City lacks evidence to place construction moratorium

The Spokane City Council apparently cannot place a moratorium on residential construction in northwest Spokane, despite calls from neighborhood organizations to temporarily halt growth in that part of the city until streets are improved.

Assistant City Attorney Mike Piccolo told the council this week that they lack sufficient evidence of an emergency to justify a building moratorium under state law.

City engineers and planners said roads in the area are congested with traffic during peak travel hours, but the problems are being addressed through a number of measures and do not constitute an emergency. As a result, engineers on Thursday said they cannot recommend a moratorium.

Piccolo told the council during a Thursday briefing session, “Without that, it would be pretty tough for us to justify (a moratorium) legally.”

Craig Culbertson, chairman of the North Indian Trail Neighborhood Council, said residents will not be pleased. “The neighborhood is going to be upset,” he said.

Residents living in the area believe that the rapid pace of residential growth is making Indian Trail Road and other city arterials too congested. The streets include West Francis Avenue, which doubles as a state highway, Five Mile Road, Austin Road, Cedar Road and Strong Road.

Tom Arnold, the city’s director of engineering services, said developers are being required to contribute to road improvements when they make applications for plats. He said the city is using the money to seek grants for widening and other improvements.

So far, a series of projects has kept traffic moving, although slowly at times, Arnold said. New intersections and widening of Francis Avenue, Maple Street, Ash Street and Five Mile Road have helped. Widening of Five Mile Road is planned, and the city has been purchasing land for the expansion.

“You might have to wait through a signal to get through it, but that doesn’t mean the system has failed,” Arnold said.

The City Council recently adopted an ordinance allowing for voluntary impact fees for developers seeking new plats. The fees may be collected for each new home that is platted in lieu of a developer paying for specific traffic improvements.

However, the city cannot currently force developers and builders of approved plats to contribute. Arnold said he and the city’s legal staff are working on an ordinance to require traffic impact fees from already-approved plats. The fees would be levied against each home at the time a builder seeks a building permit.

The idea, Arnold said, is for the city to acquire the cash it needs to qualify for state and federal grants for projects such as paving of Austin Road. Austin Road serves an area where some 300 home sites have already been platted but are not yet built.

He said state law allows impact fees as the primary means of paying for growth-related improvements. The law’s “concurrency” provision also requires that roads, schools, utilities and other public assets be in place before private development can be allowed.