Airway Heights commission holds hearing
Lawsuit forces city to re-examine zoning deemed incompatible with Fairchild AFB
Last updated 6/21/2018 at 8:53am
The Airway Heights Planning Commission met on June 13 and held a public hearing on an Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearing Board ruling against the city.
Starting in October 2011, the city began to update AHMC (Airway Heights Municipal Code) 17.37, which was a mixed-use overlay. It was labeled as too broad and it did not provide any standards for future developers.
Since that time, the Spokane International Airport, city of Spokane and Spokane County sued Airway Heights over three areas in the city limits. One of these was 29 acres south of Highway 2 and along Hazelwood Road that had the ability for multi-family development through a conditional use permit process.
The parties claimed they were incompatible with Fairchild Air Force Base’s and the airport’s operations.
The Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board ruled against Airway Heights and the city appealed the ruling to the Spokane Superior Court, where it prevailed.
But it didn’t stop there, as the ruling by the court as appealed by the city of Spokane, Spokane Country and the airport to the Washington State Court of Appeals, which ruled against the city on one item. They stated that the multi-family residential developments on these properties would not be compatible with FAFB’s operations, but ruled in Airway Heights favor regarding the airports claims.
Airway Heights then petitioned to the Washington State Supreme Court to review the Appeals Court ruling, which was denied.
Because of the Supreme Court denying the city’s request to review the decision, the Appeals Court ruling stood and the city is now required to amend its development standards in the 29 acres in order to bring them into compliance with the ruling.
“We have vetted this with all the parties involved,” Planning Director Derrick Braaten said. “We will complete this process in July.”
After holding the public hearing with no citizen comments, the commission went on to approve the zoning changes to be in compliance. The item will now be forwarded on to the City Council, who will vote on the matter.
“We have fought this for about five years now,” Braaten said. “The city has always wanted to protect Fairchild Air Force Base.”
Grace Pohl can be reached at grace@cheneyfreepress.com.
Reader Comments(0)