Davenport Proposal Delayed Council Will Decide On Zoning Codes In Regular Vote Next Week

The future of the Davenport Hotel’s redevelopment may not be known for another week.

On Monday, the Spokane City Council did not pass an amendment to the downtown zoning codes that would have cleared a major obstacle to the reopening of the historic downtown building.

Because the item - which would have eliminated certain design requirements for the Davenport’s garage - was brought forward as an emergency ordinance, it required five votes to pass. The measure received four - with the council splitting along its usual lines - and as a result it will reappear next week as a regular ordinance and will only require four votes.

“I’m hopeful that we’re going to get it resolved next week,” said Walt Worthy, who is developing the hotel with his wife, Karen. “A week of two or three isn’t going to make a difference.”

The week will allow city staff and the Plan Commission opportunity to analyze the proposed changes.

What Worthy has objected to are recently passed downtown zoning changes that require retail or offices on the ground floor of parking garages on certain streets.

Worthy maintains that his planned parking garage on the lot available to him doesn’t have the space necessary for any uses besides parking.

“There’s no possible way we can comply with this ordinance,” Worthy said.

And without parking, he said the project is not feasible and couldn’t attract the necessary financial backing.

Councilman Steve Eugster introduced the emergency ordinance that would waive the design requirements for garages as long as they were associated with historic downtown structures.

Eugster urged the council to move quickly to remove any barriers to the hotels’ redevelopment.

`Why is this an emergency? Time is money,” Eugster said. “Mr. Worthy and Karen Worthy have to move with every bit of speed possible. We should proceed with this and make it clear that the city is behind the development.”

But other council members, city staffers and concerned citizens wondered about creating a loophole for one developer and about circumventing the city’s own procedures to pass the measure as an emergency.

City Planning Director John Mercer said he worried about the future applications of the waiver.

“This is a pretty broad amendment,” Mercer said. “It doesn’t just deal with the Davenport. It deals with all historic structures in the downtown and there are a ton of them.”

Mercer said Worthy could also apply for a variance to the new code by going before the hearing examiner in a process called “plans in lieu.” That could take several months.

“I can’t guarantee what the hearing examiner would do but I know there are probably hundreds of people who would support this,” Mercer said.

But Worthy said he could not afford the uncertainty that process would create.

“I do need to get it resolved and `plans in lieu’ is not going to get it done,” Worthy said.

Councilwoman Roberta Greene said the city should not vote on the land-use measure without consulting the city’s Plan Commission.

“It causes us to have some very strained relations with members of the Plan Commission, who put in more time than any other volunteer board,” Greene said. “I would at least like them to have the opportunity to look at it.”

Eugster said it was arrogant for the City Council and city staff to dictate how Worthy should proceed. “I am troubled that in this fragile economic time we can dictate to entrepreneurial people how they can develop their property,” he said.