Decision on development in Ponderosa to be delayed

In Spokane Valley’s Ponderosa neighborhood, it looks like the verdict on denser development will be out for at least another six months.

At its meeting Tuesday, the City Council took steps toward approving a second six-month extension of interim low-density zoning in the Ponderosa and Rotchford Acres neighborhoods.

Most of the lots there are an acre or larger, although a few years ago Spokane County put in place zoning that allows much smaller lots. When a builder proposed a new subdivision in Ponderosa, neighbors rallied to voice concerns over new residents’ effect on evacuation routes, emergency services, the feel of the neighborhood and other issues.

“At this time we’re fighting very hard in the Ponderosa to maintain some semblance of our neighborhood character,” Gail Stiltner testified at a public hearing Tuesday.

Stiltner and her neighbors have been coming to council meetings on behalf of the area since before fall 2004 when interim one-acre zoning first took effect. In the meantime, the city had hoped to enact its comprehensive land-use plan and have updated federal flood-plain maps. Neither have been completed.

The neighborhood is also involved in a lawsuit over the proposed development. A hearing on that matter will take place Friday at 1:30 p.m. before Judge Salvatore Cozza in the fourth floor annex of Superior Court.

The council advanced a six-month extension of interim zoning to a second reading, and council members said outside the meeting that it is likely another extension will pass.