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

Letters

SARP costs were never counted

Three cheers to Councilman Dean Grafos for calling for a review and suspension of implementation of the controversial Sprague Avenue Revitalization Plan (SARP). Councilwoman Brenda Grassel is to be applauded for lending her support and calling for urgency in re-examining this ill-conceived plan.

From the beginning, the SARP was an absolute abuse of the public trust. What began as a vision failed to take into account the toll implementation would impose on the properties and businesses included in the plan.

Advertised and promoted as “revitalization,” it was in fact a massive undercover rezone of approximately 1,300 parcels through the center of the Valley. The pleas for substantive notice of the zone change to affected property owners fell on deaf ears.

How many businesses and buildings were made nonconforming by the SARP? Although the question was asked by the Planning Commission, in public testimony and during City Council deliberations, an answer was never made public. The question was posed again at the recent council retreat. Let’s make sure we get an answer this time, and the true cost and impact of the SARP is revealed once and for all.

Susan Scott

Spokane Valley