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Airway Heights growing

As seen from the windows of a bus shelter, a pedestrian walks across the south side of the business strip in Airway Heights, where businesses are thriving. (File / The Spokesman-Review)
Jacob Jones Correspondent
As seen from the windows of a bus shelter, a pedestrian walks across the south side of the business strip in Airway Heights, where businesses are thriving. (File / The Spokesman-Review)

AIRWAY HEIGHTS – The drive through Airway Heights has changed in recent years.

Almost constant construction has added housing developments, new restaurants and retailers along U.S. Highway 2, which splits the city.

Mayor Matthew Pederson said Airway Heights is not the secret small town it used to be. More people and money move into the city each year.

“Local businesses are thriving,” he said. “Families are thriving.”

Pederson said city leaders have sought to lead the way for development on the West Plains. Their efforts throughout the past eight years have led to several large companies moving into the area, he said.

“We have some major players looking at this city,” he said.

Several developers have constructed new housing projects, Northern Quest Casino has increased traffic into town and a Wal-Mart Supercenter is scheduled to open this fall.

The city’s population of less than 5,000, including more than 2,000 inmates at the Airway Heights Corrections Center, can swell to almost 40,000 throughout the day as people work there or pass through, Pederson said.

“We have a lot going on,” he said.

But interim City Manager Lee Bennett said the rapid development has also come with growing pains.

Much of the decision-making and permitting process needs to be streamlined, Bennett said. New staff members have been added to speed up applications and planning.

Bennett said the City Council has tried to look to the future. The city’s Comprehensive Plan outlines a 20-year framework for expanding land use and services.

The plan lists several challenges such as maintaining a small-town atmosphere while also identifying land for expansion along borders with the city of Spokane and Fairchild Air Force Base.

Pederson said extending water and sewer services to outer areas has been the most difficult. The city is looking at plans for a new water reclamation project to meet the demands, he said.

The city is also designing two park areas near residential developments in an attempt to protect open space for recreation and scenic improvements, he said. An 8.5-acre park is located near the Aspen Grove development and a 2.5-acre park is expected to sit near the Hayden Homes Sunset Crossing development.

“We’re a small city but we have big-city ideas,” Bennett said.

A recently announced project to build a luxury hotel to accompany the Northern Quest Casino will only add to the city’s potential growth, Pederson said.

The Spokane Tribe’s plan to build another hotel on the other side of the city could turn Airway Heights into a new destination for those visiting the area, he said. Pederson said he hopes the new projects will continue to bring new people and businesses into Airway Heights. The construction along the highway is expected to continue.

“We’re in the right spot at the right time,” he said.