Planner says preserving views important for downtown

A California-based urban planner who was hired to help create a new Spokane downtown design is calling for the city to protect views of the Spokane River for both aesthetic and economic development reasons.

Daniel Iacofano, a principal designer with the MIG firm based in Berkeley, said that successful cities, including Portland, Vancouver, B.C., and Denver, have taken steps to protect their scenic views.

“We have to protect views,” Iacofano said during a community planning meeting last week, calling views the equivalent of “visual resources.”

The city of Spokane is midway through an effort to redefine zoning rules within the 200-foot shoreline area along the river, and there has been discussion in the past about also protecting views from the South Hill, downtown and the river gorge.

Warren Heylman, a longtime Spokane architect, said he does not like the way a new condominium tower south of the Spokane Arena blocks views of the river at the upper Spokane Falls, and that another pair of even taller structures is proposed for the YWCA site on Lincoln Street and Broadway Avenue. A developer wants to erect two 14-story towers with condominiums, parking and retail outlets when the Y moves to new quarters now under construction near Lincoln and Boone Avenue.

“We should take and protect the river from city limit to city limit,” Heylman said.

Developer Chris Batten said he supports protecting views, but any new zoning laws need to respect private property rights.

Iacofano said that building height should be restricted near the river with taller buildings allowed farther away. Also, skyscrapers should be limited in width so that they only partially block views from other tall buildings. The idea is to allow more light to penetrate to the ground level, and to create view vistas around the taller buildings.

A large crowd of Spokane residents turned out for last week’s planning meeting at WSU Spokane in which their opinions were solicited to provide more definition to ideas already emerging from several months of planning work.

Iacofano said that substantial progress has been made in Spokane since the last downtown plan was completed in 1999. Probably the strongest change has been a sixfold increase in the number of entertainment venues that have opened downtown in the intervening years, Iacofano said.

“We’ve seen strong growth, steady growth, nothing meteoric,” Iacofano said.

He called for the city to develop pedestrian-friendly, tree-lined arterial corridors linking the several distinct districts that make up the downtown area, including the branch campus to the east and the Kendall Yards and river bank area north of the river. He said that parking lots along Spokane Falls Boulevard near the INB Performing Arts Center need to be filled with buildings to create a seamless corridor of activity.

Another issue is public safety. Iacofano said that downtown cannot be successful until it is “truly safe,” and that its reputation for safety is so strong that families with children will feel comfortable visiting the downtown core.

Iacofano also suggested that the various districts within the downtown area differentiate themselves by offering customers distinct products at each location.