Council raises speed limit on 29th in Lincoln Heights

The Spokane City Council on Monday approved on a 5-2 vote an increase in the speed limit on 29th Avenue along the shopping strip at Lincoln Heights.

The limit will go from 20 to 30 mph in the area. The change affects the section that runs from 280 feet east of Fiske Street to 340 feet east of Southeast Boulevard.

The higher speed will be in effect for one year and will be evaluated for possible continuation.

Council members Cherie Rodgers and Mary Verner voted no.

In another speed-limit vote, the council failed to adopt a proposal from Rodgers to lower the speed limit on West Riverside Avenue from Oak Street to Clarke Avenue in order to allow four additional street parking spaces in the 2200 block of West Riverside.

Residents there have been seeking to reverse a city move to eliminate street parking adjacent to a newer condominium development overlooking Peaceful Valley and the Spokane River.

A lower speed limit would have created a safer environment to allow street parking along a narrow curve.

The council on Monday also voted to repeal an ordinance requiring voluntary impact fees for new home plats after city officials found that the voluntary system would not work as intended.

Now, city officials are working with citizens and developer representatives to write an ordinance that will require builders and developers to pay fees to offset the costs of new public facilities needed because of growth.

The fees are allowed under state law.

The voluntary impact fees were considered ineffective because they could not be applied to new home construction on previously platted lots. Involuntary fees could be collected from builders at the time a building permit is issued and thus would apply to all new development, not just new plats, officials said.