Filmmakers have a shortcut way to show that a neighborhood is either past its prime or not ready for prime time. They place the neighborhood right next to a busy airport and then they show hapless characters shouting to hear each other during backyard barbecues.

Residential neighborhoods and airports aren’t often a good mix. Spokane County, grappling with soaring growth and comprehensive plan amendments, is now trying to figure out how much residential growth should be allowed near Spokane International Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base. The consensus: Not much.

But in May 2005, Spokane County revised a zoning ordinance that made way for residential development in light industrial zones. The revision was done primarily to open up residential development opportunities in county land that encompasses the former Kaiser Aluminum plant in the Mead area. Unfortunately, light industrial surrounds much of the airport and Fairchild, and the revision opened that land to housing, too.

Spokane County commission Chairman Todd Mielke recently told Spokesman-Review reporter Alison Boggs that the revision was an honest mistake.

But Mielke and other leaders were well-versed in the need for light industry zoning and plenty of open space near the airport. Both will make way for future passenger and cargo expansion. Fairchild needs open space surrounding it, too, in order to prevent urban encroachment. The Base Relocation and Closure process, or BRAC, which determines the bases to be closed, has not been keen on military bases suffocated by surrounding development.

On Oct. 3, Spokane County commissioners passed a moratorium on residential construction in the West Plains. The moratorium was put into place because, according to the resolution, “military installations are of particular importance to the economic health of the state of Washington and it is a priority of the state to protect the land surrounding our military installations from incompatible development.”

The moratorium, though cheered by civic and military leaders, was not appreciated by developers who had in hand permits to begin construction of apartment complexes.

On Nov. 28, commissioners will hold a public meeting on the future of the moratorium. Commissioners need to clean up after their mistake, and the temporary moratorium should become a permanent restriction. There is still plenty of space outside the moratorium zone for residential development. Airway Heights, for instance, is in the middle of a housing boom; 1,260 new homes are under way there.

The airport and Fairchild are essential pieces in the economic growth puzzle. They both need room to grow and expand in the correct way. Residential areas abutting airports don’t project the image of growth and vitality – in the movies or in real life in Spokane County.