Consultant Hired To Fight Affordable-Housing Project

Opponents of a proposed 11-acre affordable housing development in the Dishman-Mica area promise to come out in force for next week’s public hearing, and to bring along the consultant who helped defeat the North Side Wal-Mart proposal last month.

The Chester Hills Community Group has hired land-use consultant Scott Brown to help it fight the zone change needed to create the proposed development south of 16th Avenue and east of Dishman-Mica Road.

The nonprofit Northwest Regional Facilitators (NRF), with help from developer Jim Frank, is hoping to create “The Village in the Valley” on the currently undeveloped parcel.

The development would include 33 single-family homes, 31 units of townhouses and 36 multi-family rental units, said Frank Carpenter, a NRF housing and community development specialist.

The units would be offered to families in different income brackets, some as high as 125 percent of median income and some as low as less than 35 percent of the median.

The development also would have a multi-use building which would provide day care, social services, medical services and educational services to those living in the village, and to the surrounding community.

NRF has asked the county hearing examiner to approve a zone change from the current Urban Residential 3.5 to Urban Residential 22. This would allow up to 22 multi-family housing units per acre, and would set a minimum single-family lot size of 1,600 square-feet.

The current UR 3.5 zoning allows just 3.5 single family homes per acre, and lots can be no smaller than 10,000 square feet.

NRF also is seeking preliminary plat approval, and permission to create a homeowner’s association that would set rules and requirements for those living in the Village.

The nonprofit owns the land, and has acquired more than $325,000 in commitments for free labor and materials from various businesses and individuals.

The project is NRF’s largest so far. Its goal is to create a diverse neighborhood that makes home ownership more attainable for Spokane-area residents. It also would provide rental housing and social services to help struggling families rise out of poverty.

But the proposal has stirred up fear among residents of Chester Hills, Chester Terrace, Kokomo and the surrounding areas. They’ve been meeting weekly to discuss their concerns and work out their strategies for fighting the development. More than 90 have written letters of opposition to the county Division of Building and Planning.

They eclipse the dozen or so letters of support.

Opponents argue that the high-density project is “spot zoning,” and doesn’t fit it with the surrounding neighborhood. They worry about increased traffic, school crowding, and their already weak water pressure.

“We all agree (the field) needs to be developed,” said neighbor Bob Collins, who admits it’s currently a teenage hangout and fire hazard. But neighbors say they don’t want the land developed at anything but UR 3.5 standards.

If the hearing examiner approves the zone change, it will also allow an adjacent 3-acre plot, at the southeast corner of Dishman-Mica and 16th, to be developed at UR 22 standards.

The owners of that land, Patrick Lettenmaier and Marie Coon, have tentative plans to place 67 units of housing on the site.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Hearing is Friday The hearing on Northwest Regional Facilitators’ plan to create “The Village in the Valley,” a high-density housing project at 16th Avenue and Dishman-Mica Road, will begin at 9 a.m. Friday at the Spokane County Public Works Building, 1026 W. Broadway.