possible solutions. He was joined by Todd Babcock, who has been conducting similar research for the Spokane City Council.

Gothmann and Babcock called for Spokane and Spokane Valley to work together on a variety of measures, including public education and restrictive legislation.

Panhandling is a constitutional right, but Gothmann said restrictions on hours and locations are possible.

Prohibited locations might include bank machines, bus stops, traffic signals, street medians and freeway entrances, Gothmann suggested.

Taylor agreed with Gothmann that a ban on handouts from cars would be the most effective. But he noted that might conflict with the council’s recent decision to allow firefighters to solicit on-street donations for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Babcock said Spokane city attorneys have concerns about the legality of “anti-enabling” ordinances and so far haven’t found an example “they’re comfortable with.”

Spokane Valley council members called for their attorneys to research the issue, too.

Police Chief Rick Van Leuven called for an ordinance against public drunkenness. City Attorney Mike Connelly said a related state law focuses more on lewd and disorderly conduct.

Van Leuven estimated Spokane Valley has 30 to 50 panhandlers. They come and go, but most are “somewhat regular,” he said.

Gothmann said he interviewed an alcoholic Spokane resident who has a solicitor’s license under the name “Cardboard Expressions” and takes a bus to panhandle in Spokane Valley.

“He said he averages $30 to $40 an hour in Spokane Valley,” Gothmann said. “And this is a direct quote: He said, ‘All of the pretty women in their 30s and 40s give me $20 bills.’ ”

“We need to educate the public that, when they give a dollar to a panhandler, 80 to 90 cents of that dollar is going to go toward alcohol or drugs,” Gothmann said.

He said some panhandlers have been aggressive to the point of getting in a woman’s car to demand money, and others have plagued businesses with “flop areas” and open-air “restrooms” on their properties.

At one such area, behind Liquidation World at 12606 E. Sprague Ave., two men went to a nearby house where they peeped at a woman and tried to break down her door, Gothmann said.

Another business won’t allow employees to go to the company trash bin because it’s too often occupied by a panhandler, Gothmann said.

He said police urge businesses to post “no trespassing” signs so officers automatically have grounds to arrest violators.

Van Leuven said he persuaded the state Department of Transportation to post signs last year on state land at the Sullivan Road interchange on Interstate 90, “and we are pretty active in patrolling that area.”

Council members agreed to have Gothmann deliver his panhandling report to other government officials in Spokane County to seek support for regional action.

John Craig may be contacted at johnc@spokesman.com.