Mike Prager

Spokane City Council members have been talking about rewriting the city's residential zoning code for the past five years, ever since they adopted a sweeping comprehensive land-use plan under the state Growth Management Law. The city zoning code has not been revised for 48 years, but now a series of public meetings, work sessions and briefings is leading up to council consideration of a new plan.

Haven Street through Hillyard's historic business district is going to be repaired this spring and summer under a $1.3 million paving contract approved by the Spokane City Council on Monday. Spokane Rock Products Inc. won a bid to reconstruct the southbound street from its connection with Market Street just south of Francis Avenue to its return connection with Market Street just north of Garland Avenue.

Environmental concerns surfaced for the first time Wednesday over a mammoth housing and commercial development proposed for the North Bank of the Spokane River. A group calling itself the Bridge-Summit Alliance is questioning whether the Kendall Yards development and its expected 4,000 or more new residents might become a burden to existing streets, trails and the river itself.

Political infighting among leaders of the Spokane Tribe spilled into Spokane City Hall recently, raising concerns that City Councilwoman Mary Verner abused her position to seek removal of a former tribal leader from a city-sponsored panel. Verner, who is employed by a tribal organization, pushed for the removal of former Spokane tribal council member Ronald "Buzz" Gutierrez from the city's Native American Public Development Authority. That ouster was sought by Spokane tribal leaders who help oversee management of the Upper Columbia United Tribes, the organization that employs Verner as its executive director.

The legal battle over the city's failed involvement in River Park Square's downtown parking garage returned to City Hall on Monday, one year after the city settled a trial in the matter. The Spokane City Council voted 6-1 in favor of hiring a private attorney to appeal a judge's ruling that dismissed one of the principal participants in the deal.

Spokane City Council members have been talking about rewriting the city's residential zoning code for the past five years, ever since they adopted a sweeping comprehensive land-use plan under the state Growth Management Law. The city zoning code has not been revised for 48 years, but now a series of public meetings, work sessions and briefings is leading up to council consideration of a new plan.

Government officials and community leaders joined a developer on the North Bank of the Spokane River on Tuesday to celebrate completion of an environmental cleanup of a former railroad yard and fueling facility. More than 223,000 tons of contaminated soil were removed from the site under one of the largest cleanups of its kind in the country, setting the stage for development of a large-scale urban village on the long-vacant property.

A cost-conscious Spokane City Council on Monday put the brakes on a $100,000 contract for computer software in the Fire Department's emergency dispatch center. Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin said she wants to study options to save money and asked for a week's delay in a vote on the contract with Geac Public Safety of Tampa, Fla., for licensing and maintenance of computer-aided dispatching software.

The city of Spokane is embarking on a yearlong effort to redefine how it will regulate uses of the shorelines along the Spokane River and Hangman Creek. Spokane hasn't updated its Shoreline Master Program since 1982.

The Spokane city hearing examiner will consider on April 18 proposals to form two local improvement districts for street paving. Members of the Spokane City Council on Monday approved resolutions setting the hearings.

The Spokane City Council has hired a new city auditor to provide independent oversight of city operations and spending. On Monday, the council voted unanimously to hire Gwen Fuller-Vernier, a certified public accountant who earned a master's degree in business administration from Gonzaga University in 1996.

Editor's note: Page A1 of Saturday's newspaper referred readers to this article, which was inadvertently omitted from the Idaho edition of that day's newspaper. Former Spokane City Councilman Steve Eugster argued in court on Friday that city officials illegally sold city park land to a riverfront developer for construction of an upscale condominium overlooking the upper Spokane Falls.

Former Spokane City Councilman Steve Eugster argued in court on Friday that city officials illegally sold city park land to a riverfront developer for construction of an upscale condominium overlooking the upper Spokane Falls. Eugster is seeking to block the sale even as a construction crane hovers over the site adjacent to the historic Flour Mill. Eugster is being backed by a neighboring property owner who is concerned that the high-rise will block the view from his Hostess Bakery property to the west.

Every Spokane sewer customer will have to pay more than $1,000 from now to 2018 to clean up the Spokane River. More than $500 million in sewer improvements are proposed, including installation of high-tech filters to remove much of the phosphorus now being discharged from the city's wastewater plant into the river.

Developers in the Indian Trail and Five Mile neighborhoods have agreed to finance half of the $1 million cost of a new paved route connecting the two fast-growing sections of northwest Spokane. The Spokane City Council on Monday unanimously approved a resolution calling for construction of an extension of Barnes Road from the Indian Trail Neighborhood to Strong Road on Five Mile Prairie.

The cost of licenses for dogs and cats in Spokane will go up this month. The City Council on Monday unanimously approved new annual license fees of $8 for cats and $13 for dogs if the animals are sterilized, increases of 50 cents for cats and $1 for dogs. The fees match those charged in Spokane County and Spokane Valley.

A deal to save the threatened 1934 Rookery and 1915 Mohawk buildings in downtown Spokane was put on hold Monday, increasing the possibility the two structures could be demolished. Spokane City Council members suspended action on the deal Monday after a prospective buyer failed to submit a required deposit of $100,000 on the $4.8 million sale.

When Spokane city officials intervened to stop demolition of the historic 1934 Rookery and 1915 Mohawk buildings last fall, preservationists saw it as a victory to save the two venerable facades. But city officials, in offering to resell the properties for private development, have not prohibited any future demolition by a prospective purchaser.