Building inquiry prompts county look at zoning limits

County commissioners want to change a height restriction that could block a million-square-foot distribution center on the West Plains.

Business and government officials say the Colliers International real estate firm is studying several sites near Spokane International Airport for an undisclosed client, but a 40-foot height limit is too low.

The client needs at least 50 feet, according to Stan Key, manufacturing industry director for Greater Spokane Inc.

Commissioners have assured business leaders that they don’t want the height limit to block a large development unless it’s necessary to protect the airport or Fairchild Air Force Base.

A Colliers spokesman was not available for comment.

County Planning Director John Pederson told planning commissioners last week to expect a formal proposal on building heights next month. County commissioners “want to move this along,” he said.

Planning Commissioners Mike Cummings and Peter Rayner disclosed that a commercial real estate agent had already approached them about the issue.

“They are looking at a bunch of sites on the West Plains,” said Todd Woodard, marketing director for Spokane International Airport.

He said the sites he knows about are generally north of Interstate 90, between the Geiger and Four Lakes exits, and south of U.S. Highway 2.

“We’ve had other big distribution centers looking at us, too,” Woodard said.

There is a lot of light industrial land near the airport, and a growing concentration of trucking-related businesses in the area makes it attractive to distribution centers, Woodard said.

Airport officials welcome the interest.

“The thing we like about the trucks is that, once you attract the trucks, you attract more air cargo,” Woodard said.

He said raising the height limit in the light industrial zones that surround the airport wouldn’t be a problem. Overriding regulations protect areas where buildings could interfere with aircraft.

Even so, county commissioners worry that the 150-foot limit in the city of Spokane’s light industrial zone may be too tall.

In a March 1 letter to Spokane planning officials, commissioners said the city’s plan to match county zoning with “very similar” city zones apparently wouldn’t create any conflicts with existing land uses.

However, commissioners said the 150-foot height limit should be “carefully considered to prevent encroachment of incompatible land uses.”

Commissioners know something about that, having had to reverse their own decision to allow residential development that airport officials said could be harmful.

Kathleen Weinand, a Spokane city planner, said city officials have no plan to reduce their 150-foot limit because overriding regulations would protect the airport. Those include federal air-space restrictions as well as state-recommended crash zones.

Weinand and Woodard said the biggest reason the city’s light industrial zoning won’t be harmful is that almost all of the annexation area is owned by the airport.

“We feel very comfortable with what they’re proposing and how they’ve involved us,” Woodard said.

The Spokane City Council could take action on proposed zoning changes in the area after a second public hearing on April 4.