Hession to give annual report on city

Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession is expected to deliver an upbeat message on the state of the city during tonight’s City Council meeting at 6.

Under the city charter, the mayor is required to deliver the annual speech during the second council meeting in October.

This year, the city has seen an up-swing in economic activity as evidenced by an 11 percent increase in sales tax collections, fueled partly by greater building activity.

Council meetings are televised on cable channel 5.

In other business, council members are expected to take a stand against state Initiative 933, which would require governments to pay landowners if planning and zoning regulations damage or limit the value of their land. The initiative also would outlaw down-zoning, in which land-use designations can be changed to less intensive uses.

A resolution before the council says I-933 could require the city to undergo a lengthy and costly process to document potential impacts of regulations on private property. The initiative also could force the city to pay property owners if their property’s value has been limited by application or enforcement of land-use laws.

In language that appears to hint at a potential constitutional challenge should voters approve I-933, the resolution also says the initiative is overly broad in its language and would set thresholds for damages “far below” constitutional limits and deny the council its constitutional authority to adopt reasonable land-use laws, among other issues.