County commissioners share ideas for upcoming year

County commissioners recently laid out some of their planning objectives for the coming year in what might be described as New Year’s resolutions.

“I’ll be honest, land use is not one of my favorite topics in this job,” Commissioner Todd Mielke confided at briefing session last week. “You seldom see all sides win.”

Mielke said he wants an “objective and consistent” process for resolving disputes, and a common land-use language among local governments.

He called for regional zoning categories that would apply throughout the county, in cities as well as unincorporated areas – a sort of lingua franca that would allow communication without interpreters.

Similarly, Mielke said, he’d like all the governments in the county to agree on standards for road construction.

That would be a challenge, but it would be appreciated by the business and development community, Commissioner Mark Richard agreed.

Richard said his “priority focuses” in the coming year include finishing the “great work” the county has started on joint planning with the city of Spokane on urban growth areas.

That would be “a wonderful message to send to this community,” Richard said.

Commissioner Bonnie Mager was absent from the meeting at which Mielke and Richard shared their thoughts, but she said in an interview that she shares Richard’s desire to focus on joint planning.

Mager will be chairman of the commissioners next year, and wants to pursue revenue-sharing agreements to reduce conflicts over tax revenues when cities annex growth areas. She said her friendship with newly elected Spokane Mayor Mary Verner gives a new perspective to the discussion.

“We’re planning more regular contacts where we can better partner on different things,” Mager said, noting Verner has called for monthly meetings with commissioners. “Of course, it’s early in her term.”

Mager wants to “bring all of the cities to the table” to hammer out interlocal planning agreements in workshop meetings.

As a start, she wants to bring in an expert to provide information about “sub-area” planning, neighborhood planning and ways to consider the “big picture” instead of simply responding to developers’ proposals.

“Right now, I think the tail is wagging the dog here,” Mager said. “We can’t address the complex issues that come with growth management if we don’t use the tools that are out there for us.”

Mielke said his planning “must-haves” next year include three items affecting Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport:

“A joint land-use study to ensure compatible uses around Fairchild.

“A runway alignment study to determine whether a new runway at Spokane International Airport should parallel to the airport’s main runway or Fairchild’s runway.

“Creation of a separate airport zoning category to eliminate confusion from combining an “airport overlay zone” with other zones for land around air fields.

Mielke and Richard found common ground when Richard cited “an ever-growing concern” among constituents about mixing new, denser developments with older housing in suburban areas.

“Transportation, schools – these are the biggies that I hear about” when new developments are proposed in existing neighborhoods, Richard said.

Developers’ “natural reaction” to prohibiting use of “two-thirds” of the previously available land in the county under the state Growth Management Act is to build to maximum allowable densities. In fact, Richard said, the law encourages higher densities.

So he would like to see a “menu” of amenities, such as parks and trails, to reduce conflicts when developers want to increase densities in established neighborhoods.

“One of the things I would like to avoid is creation of what I might describe as the ‘apartment city’ in that area northeast of Francis and Division,” Mielke said, referring to developing areas beyond the intersection. “Somehow we’ve got to be sensitive but still comply with the Growth Management Act.”