County drops controversial proposals

Spokane County commissioners Tuesday unanimously dropped two controversial proposals that would have reduced the Spokane County Planning Commission from seven members to five.

One of the proposals called for cutting back through attrition.

The other would have disbanded the entire body, replacing the current planning commissioners with new members.

County Commissioner Todd Mielke said neither option would have achieved the goal of streamlining county planning, and the latter in particular would have been a slap to current Planning Commission members.

“These are volunteers we’ve asked to serve the county,” Mielke said.

Commissioner Mark Richard agreed, adding that reducing the size of the Planning Commission would also make it more difficult to reach a quorum.

Both commissioners said they were also responding to public comments that overwhelmingly opposed making the Planning Commission smaller.

Planning Commission members and neighborhood activists testified in March against scaling back the commission, saying it would make it more difficult for the group to make quorum and that it would hamper citizens’ ability to interact with its members.

Planning Commissioner Bev Keating praised the commissioners’ decision to leave things as is.

She said it’s important to maintain a larger planning group to handle the large volume of work.

Planning Commission members often serve on other boards and committees.

Despite rejecting the proposals, Richard praised Building and Planning Department Director Jim Manson for “looking outside the box” in search of ways to improve the planning process.