Five Mile Group At Odds With Developer’S Plans

Greg Yost sees Five Mile Prairie as a rural island floating above the city.

“It’s a wonderful prairie location,” he said. “But it’s also an area deemed for growth.”

In 1996, Yost - a developer with Tomlinson Black - approached the owner of a big square of land on the prairie. The owner told Yost it had become too difficult to keep up with cultivating and farming the property every year.

And so, since the land was zoned for urban-residential growth, Yost decided to go ahead with development.

But the path has not been without pitfalls.

Since the projects’ beginnings, the Five Mile Prairie Association has raised several objections to Yost’s three proposed developments.

Most residents want to preserve the rural nature of their prairie neighborhoods and worry that too-dense subdivisions will destroy them. They are concerned about the effects of increased traffic on overburdened prairie roads. They point to flooded basements and wonder if more building will make things worse.

They also have a list of more technical concerns, including questions about the adequacy of the environmental impact statement, density calculations and when the projects were vested.

All of these concerns were voiced during the preliminary plat hearings for the Prairie Breeze and Granger Terrace subdivisions held in October, and during the appeal of the proposed Willow Run manufactured home park held the same day.

County Hearing Examiner Michael Dempsey recently approved both preliminary plats and denied the appeal.

For those keeping score, that makes it Yost 3, Five Mile Prairie Association 0.

But the association believes in its cause and has planned its next step. Members will focus their energy on appealing the projects that they say have the greatest impact - Willow Run and Prairie Breeze.

“(Granger Terrace) is a pretty small piece of the whole project,” said Five Mile resident and association member Candace Dahlstrom.

Yost broke his square of property into three housing options geared toward three different markets.

For the Granger Terrace preliminary plat, Yost plans to subdivide just over 34 acres into 29 spacious lots for single-family homes. Prairie Breeze calls for the division of about 49 acres into 138 lots for midrange, single-family homes, and Willow Run is a proposed 68.1-acre manufactured home park with spaces for 238 homes.

Yost said he saw a need for reasonably priced housing and set out to fill it. With Willow Run, he hopes to provide affordable homes for first-time home buyers and for the “snowbirds” - couples who head for warmer climates when the snow hits.

“They’re the empty nesters with a big house and yard wanting to downsize,” he explained. “They want to live here to be with their children and grandchildren but also have the freedom to travel.”

Yost described Willow Run as a higher-end manufactured home park with a community center, golf green, kids’ play equipment, swimming pool, running trails and 40 acres of parks - something that hasn’t been built in Spokane for about 25 years, he said.

Willow Run is sandwiched between his two other developments and buffered by parks and green space. The manufactured homes won’t be visible from anywhere on the prairie, unless you drive into Willow Run, he said.

Still, many Five Mile residents fear the effects of Yost’s projects and clamor for responsible development.

They argue that the projects were deemed technically complete after the interim urban growth areas were established. That means Yost would have to develop under a set of regulations requiring less density.

They say the environmental impact statement omits several important considerations, like the total effect on traffic and parks.

Five Mile residents were happy, however, to see in the hearing examiner’s decision that he agreed with their assertion that the county had been miscalculating density.

“Density is a huge problem with Willow Run,” Dahlstrom said. “They’re treating it like a subdivision and not a mobile home park.”

But in general, the Five Mile Prairie Association just wants Yost to pay his fair share.

“It will cost the city and county millions of dollars to provide infrastructure for these communities,” through such improvements as roads, schools and parks, Dahlstrom said.

Yost said he has paid his fair share - and then some.

“I’ve done everything they (the Five Mile Prairie Association) have asked me to,” he said. “I’m doing all I can to work with them within reason and to let them know I want to be a good neighbor.”

For the three Five Mile projects, Yost said he will pay $800,000 for road improvements. He said he will also pay for sewers, easements and water, and donate money to park improvements. He has already paid the cost of feasibility studies and the environmental impact statement, which took a year to complete.

“Will I be able to pay for all brand new roads on Five Mile? No, but I think $800,000 is a good fee to pay for the roads,” he said, noting that those funds can often be matched by state or city funds for road improvements.

But Five Mile residents are not sated. Most of the prairie sits outside the interim urban growth area. So once the pending developments are built, Dahlstrom said no more building should occur on the prairie.

“Do we really want to put pressure on tax-paying groups?” she asked. “Does it make sense to build a school for $9 million and build up the arterials if the area won’t be built up in the future? We’ll be paying for it.”

Yost said he respects what the Five Mile Prairie Association is doing and doesn’t think negatively of them.

“Change is hard for most of us. Even good change - like having a baby - is difficult,” he said. “But I’m trying to be the best neighbor I can. That’s all I can do - just be a responsible person.”