Appleway talks heat up

Spokane Valley and Spokane County are in an escalating disagreement over who actually owns a strip of land that could continue Appleway Boulevard east from University where the couplet now ends.

After years of on-again, off-again talks of transferring the land from county ownership to the city so it could extend the road, Mayor Diana Wilhite Nov. 15 sent a letter to county commissioners demanding they acknowledge Spokane Valley has owned it all along.

The county refuses.

“We believe that the county is the owner,” said Jim Emacio, an attorney for the county.

A letter to that effect was approved unanimously by county commissioners Tuesday and sent to the city.

County lawyers argue that the definition of a road in state law doesn’t include undeveloped right of way, and therefore the Old Milwaukee railroad right of way wouldn’t have been transferred to the city with other county roads after incorporation.

The letter also states that the county will continue to negotiate the transfer.

“Unfortunately, this might not have helped that process along,” said Commissioner Mark Richard.

Spokane Valley gave the county until today to acknowledge the city’s ownership of the land or it would “take appropriate action.”

“If they initiate a lawsuit on this, the whole dynamic changes,” Richard said.

The mayor and several council members are at a National League of Cities conference in Reno, Nev., and couldn’t be reached for comment.

Negotiations seemed close to a resolution in August after city leaders along with Richard and Commissioner Phil Harris indicated their support for a transfer that included limited easements for transit such as light rail. An agreement failed to materialize, though, and the issue didn’t resurface again until after the November election.

Commissioner Todd Mielke has supported a different approach to preserving easements for transit and also proposed a land swap with the city for the railroad right of way.

At Monday’s meeting, he asked county engineering officials for an update of estimates on what the land proposed for such a swap was worth.

The direction of the right-of-way discussions in the future could change significantly as Bonnie Mager assumes Harris’ commissioner position. She could not be reached Monday.