Latah Creek Council Considering Borders

Residents living in the Latah Creek Valley are trying to organize a neighborhood council, and now they are inviting people who live on Sunset Hill to meet with them.

Lori Bertis, organizer of the neighborhood council, said the Latah Creek area could be expanded to include a larger section of southwest Spokane.

Neighbors will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Browne’s Addition to talk about the possible boundaries for the neighborhood council.

Developments in the Grandview area and near Indian Canyon Golf Course are creating greater interest in the neighborhood council movement among Sunset Hill residents.

Bertis said some residents of Latah Creek may prefer that the neighborhood council area remain confined to the valley because of its distinct geography.

Currently the city has five recognized neighborhood councils, and three or four more are being organized.

The councils are supposed to help plan and guide the delivery of city services in their neighborhoods.

But the organizations are so new that their goals are still flexible. Some of the issues are public safety, traffic, land use and historic preservation.

On the North Side, the Logan Neighborhood is gearing up to fight a proposed central city complex for utilities, fleet services and transportation near North Foothills Drive and Hamilton.

Bertis and others are investigating through a special subcommittee the possibility of paving more residential streets.

“It’s exciting. It’s powerful,” Bertis said.

, DataTimes