Council To Hear Report On Long-Range Planning

Spokane City Council members will hear a progress report tonight on efforts to write a new long-range plan.

The award-winning Spokane Horizons planning effort is entering the third of six phases aimed at drafting the city’s comprehensive plan, which guides planning and growth. The state’s Growth Management Act requires a new plan be written.

In the first phase, residents identified 11 visions for Spokane, such as having a variety of transportation choices and managing growth to allow a mix of land uses.

In the second phase, tonight’s discussion topic, residents identified obstacles to the visions, such as poor maintenance of city streets and low-density housing.

The third phase calls for residents to find ways to make the visions reality.

Spokane Horizons, a city-sponsored effort, won top honors late last year from the American Planning Association, which called it the best example in Washington of involving citizens in planning.

A briefing for the council starts at 3:30 p.m. in the lower-level briefing center of City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. The regular meeting begins at 6 p.m.

, DataTimes