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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Valley values

The Spokesman-Review

In 1885, a woman with five children traveled from New York to Washington Territory, where she settled into a Spokane Valley homestead. The woman’s son, Albert Chittenden, later recalled his mother’s sense of relief at leaving the city’s “tenement-lined canyons paved with cobble stones” for the open spaces of the family’s new farm. Chittenden’s mother was welcomed by other rural residents, who respected her hard work and independence.

In his memoir included in Florence Boutwell’s book “The Spokane Valley: A History of the Early Years,” Chittenden wrote: “Universal hope warmed the heart like the song of the myriad birds that filled the valleys and hills with enchanted melody. We had broken the bonds of our eastern tomb and stepped into the dazzling sunshine of a new and better world.”

Even during its early to mid-20th century boom years, the Spokane Valley rarely sprawled far from its pioneer roots. Stockyards thrived, as did farms, orchards, livestock shows and square dances at the Grange halls. And when people felt too crowded in Spokane, they moved to the “country” – the Spokane Valley. Conventional wisdom, which persists to this day, is that homeowners can buy nice homes on oversize lots and not pay nearly as much as they would in Spokane.

The Spokane Valley is booming again; homes and apartment complexes are under construction throughout the area. Spokane Valley City Council members are making decisions they believe reflect their city’s changing dynamic. As Spokesman-Review writer Peter Barnes reported Monday: “Spokane Valley’s spacious backyards appear to be headed the way of the fields and orchards they were built on. City Council members removed a provision in the city’s new zoning code, added by the Planning Commission, that would have preserved 10,000-square-foot lots in many neighborhoods.”

The removal of the provision makes way for lot sizes of 6,000 square feet to 7,500 square feet, which translates to six or seven houses per acre. Though smaller lot sizes have become increasingly common in Spokane Valley, spelling the change out so clearly in the proposed code awakened residents to the fact that their city grows more urban by the day.

Tonight, council members will listen to public comment about the changes. They should be prepared for emotional testimony. Council’s action tapped into the Valley’s proud sense of place and its reputation for welcoming those who move there in search of independence and open spaces.

Residents who oppose the change need to get their voices heard. It might not alter an inevitable course for the city, but citizen testimony will become an important part of this next chapter in Spokane Valley’s history, a chapter under revision right now.