Examiner Oks Zone Change For Market

The proposal to build a new supermarket, fast-food restaurant and retail store at 44th and Regal won an important government endorsement last week.

The Spokane hearing examiner ruled in favor of a zone change and a new design plan for an eight-acre parcel just north of the existing Shopko store.

Members of the Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association opposed the project and are considering an appeal of the ruling.

“It’s real discouraging,” said Greg Sweeney, a leader of the neighborhood movement. “My sense is we are going to definitely appeal to the City Council.”

He said the decision by Hearing Examiner Greg Smith shows that developers have the inside track with local officials when it comes to winning zone changes.

“They seem to get their sway around here,” Sweeney said.

The owners of the property are Ralph Berg, a Spokane heart surgeon, and his wife, Mary Berg. Their son, Rick Berg, an architect, is designing the project.

The Bergs want to build a 70,000-square-foot supermarket on the east end of the site. A Wendy’s restaurant would be built along Regal at the north end of the property, while another retail shop would be located at the southwest corner.

During testimony before the hearing examiner last month, the developers said they are willing to pay for a traffic light at 44th and Regal as well as a new left-turn lane on Regal, adjacent to the development.

Their engineering consultant also said the site is being designed to handle stormwater for two heavy storms occurring in a short time.

Flooding from storm runoff has worsened in recent years as development intensifies in southeast Spokane.

Both the City Council and County Commissioners have adopted emergency rules requiring developers to use lined evaporation ponds instead of grassy depressions that absorb runoff into the ground.

Smith said the Berg proposal would have to use lined ponds as long as the emergency rules are in place.

The project’s initial design calls for the use of grassy depressions.

The Berg property straddles a small intermittent stream that carries excess storm runoff from a large portion of Moran Prairie and Browne Mountain.

An engineering study of the watershed shows that stream flows could increase to 300 times their present volume as more and more land becomes covered with buildings and pavement.

Smith’s decision made little mention of the watershed study. In his ruling, Smith accepted the plan by the developers to turn the stream into a “biofiltration swale” across the northern portion of the property.

The design of the swale was based on measurements of the existing flow, which is only a few cubic feet of water per second.

The city-county watershed consultant said future storms could swell the stream to as much as 665 cubic feet per second. The consultant also recommends preserving as much of the stream corridor as a natural area to absorb runoff.

Smith said the City Council is the only body that can prohibit development on the site. Otherwise, the developer has a right to have the proposal reviewed under current regulations.

“The applicant has asserted, through its engineers, that it can, in fact, responsibly handle stormwater for this project,” Smith said in his decision.

Smith acknowledged the opposition of Moran Prairie neighbors.

But he said the property is designated for community business use in the Lincoln Heights Specific Plan.

“If neighbors are unhappy about the zoning and planning in their neighborhood, then they must use the proper procedures and convince the city that plans should be changed,” he wrote.

“Case-by-case proposals are not subject to popular vote.”

, DataTimes