Downtown Vision Not 20-20 Some Say Draft Development Plan Skews Citizen Ideas

About 200 people added their final comments Wednesday to a draft plan on the future of downtown Spokane.

During a four-hour open house at the Convention Center, many were surprised by the way their vision has been depicted so far.

“Is this what we said?” asked Jeanette Harras, who attended previous meetings.

“There is a lot of detail that goes into planning, and a lot of people aren’t aware how one change can affect something else,” she said, adding that the process has been good for citizens.

The proposal to close the Washington-Stevens Street Bridge caught many participants by surprise.

Turning Washington into a two-way arterial would allow the Stevens Street bridge to be closed and returned to park space.

Other proposals include converting several downtown streets from one-way to two-way streets.

Some participants were frustrated by maps and explanatory signs that seemed to indicate the Lincoln Street bridge was going to be built, although there was no consensus in surveys at earlier meetings.

Paul Tuttle, senior project manager with the consulting firm Moore, Iacofano, Goltsman Inc. of Berkeley, Calif., carefully marked comments on the maps and displays.

“That’s good,” he said, noting the opposition. “Then we can make some changes.”

Erik Skaggs, a member of the downtown plan steering committee, was dismayed to hear the Lincoln Street bridge was still being mentioned. He said the steering committee never discussed the bridge.

“Why it continues to exist in the plan, I don’t know,” he said. “We need more creative ways of moving people into and around downtown, not blowing them through at 40 miles per hour.”

Others were annoyed to learn that plans for Riverfront Park will be handled separately by the Park Board even though the park has been talked about as the centerpiece of the downtown plan since the beginning.

The downtown redevelopment project is coordinated by the city and the Downtown Spokane Partnership, a nonprofit organization that is a downtown advocate and service provider.

The vision phase of the planning process is over.

Now consultants will begin analyzing the various concepts. They will research environmental, economic and social impacts of the ideas to see which can feasibly and affordably be incorporated into the draft plan.

Tuttle said there will be another chance to comment on the plan in September before it goes to the Planning Commission and City Council.

The downtown plan is scheduled to be adopted by the end of the year.

Jim Kolva, a steering committee member and former city plan commissioner, is optimistic about the process.

“We’re all working to the same end, a better downtown,” he said.