Need to curb sprawl

The subdivision vesting loophole is something developers created. The urban growth area was established to curtail urban sprawl.

The city can and should make expansion of city services – water, sewer, etc. – so expensive it wouldn’t be profitable to expand. If developers had to pay $1 per square foot for all the property in the development, it would slow them to a stop. Since they have been able to pass on the mitigation costs to current and future homeowners, they continue to exploit state law.

Spokane school district student population is in decline and has been for the last 10 years. This is becoming a retirement city. Because of the death grip the major property owners have on the city and county governments, that is all it ever will be. The policies set in place by the past and current elected officials are the reason industry won’t locate here.

The Tax Foundation ranked Washington sixth in its Business Tax Climate Index (2013). Washington makes Top 10 for Business 2013-Forbes magazine, and the cost of doing business in Spokane is 18 percent below the national average (Moody’s Analytics).

Herb Postlewait

Spokane