Council extends Ponderosa, Rotchford zoning six months

Spokane Valley extended the temporary, one-acre zoning in the Ponderosa and Rotchford Acres neighborhoods again Tuesday night.

Two years ago the city stopped home building at higher densities in the area, saying it needed to complete its comprehensive land-use plan, write new development regulations and receive studies from other government bodies before zoning in the areas could be settled.

“This will preserve the status quo in that area,” said Community Development Director Marina Sukup.

All of those elements should be in place by the end of the six-month extension of the zoning, Sukup told the council.

A public hearing on a new Federal Emergency Management Administration draft map of a flood plain will be next Wednesday, and the Planning Commission is in the process of rewriting the development code.

Before the council unanimously approved the six-month extension, Councilman Rich Munson asked what the developing regulations are leaning toward when it comes to the one-acre zoning.

Sukup and City Manager Dave Mercier said it would be premature to indicate what will happen with the zoning in the area until public comment is taken and the issue works its way through the Planning Commission and back to the council.