Driveway brings dissent to historic homes district

Spokane’s Michael Biehl had the audacity to build a gravel driveway in front of his historic carriage house so he could park his boat away from the street.

Some of his neighbors in Corbin Park objected because, historically, the 1909 carriage house was fronted by lawn in old photos, not a driveway, and the Corbin Park local historic district has very specific guidelines governing its properties.

Biehl tried to explain he needed the driveway because there wasn’t room in the alley for maneuvering a boat into a parking place.

Dissatisfied with Biehl’s explanation, members of the Corbin Park Homeowners Association reported him to the Spokane City/County Historic Landmarks Commission.

On Wednesday, Biehl was busted, gaining the distinction of apparently being the first Spokane property owner to lose a piece of historic status.

The Landmarks Commission voted unanimously to revoke a management agreement for the historic carriage house at 609 W. Waverly Place, across from Corbin Park. As a result, Biehl is no longer eligible for special property tax breaks he might obtain on qualified historic restorations.

His adjacent home at 603 W. Waverly Place was not affected by the action, and both properties will remain on the historic register.

Biehl said he was glad to accept the ruling of the commission, because now his garage is controlled by city zoning laws and not the district’s historic management guidelines.

Moments before the vote was taken, Biehl stood his ground in what became an old-fashioned neighborhood feud.

“I never put my knee to the ground for them, and I never will,” Biehl said.

His wife, Dawn, told the commissioners, “I guess we feel a little bit singled out.”

She said she’s never complained about some of her neighbors, who have overgrown landscaping hiding the architecture of homes built at the turn of the century, along an oval layout at the site of an early-day race track and fairgrounds.

Members of the homeowners association said they needed some kind of action to enforce the management guidelines accepted by owners of 80-plus properties when the Corbin Park Historic Neighborhood was formed in 1991 as the city’s only local residential historic district. (A second local residential historic district, on West Ninth Avenue, is up for City Council approval.)

Biehl purchased his home and carriage house after the district was formed, but he was bound by the original agreements.

“We were founded on cooperation, not confrontation,” Mac McCandless, speaking for the homeowners association, told the commission. “We were very reluctant to bring this to you.”

Commissioners went along, they said, because both Biehl and the other homeowners wanted the management agreement revoked.

The commission previously had ruled that the driveway did not qualify under the guidelines.

On Wednesday, Biehl disclosed he also plans to install a wrought-iron fence, another element apparently not permitted under the historic management guidelines.

“In my mind, this is a lose-lose situation,” said Landmarks Commissioner Candi Coleman. She said revoking the management agreement for the carriage house may have been acceptable to Biehl and his neighbors, but “I don’t know if it helps anyone in any way.”

Historic Preservation Officer Teresa Brum said she doesn’t think Wednesday’s action will undermine the integrity of the Corbin Park district or any of Spokane’s historic preservation agreements. She characterized the dispute as an isolated case.

However, one of the impediments to getting homeowners to come under local historic designations is the requirement that they maintain the essential character of their properties’ exteriors through the management agreements that offer the chance for tax breaks.

Biehl said he’s still committed personally to preserving the historic character of his property, even if neighbors don’t see his point of view.

The last thing he wants to do, he said, is devalue history.

“I want to get the boat off my street, get the cars off the street,” he said. “It wasn’t because I wanted to start a fight with the rest of this Corbin group.”