Indian Trail Land Plan Sure To Displease Developer Douglass And Some Residents Already Oppose Proposal, But Others Say It Represents Consensus

After more than three years of work and under threat of a lawsuit, the land-use plan for the Indian Trail area goes to Spokane officials today for formal action.

The far-reaching proposal is opposed by some residents as well as by Harlan Douglass, who wants to develop more than 300 acres of land.

Both maintain they may be better off taking their chances with existing zoning. Others say the plan is the best that can come from the process and represents a consensus.

Douglass promises to file a lawsuit seeking a stay of the plan if it’s adopted.

The city Plan Commission today is set to forward a recommendation to the City Council, which wants to do something before a development moratorium in the northwest Spokane area expires Sept. 30.

The moratorium was imposed so the plan could be completed, giving predictability to both residents and developers.

City Planning Director Charlie Dotson, who has spent three years on the plan, said the proposal addresses much of what is on the horizon for other neighborhoods under state growth management laws.

The plan proposes:

A limit on the number of new dwelling units allowed in the neighborhood, located between Francis and the city limits along Indian Trail Road.

Restrictions on lot size and location of new planned unit developments, a term for more dense housing. Residents worry that planned unit development provisions have been used as a loophole for higher density.

“If you have a PUD it ought to fit into the neighborhood rather than be a densely packed addition,” said Mike Page, an area resident.

Prohibition on new projects unless major road construction is completed. The new alignment, at an estimated cost of $6 million, would create a minor arterial along Barnes Road-Strong Road-Five Mile Road, sending some commuters over Five Mile Prairie and away from congested Francis Avenue.

Design review for larger projects is included as a way to ensure new multi-family units fit in with the area.

Other features of the plan would allow for the collection of impact fees and would allow residents to tax themselves to buy land for parks.

Some residents have complained the plan does not adequately compensate for an overall increase in the density of land from its current 3.5 units per acre to perhaps five.

Holly Swanson, a member of one neighborhood group, said there are good ideas in the plan, but that it falls short of giving residents the assurances they need.

“What it boils down to the plan is not ready,” she said.

Cheri Rodgers, a member of the neighborhood task force who since has been appointed to the plan commission, said the plan may be too good a deal for her neighborhood.

It would impose protections long-sought elsewhere in the city.

“All neighborhoods should share in the multifamily and the duplexes. You can’t have one neighborhood get off scotfree,” she said.

For Douglass attorney Michael Murphy of Seattle, the concerns are even greater.

Current zoning would allow Douglass to develop at almost seven units an acre. There is no documentation to link development with a major road project and the congestion problems in northwest Spokane can be more economically solved by traffic lights and better road markings.

He also told Plan Commission members that the process was driven by a selfish neighborhood group that wants to preserve the suburban lifestyle.

“The sole purpose is to preclude further residential development in this area when there’s no basis for it,” he said.

, DataTimes