Mix Management

Is Spokane’s self-proclaimed reputation as a great place to raise kids a hollow promise? What qualities make a community the kind of place in which you love to live?

Cooperation between public agencies and private business can create vital communities but it requires a partnership and shared vision of a better future.

A cumbersome planning process paralyzed by bureaucracy can only be an obstacle to change. After more than three years of floundering by the Spokane Plan Commission, it’s time for action, fairness and clarity to replace mistrust and inertia. It’s time for Spokane citizens to take charge of the future and create a city that truly fulfills its promise.

Zoning philosophy in Spokane hasn’t changed in over 40 years. The rules that govern the character of our neighborhoods and the infrastructure that sustains them are mired in the 1950s. With businesses, residences and offices rigidly separated by single-use zoning, a monotony is produced that can best be seen in areas such as east Sprague and Lincoln Heights.

But there is a better way, a way the vast majority of communities in the United States have embraced. Portland, Alexandria, Va., and Carmel, Calif., are three great examples of cities that have used mixed-use planning to brighten and revitalize their communities. They’ve built a sense of connection that had been lost and created an environment based on healthy neighborhood roots … and neighborhoods that make sense for people’s lives.

It makes sense to be able to walk a block or two to meet a friend for coffee instead of getting in your car and driving for miles.

It makes sense to have shops and offices around the corner instead of across town.

Grapetree Village, a plan my firm first proposed in 1996, would be a mixed-used area between Manito and Lincoln Heights Shopping Centers. Imagine an area with some similarities to the Tapio Office Center (at 104 South Freya). However, this area would have shops on the first level, offices on the second, and residences on the third level, all blended together. Common design features and landscaping would create an inviting atmosphere, and pedestrians would feel safe and welcome.

And yet, because mixed use is actually illegal in Spokane, the plans still sit on the drawing board.

The Spokane City Council has approved the addition of a mixed-use zone to the city’s planning and zoning laws. However, the Plan Commission and the city’s planning staff have not implemented the council’s decision, apparently because they would rather work on tasks related to the Growth Management Act.

I support revisions to allow mixed uses not only because they could benefit my architectural firm’s Grapetree project. I support this change because I believe it would benefit neighborhood redevelopment efforts all over Spokane, making it possible for other projects to include a diversity of uses that would promote an attractive, pedestrian-oriented lifestyle.

“It’s ridiculous that someone would have to wait four years on this — and now they’re being asked to wait another two years,” said Joel Crosby, a former City Council member. “I can’t see any reason why the staff can’t revise the comprehensive plan and work on the Growth Management Act.”

Crosby has expressed strong support for mixed-use design and endorsed the idea of using the regulations in place in Carmel, Calif., as an overlay to existing ordinances in Spokane.

Mixed-use is not some revolutionary or untried thing. It’s commonplace in most cities.

The human infrastructure that builds healthy neighborhoods can begin with full spectrum housing: apartments for young people, larger homes for growing families, and business owners who live above their shops or offices. Neighborhoods like this share a sense of community, a genuine sense of place and belonging that doesn’t happen when people are physically separated by inflexible zoning rules from another era.

Bruce M. Walker, FAIA, designer of Spokane’s Opera House and one of the area’s most respected architects, recently spoke about growth in Spokane. “I have watched mixed use in other communities across the country, both large and small,” he said. “It’s been very successful.”

Then why hasn’t it happened in Spokane? Walker suggested that Spokane simply had not been progressive enough to take this step forward.

“I believe Spokane has one of the most difficult, slowest, and most adversarial permitting systems,” he added.

Forster Ndubisi, Ph.D., ASLA, director of The Washington State University Interdisciplinary Design Institute in Spokane, agreed that mixed use done well is an asset to a community. He cautioned that there must be economic incentive.

Economic success is the true test of mixed use, and cities all across the country have passed this test with flying colors. The character and aesthetics of these urban villages have brought economic vitality where there was stagnation. They offer a refreshing change to the social isolation that can tear the social fiber of our communities.

The Plan Commission’s work to create a new comprehensive land use plan lacks the vision and spirit our city needs to make it a place where great things happen.

It’s time to put aside small thoughts that limit the future of Spokane.

In the year 2000, the City Council, the Plan Commission, and the city staff along with private business must work together to create a city that welcomes diversity in neighborhoods. The time for blaming and personal agendas is over. We must insist on the change that will bring growth and create a city filled with promise for all its citizens.