Boundary Board Gives Opportunity To Voters

The proposed city of Opportunity breezed through another step in the incorporation process and is steaming toward a May showdown with voters.

Testimony at a Monday public hearing on the proposal was limited and supportive. Past incorporation hearings have been tumultuous, drawn-out affairs.

Only four people spoke before the state Boundary Review Board, and none of them had anything bad to say about the proposal to form a city of 19,000 in the heart of the Spokane Valley.

“I wish this board would do everything it can to get (Opportunity) back on the map,” said Bob Goodenow, 80, who’s lived in the former township for the past 44 years.

The board pretty much did.

Members barely hiccuped at the proposition before voting unanimously to pass it along to voters.

They made just two small changes.

They shifted the western border from Locust Road over to Argonne Road so that a residential neighborhood in that area remained intact.

On the east, they included all of Evergreen Road between 16th Avenue and Interstate 90 inside the proposed city. The boundary used to stop at the center line of Evergreen.

That’s it.

The proposed city is now bounded roughly by Argonne, Interstate 90, 16th Avenue and Evergreen. “It seems that all the objectives have been met,” board member Shirley Maike said after the adjustments were made.

Barring an appeal of the board’s decision before the end of March, the Opportunity proposal almost certainly will appear on the May 21 ballot.

Another proposed city in the Valley - Evergreen - is tentatively scheduled to go before voters May 21.

The board’s quick action was quite a departure from hearings on past incorporation attempts, many of which stretched over two or three days while the board chopped out large areas while lumping in others.

But there wasn’t much they could do with Opportunity, which is entirely urban in nature and has well-defined boundaries.

“It’s the most urban city I know that’s not incorporated,” said Ed Meadows, Opportunity’s chief supporter.

The six-square-mile area contains a large chunk of the Sprague Avenue commercial corridor, including the University City Shopping Center.

County officials say the stores and businesses in Opportunity generate nearly $4 million per year in sales tax revenue for Spokane County. That money would go into city coffers if Opportunity gets approval from voters.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Hearing today The state Boundary Review Board will hold a public hearing today on a proposal to form a city called Evergreen in the Spokane Valley. Evergreen would be bounded roughly by the Spokane River, 24th Avenue and Barker and Evergreen roads. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the multi-purpose room at Central Valley High School, 821 S. Sullivan.