City Vacating Right Of Way Near Rosauers

The Spokane City Council voted Monday to give up public ownership of the Oak Street right of way where it passes through the Rosauers supermarket parking lot in Browne’s Addition.

That section of street provides access from Second Avenue to the Sunset Highway.

Rosauers, which leases property on both sides of Oak, would redesign its parking lot and reroute Oak traffic around a triangle of land where Sunset branches off from Second Avenue.

The council approved the street vacation unanimously despite opposition from some citizens who said they don’t want the council to give up public rights of way as a general rule.

Company officials involved in the proposal met with neighbors in Browne’s Addition and agreed to incorporate some of the neighbors’ ideas in the parking lot project, said Russ Moltke, a nearby resident.

The Browne’s Addition steering committee did not take a vote on the action, which is called a street vacation, but several committee members supported it, Moltke said.

With Oak Street eliminated from its current location, Rosauer’s would install a new travel lane around the north and east sides of the parking lot and plant perimeter landscaping.

Moltke said he believes the realignment would be safer for motorists because they would enter Sunset Highway at Second Avenue, which gives a better view of oncoming traffic.

Company officials said the consolidated parking lot would be safer for employees, who park in the triangle piece of land and walk across Oak to get to the store.

Rosauers leases the property from a subsidiary of URM Stores Inc.

The city would receive $23,000 for the land it is relinquishing, and the owners would pay for the improvements estimated at more than $10,000.

, DataTimes