Spokane Valley council passes measure defining types of citizen events allowed on City Hall grounds

Spokane Valley City Council passed a measure that bars commercial, political and religious events on City Hall grounds.

Groups and organizations have approached the city seeking permission to use the grounds outside the building for events since City Hall opened in 2017. However, city officials haven’t granted any requests, suggesting the facility isn’t intended for use by “third parties.”

City Council initially discussed the resolution at a Feb. 5 council meeting, where Spokane Valley City Councilman Ben Wick questioned if rallies or protests would be considered a political event.

Spokane Valley City Attorney Cary Driskell responded that he would consider clarifying language in the proposed resolution to reflect that campaign-related events would be prohibited – not rallies or protests – because the city doesn’t want to infringe upon First Amendment rights.

“When we introduced this resolution several weeks ago, there was some language in there that lacked the clarity and specificity, that in hindsight, I wished I had put in,” he said at a Feb. 26 council meeting. “When I drafted this, it was with the intent that we preclude City Hall from becoming a special events center, in essence.”

“If people are looking to have some kind of political protest outside, again, we are not looking to infringe upon that at all as long as they do not interfere with people being able to come into and out of the building,” he added.

Spokane Valley resident Gilbert Mendoza asked if there are other cities that restrict City Hall usage.

“We have got to be careful on what we are doing,” he told City Council. “The City Hall is for the people. We have to be careful on how we are going to restrict it.”

Wick said he understands the intent of the resolution, but pointed out that a tree was planted outside City Hall specifically for the city’s annual Christmas tree lighting celebration, and there are sculptures placed on the grounds to encourage people to visit the building.

“I get that we don’t have all the facilities like an event center,” he said. “We don’t have power out there for booths, or water, or those kinds of amenities. But, in my mind, maybe we should be saying and clarifying if you do have an event here, we don’t have facilities for that.”

City Manager Mark Calhoun said the resolution wouldn’t affect civic and community events in which the city is a partner.

The resolution passed in a 6-to-1 vote, with Wick dissenting.

The city also passed a second measure at the Feb. 26 council meeting allowing alcohol consumption with a “special events permit” at CenterPlace Regional Event Center, Mirabeau Springs at Mirabeau Point Park and a portion of the undeveloped Balfour Park, excluding a portion at the west end the park owned by the Spokane County Library District.

The city intends to update the Balfour Park master plan this year, which was created in 2013, so it can be eligible for park improvement grants.

This article was updated Feb.28 to reflect that the city passed a resolution, rather than an ordinance.