Council denies Landworks appeal
Snow and ice were unable to deter a few dozen people from attending the Spokane Valley City Council’s regular meeting Tuesday night, where the council denied an appeal by Landworks Development LLC for a building permit in the Ponderosa Ridge development.
Landworks’ building permit for 45 new homes in the lower area of the development, originally submitted in 2004, was denied last August by the city’s hearing examiner on the basis that the developer’s proposal did not provide adequate outlets in the case of an emergency evacuation, specifically in the case of fire.
Landworks’ attorney argued that their proposed project met all standards approved by the city, specifically the city’s road standards and the National Fire Code, also previously adopted by the City Council. She also contended that the 30-minute standard cited by the hearing examiner in his denial was an arbitrary one, and not per adopted city code.
Next, an attorney for the Ponderosa Properties Homeowner’s Association argued that the examiner’s denial of the building permit should be upheld. She cited the 1991 fire on Ponderosa Ridge, during which one of the development’s two public exits was closed for 24 hours, as well as recommendations in subsequent years by the fire department in support of additional exits.
Following the arguments, council members moved to deny Landworks’ appeal, notably on the basis of “public safety,” said Councilman Bill Gothmann.
“Look at New Orleans,” said Councilman Richard Munson, who along with Gothmann and Mayor Diana Wilhite participated in the National League of Cities’ convention there recently. Referencing the devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina due to lack of planning, he added, “I don’t want Ponderosa to be subjected to the same thing.”
Gothmann, followed in support, saying, “I believe there’s a significant amount of data to support more exits,” and quoted several instances in which even 30 minutes had not proven adequate time to evacuate certain residential developments. He also referenced a particular case in which a fire required the evacuation of a development with 600 dwellings and four exits, two of which were inaccessible, and 15 people died. Ponderosa, he said, currently has 1,500 dwellings and two exits, and as such, the council shouldn’t grant Landwork’s building permit appeal until more exits are established. “As a council,” he said, “one of our highest duties is assuring public safety … We’re talking life or death here.”
Mayor Diana Wilhite also argued in favor of upholding the hearing examiner’s ruling, which cited a fire code adopted by the city in August of 2004, which states that one additional emergency exit outlet was required for every additional 30 homes built. She added that would like to see the city “seriously discuss putting another access road” to Ponderosa.
Councilman Mike DeVlemming lamented that the objections to development seemed to be based on other factors besides safety. “If (Ponderosa) isn’t safe, then why are people living there?” he asked. “For some, this is just an issue of ‘not wanting another house next to my house.’ “
Affirming DeVlemming’s remarks, Munson said “there are other issues involved here,” and while both sides put together clear arguments, the issue boiled down to “who do we believe more?”
In the end, five council members voted to uphold the examiner’s decision, and DeVlemming the sole vote in support of Landworks’ appeal. Councilman Steve Taylor recused himself from the Landworks appeal.
Both Landworks representatives and Mayor Wilhite affirmed that the ball is now in the city of Spokane Valley’s court to work with the county on this issue before significant development can continue in the Ponderosa development. But, said Landworks attorney Stacy Bjordahl later, “the unfortunate thing is that they didn’t do this three years ago when we initially submitted the building permit.”