Downtown plan taking shape

An expanded trolley system, newly landscaped entrances to the city and a series of pedestrian street improvements are part of a package of recommendations in a new downtown plan for Spokane.

More than 500 people have provided input on the plan over the past year. A draft version is nearly ready for approval by the City Council. A public hearing and a vote are expected in early October.

The plan replaces a document, approved in 1999, which has widely been credited for guiding many of the changes in downtown over the past decade, including substantial investments in renovations and new development.

“We didn’t want to rest on our laurels,” said Marla Oleniacz, of the Downtown Spokane Partnership. The draft plan is an effort to build on the 1999 plan and prepare the downtown area for increasing numbers of residents and visitors, many of whom will be getting around without cars.

An executive summary says, “Investing in downtown is wise fiscal practice that capitalizes on downtown’s infrastructure, built fabric and history. Strengthening the urban core is perhaps the bedrock of embracing smart growth in the Spokane metropolitan area and is an urban planning imperative.”

The plan calls for new zoning guidelines to govern the height and overall size of future downtown buildings, in part to protect views, but zoning changes won’t be implemented by the city until after the draft plan is adopted by the council.

The plan focuses on improving transportation corridors to provide better connections among the downtown’s sub-districts. The plan also provides economic development strategies for each of those areas.

One proposal calls for an improved trolley bus system so that people won’t have to walk or drive to different destinations. The shuttles would link the retail core with Browne’s Addition, the Riverpoint campus and the North Bank area.

Oleniacz said the city is using a $350,000 grant for a study on the possibility of using bridges in Riverfront Park to carry either a trolley bus or rail trolley. One question is whether bridges on the Howard Street corridor in the park could handle the weight of trolleys.

Portions of West First, Main, Bridge and Riverside avenues would see improvements with new street trees and pedestrian amenities. They would be linked by improvements along Howard and Post streets.

“Howard Street will be the ‘string’ that links the ‘pearls’ of downtown, including the North Bank, the Arena, Riverfront Park, the downtown retail core and the South Side. Howard is envisioned as a pedestrian corridor with amenities such as landscaping, wide sidewalks, street furniture, public art, outdoor restaurants and improved sidewalk/building interfaces,” the plan says.

Redesigned or new gateways along Division, Lincoln, Maple and Monroe streets would provide more attractive entrances to the downtown area.

The plan contains a chapter on development strategies for sub-areas of the west end, Kendall Yards, North Bank, East End, Riverpoint campus, the south University District area, the South Side and the downtown core.

For example, Stevens Street between Spokane Falls Boulevard and Main needs mixed-use development with ground-level retail, offices and gateway plazas.

The plan was developed under a contract MIG Inc., based in Berkeley, Calif., a nationally renowned urban design firm.