Council Puts Deposit On Land For City Garage $50,000 Holds Long Lake Lumber Site While Officials Study Its Feasibility

The Spokane City Council put money down on a $5 million piece of industrial land near Trent Avenue Monday, giving hope to Logan residents that they may avoid having a vehicle maintenance center for a neighbor.

The $50,000 down payment prevents the owners of the Long Lake Lumber site at 2306 E. Mallon from selling it for six months but doesn’t force the city to buy the land.

Instead, the non-refundable payment gives officials time to study whether the land might work as a central location for fixing and storing the city’s 600-plus fleet of snow plows, garbage haulers and other trucks.

City vehicles currently are serviced and stored at spots around Spokane.

The council’s decision to consider building the proposed maintenance center on the mostly vacant Long Lake property pleased Logan residents, who don’t want the facility in their neighborhood.

For years, the city has courted 26 acres between Perry and Hamilton streets, Marietta Avenue and North Foothills Road as the location for the center. The city snatched up several lots in the area as they went on the market, including two pieces the council bought in March for $145,000.

Sister Noreena Carr, co-chairwoman of the Logan Neighborhood Council, called the council’s Monday decision “encouraging … It’s wise to look at more places and find the best one.”

The council chose to study the Long Lake site after the city’s community assembly - composed of representatives from seven neighborhoods councils - spent five months studying eight possible locations for the center.

Assembly members ranked the locations on several criteria, including how the center would affect air quality, aesthetics and the aquifer.

Four sites tied for the assembly’s recommendation. Logan landed at the bottom of the list, largely due to concerns over how the center would affect traffic and air quality.

Dennis Beringer, the city’s real estate director, said the city chose to focus on the Long Lake site because it is centrally located.

Three other spots - the Playfair Race Course, land in the West Plains and land next to the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds - are too remote, he said.

“The closer you are to the hub, the more efficient you’ll be,” Beringer said.

Money for the down payment, as well as another $50,000 for the study, will come from reserves in the solid waste and water departments.

If the council chooses to buy the Long Lake land, the $5 million is likely to be borrowed from the solid waste department and repaid when the city sells land it already owns on North Foothills and Normandie.

The city already has spent about $400,000 on preliminary planning to build a center at the Logan site, but officials say much of that work could be used at another location.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT? The council will study the industrial property as a possible site for the maintenance center.