Ruling On Office Buildings Postponed City Council Deciding Future Of Proposal For Sunset Hill

Thu., Oct. 7, 1999

By Mike Prager mikeprager15@gmail.com (509) 459-5454

Spokane City Council members on Monday decided to wait until Oct. 18 to rule on a zone change for two office buildings on Sunset Hill.

Neighbors living near the proposed office site appealed this summer’s decision by the hearing examiner to grant the zone change.

The appeal was heard Monday by the council.

Appellant Edward Fields told the council it would be a mistake to allow such an intense-use development adjacent to a semirural area just west of the site.

A&A Construction and Development Co. of Spokane wants to build two four-story buildings on five acres it owns at Deska and Assembly.

The property currently is zoned for apartments but was never developed for residential use. The developers are seeking an office zone.

The proposed project would fill a demand for office space close to downtown but also near a main route to Spokane International Airport, developers have said. The offices would be built a short distance north of Sunset Boulevard.

City Hearing Examiner Greg Smith approved the zone change in July but required the developer to install a traffic signal at Assembly and Sunset or at Rustle and Sunset.

Traffic backups on Assembly at Sunset have become long enough to earn an F grade on the city’s rating system for level of traffic service.

The rezone was allowed under the city’s comprehensive land-use plan, which calls for either commercial or high-density residential use of the property.

The property is adjacent to the city limits on Assembly. Spokane County has maintained a semirural land-use designation for property immediately to the west in unincorporated territory.

Sixteen acres nearby have been deeded as a conservation area for wildlife and open space by the current owners.

Fields argued the city’s land-use plan is faulty for creating such an inconsistency in land uses.

Mike Connelly, an attorney for the developers, said office buildings would not be as heavy a use as apartments, which are allowed under the current zoning.

The offices would be developed with landscaping and would be set back from the property line.

“I don’t think there could be a more compatible use for the property,” Connelly said.

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