The Dirt: Plans moving forward for Painted Hills development in Spokane Valley
Black Realty Inc. is moving forward with plans for the Painted Hills development in Spokane Valley.
The Spokane-based real estate company earlier this month submitted an updated draft-environmental impact statement with the Washington state Department of Ecology.
It includes two-residential development options for the former Painted Hills Golf Course site.
The 99-acre site is northeast of Dishman-Mica and Thorpe roads.
The first option calls for 248 single-family homes, 52 cottages, 228 multifamily units, 52 mixed-use residential units and 30 acres of open space with trails, a park and a wildlife travel corridor.
The second option is a 543-lot residential subdivision without commercial or multifamily development. The design would not include green space or trails, according to the impact statement.
Black Realty Inc. indicated in the statement the purpose of the project is to “relieve the undersupply of housing in the Spokane Valley area by implementing a mixed-use residential development.”
Each option would result in more than 1,300 new residents living in the development upon completion.
The development options indicate ground water mitigation through a series of pipes, swales and basins for treatment and management of surface water before it reaches the Spokane Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer.
Water would continue to recharge the aquifer through “permeable areas and an infiltration pond of the northern part of the site,” according to the environmental impact statement.
Project documents indicate construction could begin on the development this fall.
The Painted Hills development, initially proposed in 2015, has been controversial among neighboring residents opposed to the project.
The city received hundreds of letters and comments from residents with some citing concerns with traffic, flooding, school overcrowding and fire evacuation, among other things.
The environmental impact statement is available for review on the city’s website at: spokanevalley.org/paintedhillsdeis. The city is accepting public comments on the project through Aug. 16.
Brothers Flooring building new warehouse
Brothers Flooring is planning to build a new warehouse on the same site as its existing showroom in Spokane.
Spokane-based contractor Kofmehl Inc. filed a pre-development application with the city on behalf of Brothers Flooring to build a one-story, 3,000-square-foot warehouse at 22 W. Mansfield Ave.
The project will also include site improvements, according to the application.
Brothers Flooring, founded in 2007, has showrooms in Spokane and Post Falls.
Riverday School to convert church into elementary school
A Spokane-based private school is considering plans to convert a church building into a new elementary school.
Riverday School filed a preliminary application with the city that indicates plans to purchase a 2,500-square-foot building formerly occupied by Destiny Church and convert it into a small, private elementary school at 4249 E. Pratt Ave.
Riverday School is currently located at 1627 E. Trent Ave. It opened in 2011 as a nonprofit private school serving nearly 25 students per year, according to its website.
The project valuation is $440,000, according to the application.
Construction on the elementary school project is slated to begin in August.