City ends emergency lot size ordinance

The Spokane City Council voted Monday to end an emergency ordinance that required lots to be at least 7,200 square feet in five developing neighborhoods on the outer edges of the city.

A residential zoning code enacted last year set minimum lot sizes at 4,350 square feet in an attempt to increase density within the urban area.

However, there was concern at the time that having smaller lots in developing neighborhoods could create traffic and other problems with public services, including utilities.

The council adopted the emergency ordinance to buy time to study the regulations and make sure that the smaller lots would not create problems, said Ken Pelton, of the Planning Department.

The five neighborhoods were Five Mile Prairie, North Indian Trail, Grandview/Thorpe, Latah/Hangman Valley and Southgate.

Pelton said the zoning code requires that new developments have larger lots next to existing homes platted on larger lots and that smaller lots are allowed only internally within a new subdivision or planned unit development.

The idea is to create a transition from larger to smaller lots, Pelton said. The inner city is exempted from the transition rules.

“There is not a huge amount of land that could have small lots because of the transition (requirement),” Pelton said. “The idea is not to limit development in those areas.”

At the same time, a study group involving officials from City Hall and representatives of the development industry has been meeting to identify public projects that might be funded with growth impact fees, which Spokane does not collect now. Identifying growth projects is a prerequisite to levying growth fees.