Panel Vetoes Garage Plan Spokane Club Request Denied

FOR THE RECORD (Friday, January 28, 2000): Tally incorrect: The city Plan Commission voted 5-1 on Wednesday to deny a request by Spokane Club officials to change the city’s shoreline management plan. The vote tally was incorrect in Thursday’s newspaper.

The city’s Plan Commission has decided that the public’s right to a lightly developed riverfront is more important than convenient parking for members of the Spokane Club.

The commission voted 6-1 on Wednesday to recommend that the City Council deny the club’s request to change Spokane’s shoreline management plan.

The change would allow the club to apply for permission to build a 137-stall parking garage next to its athletic center on Main Avenue, just west of Monroe Street.

“There is long-term benefit to keeping our shoreline pristine,” Commissioner Phyllis Meyer said. “In the long term, I don’t think (the parking garage) is beneficial.”

The riverbank between Monroe and Riverside State Park is designated a “Downriver Conservancy Environment,” which allows only low-intensity, recreational uses.

The club is seeking to change the designation to an Urban Intensive Environment, which allows more high-intensity uses.

Five of the eight members of the Plan Commission belong to the Spokane Club. Only four took part in Wednesday’s vote, and each declared the club membership before the hearing.

The fifth, George Nachtsheim, recused himself. Nachtsheim’s daughter works at the club and his architectural firm unsuccessfully bid to design the proposed garage.

Commissioner Mike Kennedy was absent.

In their final decision, plan commissioners decided the proposed shoreline change wasn’t in keeping with the city’s land-use goals and policies.

There was some debate as to whether conditions had changed drastically enough in recent years to merit a change in the shoreline plan, or if the proposed change would substantially benefit the public.

Plan commissioners and club members Bob Dellwo and Stan Stirling thought the Spokane Club’s proposal met both conditions.

“It seems to be obvious that the public is benefited,” said Dellwo, adding that no project benefits everyone in the city. “It certainly benefits the public that is tributary to the Spokane Club.”

Dellwo was the lone dissenter in the vote to deny the proposed change.

Spokane Club officials and several members argued Wednesday that the parking garage is essential.

Elderly people and parents with young children have trouble accessing the facility, they said.

“It’s assumed that anyone who exercises can walk infinite distances,” said Joel Ferris II, who participates in an exercise class for the elderly at the club. “Three of us are legally blind. Others have had major heart surgeries. The club has a very important part in our lives.”

Club member Cathy Stephens told the commission she worries about the safety of her grandchildren, whom she takes to the club for programs and exercise. She often must park several blocks away and walk through bad weather with the kids to reach the club, she said.

“The parking problem has to be addressed,” Stephens said. “It’s very important for me to be able to get into the club with toddlers.”

Others opposed the change.

Robert Herold, a professor of government at Eastern Washington University, testified that the proposed garage would spoil one of the best views in the city: of the Masonic Temple from the Monroe Street Bridge.

Herold called that view one of Spokane’s greatest legacies and worth preserving. “I don’t think privilege should be able to trump legacy,” he said.

This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT

The Spokane City Council must now decide whether to accept the Plan Commission’s recommendation to deny the proposed change. That action has not yet been scheduled.