Council still looking for place to put city center

Where exactly should Spokane Valley build a city center?

During deliberations Tuesday night, the Spokane Valley City Council made several small changes to its proposed land-use map. Absent from the conversation was further discussion on Spokane Valley’s city center.

At an earlier meeting, there was talk about locating downtown around the vacant University City Mall. Those plans were sent back to the drawing board after the mall’s management company indicated the owners had very different ideas for the property.

The city also removed a sizable chunk from the designated downtown at the request of a car dealership that owns land in it. The dealership threatened to take its business – and tax dollars – elsewhere if Spokane Valley changed the zoning.

Finding a good home for downtown likely will be the charge of a consultant that the city will hire to develop a revitalization plan for the Sprague Avenue strip, senior planner Scott Kuhta and Mayor Diana Wilhite said.

“It will take a commitment on the public side and the private sector to make this happen,” Kuhta said.