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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Hearing examiner approves 60 single family homes in Waikiki Estates plan

The Spokane County hearing examiner has given final approval for the Waikiki Estates project to build 60 single-family homes on a roughly triangular 16.5-acre piece of land on the southwest corner of Waikiki Road and Mill Road in north Spokane despite neighborhood concerns about increased traffic and stormwater runoff.

The lengthy decision from the hearing examiner includes a host of requirements, some minor and some major. Among the requirements is the improvement of Falcon Avenue, located within the development, and the paving of about 450 feet of Spring Lane.

The land is owned by Travis Garske, president of Travis Pattern and Foundry, and is being developed by Mike Zandt. There is a home and several outbuildings on the land, which is zoned low-density residential. According to county standards included in the hearing examiner’s decision, low-density residential allows up to six units per acre. The proposal by Zandt is for 3.63 units per acre.

Rob Allen lives across the street from the proposed development and is a member of the Fairwood Park Homeowners Association. He said the proposal has been complicated by the construction of a roundabout at Waikiki and Mill Road a couple of years ago.

“Some neighbors have been quite concerned about the addition of 60 homes right at the roundabout,” he said.

He said he believes that problem has been addressed by the developer moving the only access point on Waikiki Road to the south of Mill Road. “They have moved the entry point as far south as possible to mitigate that,” he said.

Allen said he testified in favor of the project at a public hearing.

“I thought it would be an improvement, and it matched the zoning,” he said. “So many of these projects want to change the zoning. It will be a good complement to the neighborhood.”

Neighbor Gail Palmer, who lives close to the proposed project, has more hesitation about it. He said he knows the land will be developed at some point and is grateful the proposal isn’t worse, but there are still issues.

“I opposed the county approving enclaves without connecting them to anything,” he said. “I don’t fault the developer here.”

Palmer said the site has a lot of rock outcrops.

“Water runoff will be an issue,” he said. “We have no storm sewer. Water off those roads comes into our yards and pools there.”

The hearing examiner’s decision notes that the land is in a Critical Aquifer Recharge Area with a high susceptibility to groundwater contamination. “The land action is located in a general drainage problem area recognized by the county engineer,” the decision states. “This area is characterized by shallow, rocky soils and seasonal high ground water that are generally nonsuitable for standard drywell practice.”

The decision includes a lengthy list of requirements from Spokane County Public Works, including a section on how stormwater should be managed. It notes that additional requirement could be imposed before the final plan approval is granted.

Spring Lane and another nearby street are dirt roads, which creates a lot of dust in the summer, Palmer said. He doesn’t think paving a portion of Spring Lane will solve the issue. “It might help, but it’s purely a Band-Aid,” he said.

Palmer also has an issue with the proposed lot sizes, which range from the allowed minimum of 5,000 square feet to 17,000 square feet. “These are really tiny lots,” he said. “There’s no setbacks on the side.”

The lot size was addressed in the hearing examiner’s decision. “Though the lots in the proposed development are slightly smaller, they are within the range of density proposed for low density residential zoning,” the decision states.

Though Palmer isn’t pleased by the project, he has accepted it.

“This is about the third or fourth rendition of this project that they have submitted,” he said. “It’s one of the better ones.”

The developer wasn’t clear during the public meeting when construction might begin, Palmer said. The hearing examiner’s decision states that the preliminary plat approval will expire in 2024.

“It was all pretty vague,” Palmer said.