County fixes airport zoning blunder

In a pair of zoning decisions Tuesday night, Spokane County commissioners made final repairs to an airport-area blunder and accepted 14 of 15 Planning Commission land-use recommendations.

County commissioners rejected the Planning Commission’s endorsement of William Lawson’s request for a zone change that would have allowed apartments on 10 acres north of Spokane Valley, southeast of Argonne Road and Millview Drive.

Commissioners Todd Mielke and Mark Richard said the change would fly in the face of deed restrictions intended to prevent more than one home on the land. Also, they said, the land lacks adequate access for apartment traffic.

Commissioner Bonnie Mager agreed, but tried unsuccessfully to link that item to her desire to reject a zone change that would allow the McGlade’s Market restaurant to reopen at the corner of Yale and Day-Mt. Spokane roads.

McGlade’s Market owners Shawn and Theresa Gabel closed the restaurant in January after county planning officials ruled they went too far in converting a fruit-stand café into a regular restaurant with a liquor license.

Limited food service was a grandfathered, non-conforming use when the Gabels purchased the fruit stand in November 2004. But the Gabels extensively changed the operation and “it is way more than a fruit stand now,” Mager said.

She said she believed the couple was aware of the restrictions on the property when they bought it. To accommodate them with a zone change would send a message that people can “flout the law” and “be made whole,” Mager said.

The commissioner also was critical of faulty Building and Planning Department decisions that allowed earlier expansions of what never should have been more than a fruit stand.

“It shows very poor judgment by some in our employ,” Mager said, vowing to prevent future “liberties” with the county’s comprehensive land-use plan.

She dissented in a 2-1 vote to grant the Gabels a zone change from “urban reserve” to “limited development area commercial.”

Commissioners voted unanimously to deny Lawson a zone change from “low-density residential” to “medium-density residential” and to accept all the Planning Commission’s other recommendations.

The Planning Commission recommended approval of nine proposed comprehensive plan and zoning changes and rejection of five. The rejections all involved plans for residential development of rural or agricultural land.

In the other zoning issue before them Tuesday, commissioners unanimously approved a zoning code amendment to fix a May 2005 code change that inadvertently allowed residential construction near Spokane International Airport and Fairchild Air Force Base, including a 207-unit subdivision in a crash zone.

The faulty 2005 decision allowed most “regional commercial zone” uses in light industrial zones. Documents show commissioners intended to allow apartments in light industrial zones, but they say they didn’t realize even single-family housing developments are allowed in regional commercial zones.

Commissioners also didn’t realize that an “airport overlay zone” wouldn’t screen out residential developments in light industrial land around the airport. Among the problems that resulted, developers represented by attorney Brian Balch got preliminary approval to build a 207-home subdivision called Blue Grouse in a Spokane Airport runway crash zone.

Tuesday’s decision won’t affect the still-unbuilt Blue Grouse subdivision, but West Plains resident Charles Roberts urged commissioners to block the project.

In the event of a plane crash, “you’re likely to have a gaggle of attorneys suing you instead of just one developer,” said Roberts, who works for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Deputy Prosecutor Dave Hubert said their avenue for stopping the development would be “very narrow” and “extremely difficult.”

Commissioners took no action on Blue Grouse, but approved zoning code amendment that largely mirrors an interim ordinance that prevented more unwanted projects. The amendment retains commercial uses in light industrial zones, but bans all residential uses on the West Plains. It also bans residential construction in crash zones.

Tentatively, residential uses are still allowed in light industrial zones outside the West Plains. Richard said commissioners want to find out whether any pending projects would be affected if residential uses are eliminated elsewhere in the county.

Commercial Realtor Bill Bagby urged commissioners to rezone light industrial land to residential zones where appropriate instead of allowing homes to be built among industrial and commercial uses.

Bagby said he bought “urban reserve” land that is intended for future housing needs, but now finds his investment undercut by conversion of surplus light industrial land to residential use.