City, county interested in riverside

A state proposal to dispose of undeveloped parkland along the Spokane River may end well for the 80 unhappy campers who turned out at a meeting Thursday night.

All but one of them, based on a show of hands, opposed a state Parks and Recreation Commission staff recommendation that could lead to the auction of about 50 acres along the north bank of the river.

But Bill Koss, the commission’s manager of planning and research, said a public announcement of the proposal failed to make it clear that the land would first be offered free to local governments for recreational use.

Then came the good news for the neighbors, hikers, kayakers and others who were ready to turn up the heat in an already uncomfortably close meeting room of a Fire District 9 station: Spokane Valley gave formal notice earlier Thursday that it is interested in acquiring most of the land, and Spokane County may take the rest.

Cary Driskell, deputy attorney for Spokane Valley, said the parcels within the city limits would be “very advantageous” to the city’s park system.

Driskell’s language mirrored the state park officials’ view that the land “cannot advantageously be used” for state park purposes. Such a finding by the seven-member state Parks and Recreation Commission would open the door to transfer or sale of north bank land that was acquired incidentally in development of the Centennial Trail on the south bank.

Koss said the Spokane County Parks Board “reacted positively” to acquiring the seventh parcel – 19 acres in unincorporated Spokane County, across the river from the city of Liberty Lake. He said he believes county commissioners will accept the Parks Board recommendation after they review it next week.

The Spokane Valley and Spokane County governments would be given “high priority” if they ask for the land, Koss told his wary audience. Such a transfer would require a state parks commission staff recommendation and commission approval.

“You two guys are going to make the recommendation?” skeptical Spokane resident Bonne Beavers asked Koss and Steve Hahn, the commission’s lands program manager. “You’re scaring me.”

Koss said his and Hahn’s boss, Larry Fairleigh, also would be involved.

Spokane resident Bea Lackoff noted that local control wouldn’t necessarily protect the land for recreational use. Koss said deed restrictions would cause the land to revert to state ownership if it isn’t used for public recreation, but residents would have to work with local officials to ensure the kind of uses they want.

The audience seemed divided over whether state or local ownership would best protect the land for recreational use, but only Spokane Valley resident Jim McConnachie questioned the land’s public value. He said he never sees anyone using it.

But Millwood resident Richard Schoen and several others said most people aren’t aware the land is public.

“I was assuming I was trespassing,” Schoen said, adding that he was careful not to venture outside the 100-foot shoreline buffer he knew was publicly controlled if not publicly owned.

Julia McHugh, who helped develop the Centennial Trail, noted that plans called for development of looping horse trails on the north bank – an opportunity that would be lost if the land falls into private ownership. Another possibility, she suggested, is development of a hiking trail along the north bank.

Thursday’s meeting at a fire station near Mead High School was nowhere near the affected land, several people complained at first. But Koss said the state Parks and Recreation Commission will meet in Spokane Valley on June 22 when it acts on whatever he and Hahn recommend.

Written comments may be e-mailed to toni@parks.wa.gov, or mailed to: Toni Matthews, P.O. Box 42650, Olympia, WA 98502-4650.