Zone change approved for land along interstate

After driving and walking through the area last week, Spokane Valley’s City Council members determined that offices would be the best fit for empty land running along Interstate 90 near Valley Mission Park.

“There’s nothing else that is going to happen to that property if it isn’t designated for the offices,” Councilman Dick Denenny said at Tuesday’s meeting.

The land-use change comes as the council finished reviewing several properties whose owners requested zoning changes as the council develops its new Comprehensive Plan.

The land is steep and has nothing separating it from traffic screaming by on highway, which the owners said has made it impossible to develop under the current designation that allows only housing.

Initially Denenny was concerned that offices and access roads to them would increase traffic in the existing neighborhood, but city planners reasoned they wouldn’t attract more cars than duplexes would.

There also was a brief discussion on a proposal that might require land from the property to build an overpass to connect University Road and Montgomery.

“This isn’t a ‘what if ‘ kind of question, it’s a ‘when’ question,” Councilman Rich Munson said.

The overpass isn’t in city or regional plans, though, and officials determined the Comprehensive Plan was too broad to take it into consideration when deciding what to do with the land.