City wants to sell 26 acres near park in Albion Heights

Spokane city officials are seeking to sell 26 acres of undeveloped city-owned land adjacent to a small park in the Albion Heights area at 17th Avenue and D Street.

But they are asking the City Council to rescind restrictions placed on use of the land before it is sold for private residential development.

The council will take up the request at its meeting Monday at 6 p.m. at Council Chambers at City Hall.

Dave Mandyke, deputy director of public works and utilities, said the city acquired the property about 30 years ago in a foreclosure involving an unpaid assessment for a local improvement district.

The City Council in 2000 declared the property was surplus and sought to sell it for $1 million, but no one was interested at that price. Plus, the council in 1993 and in 2000 placed restrictions on any sale, Mandyke said.

The city wanted to force any purchaser to pay for realignment of Grandview Avenue at H Street, at a cost currently estimated at $100,000, prior to any construction.

Another restriction called for development of a second access to the neighborhood. Currently, the intersection of 16th and 17th avenues provides a single access.

Last fall during a snowstorm, residents could not leave or enter the neighborhood when the intersection became tied up with snow-related accidents, said former City Councilwoman Phyllis Holmes, who lives in the area.

She said residents in the area in the past have wanted the land replatted with lots larger than 50-foot widths. Also, the access issue should be addressed in any development of the land.

A separate development proposal several years ago would have brought traffic improvements, but the developer was unable to follow through on the project, Holmes said.

Mandyke said the city should eliminate the restrictions and allow a purchaser to take a proposal through the city’s land development process, which would include traffic studies and a plan for traffic circulation.

“What we are asking the City Council to do is take the conditions off the property,” he said.

The land is valued at about $375,000.