Two portions of development code approved
The Spokane Valley City Council gave the nod to two chapters of the Spokane Valley’s new development code Tuesday night.
Title 17, which includes general provisions for development, and Title 20 on subdivision moved forward by consensus. Both the Planning Commission and the City Council are reviewing the code chapter by chapter.
“This was a lot of work,” said Councilman Rich Munson, commending city employees who have compiled most of the city’s scattered development and environmental regulations into one document.
The Planning Commission is holding hearings on the chapters. Once the City Council reviews all of them over the next couple months, it will vote the entire Uniform Development Code into law.
Most of the council’s tweaks to Title 17 were fairly minor. The most significant change was to increase the number of people who are mailed information when there is a public hearing surrounding a piece of land. It was changed to include property owners within 400 feet of the parcel, as opposed to 300 feet.
In the subdivision regulations the item that generated the most debate had to do with city regulation of which direction houses face on corner lots.
As land is subdivided into streets and home sites, neighborhoods work better if houses on corner lots are parallel to those on neighboring properties, said Community Development Director Marina Sukup.
“I have a fundamental problem with this,” said Councilman Rich Munson.
The needs of utilities and roads are provided for by regulations like setbacks, and Munson said the city shouldn’t dictate which way a builder situates a house on a lot.
Others on the council agreed, and the requirement was removed by a 6 to 1 vote.
Councilman Bill Gothmann cast the dissenting vote, arguing that people who buy properties next to corner lots should have some predictability in what is built next to them.
“I don’t think that’s good design,” he said, adding that requirements for things like fencing would be different for backyards and the front or side yards they might border.
Gothmann also raised the issue of analyzing evacuation situations as subdivisions are proposed.
The Ponderosa neighborhood, where he lives, is prone to wildfires and residents there have long lamented the limitations of the roads leading out of the area.
The planning department and Valley Fire are looking into how evacuations from urban-wildland interface areas should be considered in the permitting process, and Sukup said the place for it would be Title 22, design standards.
Other council changes to the subdivision chapter include sending subdivision proposals to the fire department for review, but sending them to the health district only when the plans call for a well or septic tank.