By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
Medical Lake's planning commission started into a packed 2010 work plan with a page-by-page review and edit of the city zoning ordinance during their March 25 meeting.
“The code itself is pretty well written, it's just outdated,” city planner Glenn Scholten said, adding that the commission is primarily concerned with correcting obsolete references and updating building code standards.
Commissioners discussed several revisions including adding mixed-use zones to a list of zoning districts, updating the official city zoning map and increasing the distance a rear yard should be set back from any major arterial from 5 feet to 15 feet. These changes and others will be discussed further during the next schedule commission meeting in April.
Scholten gave the commission a status update on the Fairchild Joint Land Use Study (JLUS), which aims to reduce potential conflicts between Fairchild Air force base and nearby communities while accommodating new growth and economic development.
On March 16 the Medical Lake City Council agreed to participate in a collaborative process that will apply the study by way of two committees that will review comprehensive plan amendments, development regulations and code adjustments. Scholten will sit on a technical assistance group while Councilman A.J. Burton will represent Medical Lake on the coordinating committee, which also includes representatives from Spokane County, the city of Spokane, Airway Heights and the base.
Scholten said once the coordinating committee establishes guidelines the planning commission will use them to amend the city's comprehensive plan and operating strategies within a two-year timeframe.
“I think that we're ahead of the program, I think we've already done some of our part on this,” planning commissioner Bob Albright said, adding that the city decided to pull back their Urban Growth Area (UGA) a year ago in part because they didn't want to infringe on the base.
Other area jurisdictions are also readjusting their UGAs to fit the JLUS requirements, but Scholten noted that Spokane County commissioners established a UGA on a sliver of land situated between Rambo Road and Craig Road and flanked by Fairchild and Airway Heights. “If that isn't encroaching on Fairchild, I don't know what is,” he said. “It goes against everything that this study says.” Commission members agreed that a UGA in that location could threaten the future of the base and asked Scholten to speak against it in his role on the technical advisory committee.
On the commission's agenda for next month is a thorough review of the city's comprehensive plan. A major update of the plan was completed in 2007 but numerous outdated policies, standards and data need to be corrected and the plan needs to be brought up to speed with a 2008 Spokane County rewrite of the County Wide Planning Policies, Scholten said. A key point of interest in the comprehensive plan will be to modernize the city's level of service standards for police and potable water.
The next planning commission meeting will take place Thursday, April 29 at 5 p.m. in the Medical Lake City Hall council chambers.
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at ryan@cheneyfreepress.com.
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