City’s Proposal For Maintenance Facility Tests Power Of Neighborhood Assembly

Plans to expand the city’s maintenance facility in the Logan neighborhood are stirring up a new, collective kind of activism in Spokane.

A newly-formed association of neighborhood councils will bring the power of five neighborhoods to influence plans for the maintenance facility.

The Neighborhood Assembly, which officially convened for the first time last month, is studying the city’s plans. When it completes a review, the Assembly hopes to reccommend alterations that would make a maintenance facility neighborhood-friendly, wherever it’s placed.

And, more importantly, the review could be the first step toward a city government that listens to neighborhood organizations, say members of the Assembly’s review committee.

“It’s an opportunity to show that maybe there is a better way to look at these projects,” said Al French, a Nevada-Lidgerwood architect and head of the review committee. “We are saying (that) when solutions are arrived at, they are arrived at with involvement from neighborhoods.”

The Assembly is part of Mayor Jack Geraghty’s “neighborhood empowerment” plan, which call for a dozen citizen councils citywide. The councils each have representatives in the Assembly. Geraghty and a pair of City Council members are also in the assembly.

The Assembly is intended to be a two-way channel - the council feeding information about its decisions directly to neighborhoods, and the neighborhood feeding its concerns to the City Council.

The Logan maintenance yard is the first major project to be tackled by the Assembly. The review committee will examine all facets of the yard, including traffic, pollution, ground water and noise impacts.

The review committee understands the need for a larger yard, said French. Currently, city maintenance vehicles are scattered at several sites. The Logan site is in need of repairs, and the city staff has recommended remodeling and consolidating operations there.

But Logan residents are vehemently opposed to having the center in their neighborhood. The review committee will meet with city staff to tell them the neighborhood concerns. “This is about people sitting down at the table and just talking,” said Molly Myers, head of the city’s Office of Neighborhood Services.

The neighborhood is concerned about impacts on the residential area.

An expanded yard would hold more than 600 vehicles, dramatically increasing neighborhood traffic. The city has spent more than $300,000 studying the Logan site, but just two neighborhood meetings have been held.

“I really want to approach this from an objective standpoint,” said French. “Wherever it ends up, we want it to be a good neighbor.”

There is skepticism, however. Most neighborhood activists feel City Hall has ignored their problems and solutions. Indian Trail residents still seethe over 10 year-old planning decisions; Logan residents remember City Council members ignoring their protests over construction of the Keefe Bridge, the Hamilton Street off-ramp from Interstate 90.

“This could be a good test if the city takes this Neighborhood Assembly seriously,” said Lori Bertis, a Latah Creek business owner and a member of the review committee.

Myers notes that Geraghty and city council members agreed to the review at the last Neighborhood Assembly meeting. Everyone walked away from the meeting happy.

“I see that as a real good omen,” said Myers.

, DataTimes